Volkswagen Smileage: Socialising Road Trips App

Google is rolling out its Art, Copy & Code campaign this summer.

For those who don’t know what it is:  Art, Copy & Code campaign is a series of projects to show how creativity and technology can work together, and Google will be partnering with the likes of Volkswagen, Burberry and adidas and their agencies.

There will also be creative experiments with filmmakers, creative directors and technologists to explore how brands can connect with consumers through a whole range of digital tools, including ads, mobile apps and social media.

First up is Volkswagen with a new ‘social driving’ experience, Volkswagen Smileage.

Conceptualized by Deutsch LA, Smileage is a mobile app, which aims measures the ‘fun factor’ of users’ road trips using the smileage metric, that is based on signals like weather, traffic, location, time and social interactions  – a sunny afternoon drive might get more smileage than a commute in bad weather, for example.

The app can be used with any car, not just VWs, and is powered by the new Google+ sign-in feature.

According to Google, the inspiration for the service came from a recent study showing that every day, 144 million Americans on average spend 52 minutes in a car – 76% of them alone and they wanted to make that time a more shareable experience.

  Adidas, App, Art, Burberry, Campaign, Code, Copy, Deutsch LA, Digital, Google, Mobile, Road, Smileage, Trip, USA, Volkswagen