Land Rover?s advertising campaign within News Corp.?s The Daily iPad application has surpassed 52,000 impressions, and one out of every two consumers who view the app engage with the luxury automaker?s ad.

The 50 percent engagement rate was tracked from the launch of The Daily, according to Land Rover?s agency of record, Young & Rubicam Brands? Wunderman. The in-app campaign celebrates the 50th anniversary of the automotive brand.

?With The Daily iPad campaign, we?re reaching out to find a new way to communicate with our current customers and potential customers, as 44 percent of our vehicle owners actually own tablets,? said Leah Watkins-Hall, corporate, brand and interactive communications manager at Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, Mahwah, NJ.

?We will continue to target the increasing audience of tablets over the next few years,? she said. ?Our target demographic is heavier on the male side and young for a luxury brand, consumers in their mid-forties who are business-minded and definitely users of technology such as tablets, smartphones and ereaders.

?We are moving toward more mobile and online initiatives.?

Tablet as interactive advertising canvas
The Land Rover campaign within The Daily iPad application features a full-screen interstitial ad unit with a virtual globe that users can tap to spin, created in collaboration with rich-media specialist Medialets.

The spinning globe lands on one of 15 different places in the world where Land Rover has a presence, including Panama, where the vehicle played a key role in a rare crossing of the Darien Gap, and Solihull, England, where there is a Land Rover factory.

Each destination features a story, supported by an image gallery and/or video.

Rock band OK Go is also featured.

The ad creative invites the user to sign up for email alerts from Land Rover.

?We talked quite a bit about the opportunity for Land Rover specifically, understanding that The Daily iPad app is a new medium that lets us tell the story about the Land Rover brand in an advertorial format that is experiential, interactive and actionable,? said Keith Rhodes, vice president and managing account director at Wunderman, New York.

?The alignment of the Land Rover message with the target demographic of early-adopters and iPad users creates a brand story in a medium that demonstrates innovation,? he said. ?Land Rover is demonstrating that we are a brand that aligns with consumers? interests.?

The in-app ad unit features a lead-generation form for consumers to seek more information about the brand, which enables remarketing opportunities to encourage test drives.

?[The smartphone space] is a very crowded space, so we have to punch above our weight in terms of share of voice,? Mr. Rhodes said. ?We never forget that we need to generate leads, which we know convert to vehicle sales.?

More than 70 percent of the population agrees with the statement that they make a point to buy from companies with values similar to their own, and Land Rover felt that a campaign within an iPad app such as The Daily would demonstrate awareness and lead to conversions.

While forty-somethings tend to be Land Rover?s sweet spot, the iPad campaign is geared toward affluent consumers ages 35-plus.

?We knew that this would be a younger demographic for us, but we chose this placement because early-adopters are typically more affluent,? Mr. Rhodes said.

Apps as marketing vehicles
Land Rover distributes its One Life magazine via an iPad application.

The print version of One Life is typically distributed just to owners, but the iPad allows the brand to deliver the content to prospects as well.

The Quick Start application for Land Rover vehicle owners is available for both the iPhone and Android devices.

Quick Start features video tutorials and is designed to serve as a utility for consumers who have recently purchased a Land Rover vehicle.

Wunderman reports significant success in terms of downloads and interactions, with each users averaging more than 12 interactions.

?TV still remains an important place for us, but we are definitely moving more in the direction of smartphone apps, whether for advertisers or for our vehicle owners, giving them another option other than the owner?s guide in the form of the Quick Start app,? Ms. Watkins-Hall said.

?We?re still involved in TV, and we still do select print publications, mainly business and luxury, and we have done a lot of mobile advertising and marketing,? she said. ?Our new marketing mix is venturing more toward smartphone apps.?

Pulse of smartphone users
The Pulse of the City application, also available for both iPhone and Android, was launched late last year in conjunction with the Web site http://www.helloevoque.com to promote the Range Rover Evoque and the cities that inspired its design. 
 
The Pulse of the City app lets users create a data visualization of their journeys across ten cities worldwide.

The application uses GPS tracking to record the collective movements of people within the ten cities.

Users are sent a graphical representation of their journey, which they can display on the helloevoque.com Web site.

App users are invited to join 40-plus ?City Shapers,? including Georgina Chapman, Josh Rubin, Henry Holland, Jessica Schwartz and Dylan Jones.

City Shapers can add comments about their favorite places, hot spots and journeys.  

The app lets users come back to saved journeys, pause the journey they are viewing and then share their journey via Facebook, Twitter and email.

?For the launch of the 2012 Range Rover Evoque, we are relying heavily on mobile and online to promote our new product and reach the new consumer segment, as those channels are more efficient,? Ms. Watkins-Hall said. ?Online and mobile will play a big role in the marketing mix, including apps for tablets and smartphones.

?The Pulse of the City app for iPhone and Android allows potential Range Rover customers to post their city journeys, just like our Range Rover Evoque City Shapers do each week,? she said. ?The app allows you to go online, post a city journey and share their journey with friends via social networks.?

Final Take