SunMatrix Ramble | What Matters in Marketing and Digital Innovation

Volkswagen LinkedUit: A LinkedIn API Campaign

Volkswagen has released a LinkedIn-based campaign which takes full advantage of the new LinkedIn API. Here, “LinkedIn API” simply means the permissioned interface that lets an app read profile information after you sign in.

The campaign is called “LinkedUit” (LinkedOut) and gives anyone who challenges a friend on LinkedIn a chance to win a Volkswagen Passat.

The game is really simple. After signing in using your LinkedIn profile, the app lets you choose others in your network to challenge. A LinkedIn victor and a LinkedOut loser is then chosen based on education, experience, recommendations and connections.

Mechanically, the app pulls profile fields after sign-in and turns them into a score you can compare against someone in your network. This pattern is worth copying when you can explain the scoring in plain language and keep participation clearly opt-in. Because the inputs are already curated, the result feels personal with almost no extra work.

In European automotive marketing, platform-native games like this only stay credible when the data use is explicit and the scoring feels fair.

The real question is whether the value of the interaction outweighs the discomfort of being compared.

Why this is a smart use of platform data

This campaign uses something people already curate and care about. Their professional identity. Instead of asking for attention, it uses existing LinkedIn data as the raw material for the experience.

Extractable takeaway: If you can make a platform’s identity data the mechanic, you lower friction and raise relevance. But you only earn repeat use when people can predict why they won or lost.

Low input for users. The profile is already built. The game simply reads it.
High personal relevance. Comparisons feel personal because they are based on your own history.
Built-in social spread. Challenges create a natural loop through networks.

The Passat benefit: “feature-rich” as a metaphor

The creative link is straightforward. Passat equals feature-rich. LinkedIn profile equals information-rich. The experience makes the metaphor tangible by turning profile depth into a competitive score.

That kind of metaphor works when it is easy to explain in one sentence and easy to experience in one click.

What makes this type of social game succeed or fail

Fair scoring logic. If the rules feel arbitrary, people reject the result.
Fast time-to-result. The payoff must arrive quickly after sign-in.
Friendly rivalry. Challenges should feel playful, not judgmental.
Clear reward. A chance to win a Passat is a simple, memorable incentive.

What to take from this if you are building platform-native campaigns

Use the platform’s native data as the experience. The more you rely on what already exists, the lower the friction.
Make the mechanic social by default. Challenges, invites, and comparisons drive distribution.
Keep the brand connection clean. One strong metaphor beats multiple weak links.
Design for credibility. When you use personal data, transparency and perceived fairness matter.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Volkswagen “LinkedUit”?

It is a LinkedIn-based campaign that uses LinkedIn profile data to create a challenge game, giving participants a chance to win a Volkswagen Passat.

How does the game determine a winner?

The app compares elements such as education, experience, recommendations, and connections to choose a “LinkedIn victor” and a “LinkedOut” loser.

Why is the LinkedIn API important here?

Because it enables the experience to pull in profile information automatically, making the game quick to start and personally relevant without extra data entry.

What is the creative link to the Passat?

The campaign uses the idea that the new Passat is full of features, just like a LinkedIn profile is full of information, then turns that into a competitive mechanic.

What is the main lesson for social platform campaigns?

If you build around native identity and data, and make the interaction social by default, you can create an experience that spreads through the network naturally.

Renault: Facebook Likes in Real Life

For the Amsterdam Motorshow, Renault introduced the possibility of “liking” real objects offline and immediately sharing them online via the Facebook wall. They created this innovative and real-time social sharing experience with the help of a RFID Facebook card.

Specially made Facebook pillars were placed in front of the Renault cars. All the visitors had to do was hold their pass in front of these pillars and an automatic connection would be made to their Facebook profile, with the car being “shared” on their wall. This way their offline car experience was instantly shared with their online friends.

Renault got the mechanics right, but last year Coca-Cola used the same technology in a more engaging manner at their Coca Cola Village event in Israel.

Why this felt new at the time

The breakthrough is not the “like” itself. It is the bridge. A physical moment becomes social output, meaning a post on the visitor’s Facebook wall, in seconds, without asking the visitor to take out a phone, search, type, or upload. Because the share action is reduced to a single tap, more people complete it before attention moves on.

Extractable takeaway: If you want physical experiences to generate social reach, remove every extra step between the moment and the share.

