Porsche Uses Crowdsourcing to Give Fans a Chance to Help Design Their Dream Car

When it comes to brand recognition, few brands would be lucky to consider themselves within the same class as Porsche. Long synonymous with prestige, the luxury car maker could easily rest on their rich history and not invest in future recognition. But they know that staying within the cultural conversation and maintaining that reputation are vital to their future, and one way they’ve invested in that future is a top-shelf social media strategy.

Celebrating 5 Million Fans on Facebook 

With a retail price of $106,000 USD, it’s unlikely that any social media activity would send the masses out in droves or that they would go through a traditional sales funnel to purchase the 911 Carrera 4S. As Porche’s digital marketing and dialogue manager, Deniz Keskin told publication The Drum:

“Social media is more than an efficient and speedy way of communicating to a (primarily) younger target group. As a luxury manufacturer, we see more and more of our actual customers in that space…This is why we regard Social Media not only as an additional tool in order to connect to online-savvy audiences, but as the backbone of our online strategy.”

As a way of marking their 5 millionth follower (and also getting to promote their presence in the process), Porsche gave their Facebook community a chance to contribute to the design of an extremely limited, special edition 911 Carrera 4S.

Contest Helps take it One Step Further

In addition to getting to help design the car, followers also had the unique opportunity to win a chance to not only visit the Porsche Experience Center in Silverstone, U.K. but one lucky winner could actually drive the car on the Silverstone racetrack. The winner was judged by how many Porsche Fans they had in their friends list — ensuring that they were gathering even more excitement among fans.

Lessons for Others

Built by 5 Million Fans

Bearing the inscription, “Built by 5 Million Fans,” the 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S was example of crowdsourcing at its finest. Giving their social media followers the chance to not only take part in a special promotion, but the pride in being able to claim that they contributed to one of the world’s most esteemed cars. Though it was a special one-off model, Porsche were able to gain great insights into what their fans loved about their cars, and what they’d like to see more of.

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