“We developed Scion City to connect with the trendsetters. That's our target demographic - people who do things first. Trendsetters are instrumental in promoting brands.”
Adrian Si
Interactive Marketing Manager, Scion
Client Scenario
The Scion brand is widely recognized for subtle, culturally savvy marketing that is tightly focused on opinion-leading demographic groups. In mid-2006, the company sensed an opportunity to engage the technology and design-oriented communities of Second Life and approached Millions of Us to develop and deploy a campaign.
Approach
Cars are about self-expression, particularly in Scion’s case. Recognizing this, Millions of Us and Scion collaborated to create Scion City, a Second Life island that housed the first virtual world car dealership, and representing the first time a major auto manufacturer created a presence in a virtual world. SL residents had the opportunity to not only purchase all three Scion models in the dealership, but in the spirit of Second Life and the Scion brand, also to make them their own. This launch was such a success that Scion and Millions of Us have since consistently worked together to extend Scion’s presence in Second Life, including:
- The expansion of Scion City into a full-fledged urban environment
where residents are able to develop their own homes and businesses
around a central district with the Scion dealership
- The “mixed reality” (simultaneous real and virtual) launch of Scion’s
2008 line at the Chicago Auto Show, including the new xD model
- Free, expert-led customization classes to help SL residents
personalize their virtual Scions to the greatest extent possible
- The creation of a gallery in Scion City to showcase residents’
uniquely customized Scions
Results
The xB launch received substantial media attention, and the buzz only grew with each subsequent release and event. Scion City has organically developed its own culture and loyal base of residents; one even created a MySpace page chronicling the evolution of this community.
The Scion brand and the act of online personal expression have been seamlessly combined for Scion’s key audiences – early technology adopters and the digital design community.