Audi

Audi TT: Brochure Hack

When print becomes interface, not paper

The best product storytelling often happens before the test drive, when you can turn curiosity into comprehension with a tangible experience.

Transforming classic print surfaces into smart touch based surfaces through special conductive ink and sensors has been around for a while now. But I still thought the below execution from Audi was worth a mention, as it was a step forward for the technology since it surfaced in 2014.

The Audi TT was the first Audi model to feature a revolutionary Virtual Cockpit. So to inspire customers, Razorfish Germany used conductive ink, haptic feedback, Bluetooth and a custom smartphone app to transform the car’s conventional sales brochure into a smart surface which gave viewers an augmented touch based journey through the car’s Virtual Cockpit. Here, a “smart surface” means a printed object that detects touch and triggers connected digital content.

How the brochure hack worked as a connected demo

The mechanism was a touch-sensitive brochure plus a companion device.

Conductive ink turned parts of the brochure into touch-sensitive zones. The smartphone app acted as the compute layer and controller, meaning it handled the logic and displayed the content. Bluetooth linked the physical brochure to digital content, while haptic feedback reinforced the feeling that the brochure itself had become an interface.

Instead of reading about Virtual Cockpit, viewers navigated it through touch, guided by the brochure’s layout.

In European automotive showrooms and launch events, touch-sensitive print works best when it helps prospects understand a digital feature before they ever sit in the car.

Why touch and haptics made the feature feel real

Virtual Cockpit is a feature that can sound abstract on a spec sheet. Because viewers could explore it through touch and get immediate confirmation via haptics, the interaction reduced cognitive load and made the capability feel tangible. The real question is whether your pre-drive touchpoint helps people experience the feature, not just read about it.

Extractable takeaway: When a feature is hard to picture, pair a simple physical interaction with immediate feedback so people learn by doing instead of decoding specs.

The business intent behind turning a brochure into product experience

The intent was to make a new interface feature memorable and easy to understand before a customer ever sat in the car.

This is a strong pattern when the feature is hard to visualize and the physical object can reliably deliver the same guided interaction every time. It also reframed the brochure from disposable collateral into a premium object that people were more likely to keep, show, and talk about, extending attention time well beyond the first touchpoint.

Steal this for your next touch-enabled brochure demo

Use print to trigger behavior, not just convey information. If the product story is interactive, the media should be too.
Make the first interaction obvious. Touch zones should feel discoverable without instructions.
Pair physical feedback with digital content. Haptics and responsiveness make the experience feel credible.
Choose touch-enabled print when it explains something complex. The tech earns its cost when it makes a hard-to-grasp feature instantly understandable.

A few fast answers before you act

What was the Audi TT “Brochure Hack”?

It was a printed sales brochure turned into a touch-sensitive interface, designed to help people explore the Audi TT’s Virtual Cockpit concept through guided interaction.

How did the brochure become interactive?

Conductive ink and sensors created touch zones in the brochure. A custom smartphone app provided the compute layer and content. Bluetooth connected brochure and phone, and haptic feedback helped the interaction feel physical and “real”.

Why is “smart print” useful for explaining a feature like Virtual Cockpit?

Because the feature can feel abstract on a spec sheet. Touch interaction reduces cognitive load and makes the experience feel like discovery instead of marketing.

What is the key mechanism in one line?

Physical touch triggers digital explanation. The brochure guides the hand, the phone delivers the content, and feedback confirms the interaction.

What did this change versus a normal brochure or video?

It increased time spent and comprehension by turning passive reading into guided exploration, which is especially valuable in high-consideration categories like automotive.

When does this pattern make business sense?

It makes sense when you need to simplify a complex product story early in the funnel, and when the physical object is meant to be kept, shown, and revisited rather than discarded.

IAA 2013: Walk of Innovations

The 65th Internationale Automobil Ausstellung (IAA) has been running in Frankfurt am Main for the past two weeks. So on Saturday I decided to go for the motor show to catch up on the latest cars and also see first hand the much anticipated Nissan Nismo Watch.

Most of the car makers in this year’s show were also present in IAA 2011. In fact they were even located in the same stands as 2011, with the same high tech touch displays to promote their cars. The difference was that their 2013 car models were now more hybrid and or electric only, for example this new four seater Smart.

What changed on the floor

While I walked around and looked for changes vis-à-vis what was shown in IAA 2011, I noticed that apart from the now expected large screens and touch displays, car makers were using all kinds of social media to engage with their visitors.