One gesture. Tap the card, and the content posts.
Identity linked once. The RFID card connects the visitor to their profile without repeated logins.
Social proof at scale. Each tap becomes a public signal to friends, extending the showroom beyond the venue.

In event marketing and showroom environments, the scalable advantage is not the technology itself but how quickly it turns attention into a visible social signal.

The real question is how to turn a live brand encounter into an online share before the visitor’s attention shifts.

What to copy for live-share activations

If you want real-time sharing from physical spaces, reduce the share action to a single motion and make the output predictable.

Cut the action to one move. The participant should only need to tap, not search, type, or upload.
Make the output clear. The visitor should know exactly what will appear on their wall before acting.
Keep the share native to the moment. The social post should feel like a continuation of the offline interaction, not a separate task.

A few fast answers before you act

What did Renault do at the Amsterdam Motorshow?

Renault created an RFID-based activation that let visitors “like” cars offline by tapping a Facebook RFID card at branded pillars, which then posted the car to their Facebook wall.

Why use RFID instead of asking people to share on their phones?

RFID reduces friction. It removes typing, app switching, and upload steps, which increases participation and makes sharing feel effortless in the moment.

What is the main benefit of connecting offline experiences to social in real time?

It turns a physical event into an online distribution channel, where each participant becomes a broadcaster to their own network.

What makes this more scalable than asking staff to help visitors post manually?

The action is standardized and immediate. Each visitor can generate the same type of share without depending on staff, which makes the activation easier to repeat at scale.

What should you be careful about with automated social posting?

Make the action intentional and the output transparent. People need to understand what will be posted before they tap.

VGT: Fur iAd that bleeds when you swipe

VGT (an association combating animal factories), working with Austrian agency Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann, created an iAd, an interactive tablet ad unit, for the iPad edition of DATUM magazine.

The iAd shows a young woman wearing a fur coat. When the iPad user tries to continue browsing with the familiar finger-wipe movement, each swipe leaves a blood stain on the fur. The more you try, the more blood appears, turning a simple “next page” gesture into the message.

A navigation gesture that becomes the accusation

The clever part is that nothing “extra” is required from the user. No quiz. No mini game. No new behaviour. The iAd hijacks the most natural behaviour on the device. Swiping to move on. That is why it feels so sticky. The ad does not ask for attention. It punishes avoidance.

The mechanism: friction by design

Most advertising tries to reduce friction. This does the opposite. It introduces deliberate friction at the exact moment the audience normally exits. That choice forces a small pause, and that pause is where the ethical point lands. For tablet units, this kind of purposeful friction beats bolt-on interactivity that can be ignored.

In tablet-first media environments, gesture-based interactivity can turn a standard placement into a moral confrontation.

The real question is whether your interaction makes the viewer complicit, or merely entertained.

Why it lands even if you dislike shock tactics

This is not shock for spectacle. It is shock attached to an action the viewer chooses. You create the stains. That’s what makes the experience uncomfortable in a more personal way than a static image could. It also matches the medium. The iPad is intimate. It’s held close.

Extractable takeaway: When touch is the medium, tie consequence to a habitual gesture so the argument is felt in the hand, not just read on the screen.

How to borrow this for tablet units

Exploit a native gesture. Swipe, pinch, tap, drag. If the gesture is already habitual, the learning curve disappears.
Make the interaction mean something. The response should be the argument, not just a visual flourish.
Use friction sparingly and intentionally. Only add resistance when the resistance is the point.
Design for instant comprehension. The first swipe should explain the whole idea.
Earn the discomfort. If you push people emotionally, the payoff must be clarity, not confusion.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the VGT iAd concept in one sentence?

An iPad iAd that prevents an easy page swipe by leaving blood stains on a fur coat every time you try to move on.

Why use the swipe gesture instead of a video or a static image?

Because swiping is an action the user performs. When the consequence appears immediately, the viewer feels involved rather than merely informed.

Is this an example of “interactive storytelling” or “interactive persuasion”?

Both. The story is minimal, but the persuasion is embodied. The interaction itself carries the moral logic.

When does this kind of tactic backfire?

When the shock feels disconnected from the cause, when the friction blocks people without a clear point, or when the execution reads as manipulation rather than meaning.

What is the simplest way to apply this pattern ethically?

Use a familiar gesture, create an immediate consequence tied to the message, and ensure the user can still exit once the point is delivered.