Progressive Automotive XPrize
Inspiring demand for next-generation clean cars
In 2010, the XPRIZE Foundation was gearing up for the final leg of its $10MM competition. Two years before, it had issued a groundbreaking challenge — design the next generation of clean, production capable, highly fuel-efficient vehicles. But the design itself was only the start.
The competition had attracted many exciting automotive newcomers, including high school and collegiate design teams. But generating public excitement was just as important — without marketplace demand, even a truly breakthrough vehicle would (pun intended) stall.
As the competition entered its final phase, our “XPRIZE engagement hub” worked hard to create relationships between design teams and their fans. We got our audience involved, taught them about alternative vehicles, and kept excitement building until the very end.
1 Getting fans invested in the outcome
Although professional judges would award the final XPRIZEs, we wanted to make sure fans had a real stake in the competition.
We placed the “People’s Choice" awards front and center on the home page. “People’s Choice” voting took place throughout the competition, with voters in each stage earning entries in a massive final prize drawing.
Results were tallied live while each “voting gate” was open, and voters had the chance to see their comments featured on the website.
2 Supporting serendipity to maintain excitement
We wanted our audience’s knowledge and interest to evolve with the competition. We needed to make sure they didn’t get stuck on their early favorites, but kept discovering cool new vehicles every time they checked in.
To catch their attention, I designed an interactive carousel that was instantly accessible from the main navigation. This “team gallery” was lightweight and quick to scroll through, with key details for each vehicle available instantly on hover.
Building on the “quick discovery,” the gallery invited fans to dig in once their curiosity was piqued. A faceted search feature allowed them to explore vehicles according to design features (vehicle fuel types, efficiency ratings, etc.) and competition status.
3 Strengthening team loyalty
Team Central
The teams landing page featured, of course, a leaderboard and full results. It was also customizable to encourage active viewing, allowing fans to see “quick bites” of information for their favorite teams.
The quick bites alerted fans to their teams’ upcoming events, recent social media posts, shared multimedia, and more.
Team Details
Each team also had its own detail page, with fresh content provided by team members and fans alike.
“People’s Choice” voting status was also highlighted here, to remind visitors to vote during each event.
4 Leveraging user profiles
Social impact
To encourage fans to share XPRIZE information broadly across their social networks, we invited users to connect their XPRIZE profiles with their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram feeds.
Smart alerting helped us call attention to this feature. The use of red text made sure that non-connection registered subconsciously as an “error” that required fixing.
Quality content
Fresh and compelling content was a key to grabbing and holding fans’ interest. We needed the teams themselves to step up, providing information about themselves and sharing their news on social media.
Like fans, team members were invited to connect their user profile as soon as they created an account. With teams, though, we also asked some basic “about you” questions, which we used to seed their public page.
5 Results
The XPRIZE website generated more than 575,000 visits, 1.7MM page views, and some 15,000 votes for fan favorites. The excitement it helped create, over the course of the competition, generated an estimated 12 billion consumer impressions.
“We’ve seen a shift in the market since we first launched this competition and a greater awareness by people everywhere to think more seriously about the actions we take and how they affect our environment.
”...I believe strongly that the innovations showcased throughout the life of this competition will continue to impact and improve our car buying options for the future.”