Engagement snapshots by brand

Here is a quick photo report of my engagement experiences with the various car makers.

To make sure I did not miss Audi this year due to 200+ people standing in line to get into the Audi stand, I decided to visit very early in the morning. The line was short, but there were already hundreds of people inside. On walking in, I noticed that the concept for the stand was taken straight out of the Hollywood movie “Upside Down”.

Visitor engagement at the stand was driven through a special photo booth. While people waited in line they got an iPad to play a game and answer three questions about Audi. Winners got custom giveaways like keychains, gummy bears, etc. After that, visitors were ushered into the photo booth which superimposed the photos onto custom Audi backgrounds. Visitors could take home a printed copy and later also download soft copies from www.audiphotoautomat.com.

Mercedes

Next stop was the Mercedes stand which was also impossible to get into in 2011. From the below picture you can see why.

Mercedes put up a huge multi-sensory show that went on for over 20 minutes, while thousands of people just stopped and watched. Children visiting the stand were kept busy with car simulators.

Outside the stand one could test drive the Mercedes off-road jeeps with the help of trained drivers.

Hyundai

Hyundai was the first car brand I came across that was using the event to generate Facebook fans. For liking the Hyundai Facebook page, fans at IAA could win a Hyundai i30.

The rear windscreen of the i30 was converted into a touchscreen which people could use to instantly “Like” the brand’s Facebook page or choose to receive the fan page link via email.

At the stand Hyundai also displayed a touchable music seat for hearing impaired drivers which vibrated as per the music being played. This was still in concept phase and the test seats were being developed out of Korea.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen “Think Blue” initiative was presented via an interactive augmented reality layer that was activated through the provided iPads.

Skoda

Skoda explained their Green Line initiative via a wooden toy car that was supported by the animations in the embedded touch screens.

At the neighbouring table kids were engaged with games around the Green Line initiative.

Michelin

At the Michelin stand, visitors could take pictures with a virtual Michelin mascot and have the pictures emailed to themselves instantly.

Nissan

After having written about the Nissan Nismo Watch last week, I could not wait to see the real watch in action. But to my disappointment the watch was not there as announced. There was only a plastic dummy on display.

But I did take Nissan’s version of real life “Likes” for a spin (first spotted at the Renault stand in the 2011 Amsterdam Motor Show).

The RFID badges allowed visitors to post custom Nissan branded pictures of themselves onto Facebook.

Visitors were also given the option to share the cars they like on Facebook via special Like buttons built into the car info pillars.

Ford

At the Ford stand this year visitors were given head and shoulder massages.

Then to experience the Ford EcoBoost, visitors were put in front of a leaf blower and their reactions captured and uploaded on the Ford Flickr channel.

And for the more social visitors, Ford had a Twitter based contest running.

Kia

At Kia, visitors could superimpose their heads onto a football player and then have the custom postcard sent to their email IDs.

Chevrolet

Visitors at the stand could make small flipbooks of themselves doing funny dances in front of the main character of the Hollywood film “Turbo”.

Or they could write special messages to their loved ones on a piece of paper and the team at Chevrolet would instantly convert them into wearable badges.

Chevrolet was also the only car maker at the IAA who was using Foursquare to offer discounts on their show merchandise.

Mini

Mini this year gave visitors the option to body paint their cars and email the photos to themselves.

Visitors could also slide down a specially created tunnel at record speeds that were also photographed and displayed on a large overhead digital screen.

BMW

BMW, like Mercedes, put up a multi-sensory show at their stand. But compared to Mercedes it was short and not as extravagant. Still pretty impressive.

Kumho Tyres

On the way out I spotted Kumho Tyres giving away various petrol and tyre related coupons. To win the coupons visitors had to catch them while being closed inside a wind cabin.

Why this direction matters

Across the stands, the consistent pattern is not “more screens”. It is more reasons to create something. A photo. A badge. A flipbook. A posted image. A public interaction that becomes proof you were there. The stand stops being a catalogue, and starts behaving like a content studio that rewards participation. The real question is how a stand turns a visitor into a willing participant and publisher. The strongest stands here are the ones that give people something to make, not just something to look at. That works because visitors are more likely to remember, share, and talk about an experience when they leave with something they helped create.

Extractable takeaway: If you are designing for an event, do not start with channels. Start with a social object, meaning a photo, badge, flipbook, or other shareable artifact people can take away, share, or replay. Then build the simplest capture and distribution loop around it.

In large European trade shows, brands increasingly treat the stand as a live media channel where every interaction can become a shareable moment.

