Toshiba has launched the Toshiba Tablet Race competition in South Africa, which aims to build brand awareness by engaging with targeted audiences through social platforms. The race will offer more than R150 000 in prizes.
The competition culminates in an online reality series, featuring the winners of a Facebook, YouTube, SMS and Twitter competition. The eight finalists are “spies” whose secret identities have been compromised, and they need to quickly flee the country.
The Tablet Race’s super spy has the way out. He will have everything the spies need to make their getaway, including tickets and money, but they will need to complete a series of tasks first – with the help of Toshiba products.
The Tablet Race consists of several stages, starting with an invitation to “like” the competition’s Facebook page. Consumers will be introduced to the competition, which will ultimately see the production of an online drama series to be broadcast in October 2013.
Fans of the Facebook page will be invited to kiosks to be set up at locations around Gauteng, where they can create their own spy video with the help of a Toshiba AT 300 tablet, which will be uploaded to the Facebook page. Fans will then vote for their favourite submissions, and the top eight entries will move to the next stage of the game, which includes the live filming of a reality-TV-style narrative.
Each episode will see the eight “spies” completing tasks and challenges, with weekly episodes uploaded online for the audience to track their progress, until only one spy remains.
The competition is further supported through engagement on Twitter, with clues being revealed in tandem with the action taking place each week.
The winning “spy” from this element of the competition will win a trip for two to Mauritius worth R20 000 and R5 000 in spending money. The runner up will win R5 000, with all eight finalists taking home a Toshiba AT300 tablet.
“We set out to create an engaging campaign that would encourage consumers to build a relationship with the Toshiba brand,” says Richard Bosman, marketing manager for Toshiba Gulf FZE in South Africa.
“We worked with creative agency Lunchbox Productions to create a variety of touch points that would keep our target audience – specifically urban students – engaged with the brand. The many facets of the competition provide multiple opportunities for them to build a relationship with Toshiba, and we are thrilled at the levels of audience engagement we are already seeing, before filming has even commenced.”
The Toshiba Tablet Race is the first time that Toshiba has run a multifaceted social media campaign anywhere in the world, and Bosman is excited to be setting the trend.
“Toshiba is one of the world’s oldest technology brands, with its origins going back to the late 19th century, but it is also one of the world’s most innovative brands,” he says.
“In South Africa, Toshiba’s wide range of notebooks is available, as are its robust tablets and super-slick hard drives. The Toshiba AT300 takes a starring role in the series, but other Toshiba devices also play their part, clearly demonstrating the power of Toshiba’s technology.”
To take part in the Toshiba Tablet Race, head over to Facebook and like the competition’s page – or head online to the Toshiba Tablet Race YouTube channel to watch each episode as it is available. For more information, visit www.tabletrace.co.za.