I AM PLAYR Driving Personalisation Message for Alfa Romeo UK

Alfa Romeo UK is driving awareness for its MiTo super-mini model, and the brand’s core message of personalisation, through its integration into We R Interactive’s social football game I AM PLAYR – the first online game to let you play the life of a professional footballer.

Since the Italian sporting car maker was integrated into I AM PLAYR as an official sponsor to the games’ fictional football club River Park FC, more than 50K Alfa MiTos have been configured to a real life specification in-game; and each week  over 2, 000 people win a virtual Alfa MiTo. The I AM PLAYR integration is also driving brand awareness for Alfa Romeo with, to date, 7.5K hours of Alfa Romeo content viewed – this includes 12k Alfa Romeo videos viewed on a weekly basis.

Brands who integrate into the game see the benefits of I AM PLAYR – average dwell time per user each day is over 39 minutes.

Claudio Annicchiarico, Head of Digital for Fiat Group Automobiles UK, said “The Alfa Romeo Mito is aimed at a younger and media savvy audience.  For us social gaming was a great way to reach out to our target market allowing them to interact and engage with the brand in a game format like never before.  The Mito has become woven into the I AM PLAYR storyline game which allows users to interact with the product in a unique way.  Users can personalise their Mito then share it with their friends whilst enjoying relevant content involving track days and picking up their personalised car from the dealer.  All experiences manufacturers have found difficult to do this in the digital environment, I AM PLAYR has given us a platform through which to do this.”

Players activating the sponsorship are rewarded with a virtual Alfa Romeo MiTo car once they have reached a performance-related target – scoring five goals against River Park FC team captain, Danny Deans. Users can access an in-game replica of Alfa Romeos’ online car configurator to design their car and then import the exact model back into the game to be displayed in their inventory. The user is then delivered first-person, rich media filmed content showing the collection of their Alfa Romeo, which is personalised to match the car they designed.

In addition to the narrative integration, Alfa Romeo features on advertising hoardings running around the River Park FC ground on match days, offering a consistent brand presence throughout the duration of the game.

Paul Whitehead, Global Commercial Director at We R Interactive commented, “Our aim is for I AM PLAYR to be the biggest, most authentic online football game and brands are at the heart of the user’s experience through their integration into both video and 3D gameplay. Over the coming months we’ll continue developing the game and building a large global audience.”