And that was a quick overview of what I experienced at the 65th Internationale Automobil Ausstellung. (To read about my experience at the 2011 show, click here.)

Until the next show in 2 years. This is Sunil signing off from IAA 2013.

What to steal from IAA 2013 for your next show

Queue utility. If people must wait, give them something to do that feeds the experience (Audi’s iPad game and questions).
Instant takeaways. Printed photos, emailed images, and small artifacts create memory and sharing triggers.
Low-friction publishing. RFID, built-in Like buttons, and email delivery reduce the “I’ll do it later” drop-off.
Make participation visible. Leaderboards, overhead screens, or public displays turn individual actions into crowd energy.
Match the mechanic to the brand truth. Eco themes paired with AR explainers, performance themes paired with physical challenges.

A few fast answers before you act

What is this IAA 2013 “walk of innovations” about?

It is a photo report from the IAA show floor in Frankfurt, focused on how different car brands used interactive touchpoints and social mechanics to engage visitors.

What is the main shift versus earlier shows?

Beyond large screens and touch displays, more stands are designed around capture and sharing, photo booths, RFID check-ins, instant email delivery, and social prompts.

Which engagement mechanics show up repeatedly?

Instant content creation (photos, flipbooks), low-friction sharing (RFID, embedded Like buttons), and public spectacle (multi-sensory shows, overhead displays).

What is the practical lesson for event marketers?

Design one clear participatory moment that produces a social object, then remove friction from capture and delivery so visitors can share immediately.

How do you keep these activations from feeling gimmicky?

Anchor the mechanic to a brand truth, and make the output useful or delightful for the visitor, not only promotional for the brand.

Smart Apps: Audi Start-Stop and Reborn Apps

Here are two mobile apps that recently caught my eye…

Audi Start-Stop App

The Audi start-stop system turns off the engine when the car stops at a traffic light and turns it on again when the car starts. Using the same principle, Audi along with DDB Spain creates an Android app that detects which applications have been open longest without being used and sends an alert to the user to close them. Thus saving battery and making the phone a more efficient tool.

Reborn Apps

Many events create their own smartphone apps. But when the event is over, the apps lose their usefulness and are then hardly used. To give these apps a second life, Duval Guillaume gets various Belgium organisations to push out an update which turns their event apps into a registration medium for organ donation.

In European mobile marketing, the strongest brand apps behave like practical utilities first and brand messages second.

The real question is whether your app earns its place by doing one useful thing so well that people choose it again tomorrow.

Brand apps should be judged on repeat usefulness, not on campaign polish.

Why these app ideas work

Both concepts start with a familiar trigger and then make the next best action nearly frictionless, which is why the prompt feels helpful instead of noisy.

Extractable takeaway: Both apps translate a familiar real-world idea into a simple mobile behavior change. One nudges you to close what you are not using. The other repurposes what you already have installed.

They solve a real friction. Battery drain and app clutter are everyday pains. Low donor registration is a societal pain.
They use a clear trigger. “Unused for long” becomes the reason to act. “Event is over” becomes the reason to update.
They keep the action lightweight. A close action or a signup action can happen in seconds.

Two different intents, one shared pattern

The Audi app is a utility story. It borrows a car feature metaphor to make an Android housekeeping task feel purposeful. The Reborn idea is a “mobile for good” story. By “mobile for good,” I mean using everyday mobile touchpoints to drive a public-interest action, not just brand engagement. It turns leftover event attention into a meaningful registration moment, without asking people to download something new.

Patterns to borrow for brand apps

Start from a known behavior. People already ignore background apps. People already keep old event apps installed.
Make the trigger obvious. If users cannot explain why the app pinged them, they ignore it next time.
Design for the next best action. One tap to close. One short flow to register.
Let the brand sit behind the benefit. If the utility feels real, the brand halo follows naturally.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Audi Start-Stop App?

It is an Android utility idea that identifies apps left open for a long time without being used and alerts you to close them, borrowing the metaphor of Audi’s start-stop engine system.

What problem does it try to solve?

It targets battery and resource drain caused by apps that stay running in the background after you stop actively using them.

What are Reborn Apps?

It is an idea that asks event app publishers to push an update after the event ends, transforming those unused apps into a simple organ donation registration tool.

Why is the “update instead of download” approach smart?

It removes acquisition friction. The app is already on the phone, so the campaign can focus on conversion rather than installs.

What is the common lesson across both examples?

Make the desired behavior the easiest behavior. Use a clear trigger, keep the action simple, and let usefulness do the persuasion.