"Smart and intuitive with finessed details. What buying a car should feel like. Pure joy." —juror Keith Anderson

"The videos were cool, but customizing them to the user's choices made them great! It makes other configurators feel 'lifeless.'" —juror David Young

Overview: Combining a configuration engine with a video driving experience, VW GTI Joyride lets you build the car of your dreams and take it out for a virtual spin. Featuring more than 600,000 possible outcomes and an intimidating copilot, the site offers a one-of-a-kind immersive experience.

• 1 hour of video
• 8 agencies, 6-week development time
• More than 1,000,000 visitors

Comments by Winston Binch:
"We wanted the site to be more than a lead generation tool. It had to be an immersive interactive experience with both the brand and the car. An experience that was fun and focused and that echoed the quality and innovation that comes with a pre-tuned, German-engineered GTI MkV.

"A big goal of ours was to develop assets that let the car's intrinsic value speak for itself from a purely visual perspective. Volkswagen has so many great accessories and we wanted people to be able to have fun with their creation and see as many options as possible.

"We looked around. Everywhere. Not just in the automotive world, but at all customization engines.

"Volkswagen drivers are among the most tech-savvy on the road. Delivering an interactive experience that was anything less than what we came up with would have been, in essence, ignoring our audience's needs and desires. So we set out to design a next-generation configurator that looked great, was easy-to-use, got more people to the dealers and let them virtually experience what it was like to be behind the wheel of their very own customized creation. In total, there are over 600,000 possibilities. 

"We also created a technical infrastructure that's able to support the relatively easy and efficient addition of future models and interactive features. "For me, though, the magic really happens when you hit Watch My Joyride and are instantly greeted by a film featuring your customized car. The speed and seamlessness of the transition between configure and watch was instrumental to delivering this high quality interactive experience."