Citroën UK is calling its Facebook community of 81+ thousand members take part in developing a new version of the C1 city car, the Citroën C1 Connexion. The auto brand is putting the future of the car into the hands of users by asking them to determine what look, equipment and details the special edition vehicle will have. To contribute to the project under the ‘You like it. We make it.’ slogan, users are invited to join the activity through the dedicated app.
“This is a really exciting project for Citroën , collaborating with Facebook to use the platform in this way. With a touch of ‘Creative Technologie’, we are taking the choices of many to create a car for everyone. This is crowdsourcing in action. The New C1 Connexion will be a car created for the Facebook generation, by the Facebook generation,” commented Melina Kacherou-Carage, Head of Digital Marketing at Citroën UK.
Assisted by animated egg-shaped characters in a virtual laboratory, users can choose from six configuration elements, number of doors, colours and additional elements equipment such as Bluetooth, alloy wheels or Sat Nav. Once the design process is finished, a user can submit his or her version of the car for people’s voting. The auto brand will put the configuration with the most ‘likes’ into production and will give one car to an entrant selected in the sweepstakes. The crowdsourced version of the vehicle will be available for purchase later this year.
«We are pleased to be collaborating with Citroën on this project. With the C1 Connexion, Citroën is integrating the interactions and the stories people have with the brand into the products they create. They’ve built the experience around people, so their fans can have a personal experience through the app and share that with their friends. Facebook shouldn’t just be bolted on to an existing campaign, it should be an integral part of the brand’s full marketing and strategic plan. With this app, Citroën is demonstrating that effective campaigns take in social from the very start,” commented Stephen Haines, UK commercial director at Facebook.