Mercedes-Benz Canada is on the cusp of launching a new mobile app called “Drive & Seek”, it’s being marketed as a “interactive, location-based gaming app” and the idea was taken from the 9:25 promo movie for their new 2012 C-Class Coupe. The game is expected to be available on both the iPhone and Android next week (will not be available on BlackBerry, nor Windows Phone).
At a press event last night in Toronto I got some hands-on time with it. The app is free and basically is an ad for Coupe, but gives you a chance to win one of these beauties. Here’s how it works: You download the app, register your contact info – which automatically enters you into the contest – where you’ll start to search for virtual briefcases. Players need to open 10 briefcases per week for 4 weeks and the top 125 game players get extra contest entries, so the more briefcases you find the better your chances are at winning the car. There’s apparently secondary prizes but they’ve yet to be decided upon.
The game uses the GPS in your device to help find the closest virtual briefcase – the couple that we found were each about 75 feet away with continuous notifications via a distance meter that indicates how close you are. Once you find a briefcase you need to “unlock” it, which scores yourself a 1,000 points and kindly shows details of the C-Class Coupe.
There’s a slight social aspect to the game/ad too. The app allows you to invite friends and share via Facebook when you unlock a briefcase (Twitter and Google+ were not available). In addition, you can locate the closest Mercedes-Benz dealer to test the C-Class Coupe.
The app is only available in Canada and if you’re a car enthusiast you’ll be all over this.
Look for it next week, more info at Drive and Seek here
