Iconic English automotive brand Rolls-Royce Motor Co. is helping aspirational consumers imagine themselves in its Ghost line of luxury cars with a mobile application.

The iPhone application includes both interactive features, such as the ability to personalize a virtual Ghost vehicle, as well as photo and video content. Rolls-Royce is not looking to directly drive sales using the application, but hopes to create a deeper sense of engagement between consumers and the brand.

?The mobile experience ? and what an organization seeks to achieve through it ? differs greatly depending on the brand and the product involved,? said David Jones, manager of customer relationship marketing and direct marketing at Rolls-Royce, London. ?For Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, we?re looking to use mobile to support the strong personal relationships that our dealers have with our customers and provide engaging, visual content ? not replace these relationships.

?The relationship between an owner or prospective owner and a dealer is already a highly personal one and the relationship is already mobile,? he said. ?They will most likely be in direct contact with each other via mobile email or via mobile telephone.

?The mobile media of our Ghost app also enables us to give our brand enthusiasts an opportunity to visualize the car close-up and provides an insight into the unique pleasure our owners have in making their choices to commission their Ghost.?

Rolls-Royce is a subsidiary of the BMW Group.

How it works
The Rolls-Royce Ghost application is available for free in Apple?s App Store.

When users launch the application, a short video clip plays of the Ghost in action.

Here is a screen grab of the video:

Here is a screen grab of the home page:

The main attraction is the ?Design Your Ghost? feature that lets prospective buyers imagine the specifications they would request on their own Ghost.

Here is a screen grab of the Design Your Ghost feature:



For example, users can choose between different paint styles, types of leather upholstery and between various different selections for tire rims.

Users can also adjust their view of the vehicle by dragging their fingers across the screen.

?Dealers have told us that at events and dinner parties, the ?Design Your Ghost? app has proved a useful conversation starter in terms of being able to show someone the new Rolls-Royce Ghost in an informal, social setting,? Mr. Jones said. ?They view the app as a mobile tool to help showcase our new vehicle to new audiences outside of the usual sales environment.?

In addition, users can view photos and videos of Ghost Vehicles in the Media Library section of the application.

And, the application drives users to the Rolls-Royce Web site when they click either the ?Web site? or ?Find a Dealer? buttons.

Rolls-Royce is targeting both current and prospective owners with the application, and viewed the iPhone as the best channel for reaching those groups.

?Rolls-Royce owners and prospective owners are understandably a unique and select group of people,? Mr. Jones said. ?Feedback from Rolls-Royce dealers all around the world suggested that our customers generally have multiple mobile devices ? of which the iPhone is one.

?So, the choice of the channel was more down to the capabilities of the channel to deliver rich, visually interesting and interactive content ? than to a particular demographic,? he said. ?We have investigated alternative platforms, but none of them seem to offer the capabilities and the immersive user content that the iPhone can.?

The company is eyeing an optimization of its application offerings for the iPad and iPhone 4.

?An app should be optimized to take advantage of the opportunities of the medium ? such as larger screen and better resolution,? Mr. Jones said. ?So don?t be surprised to see us do something in this area soon.?

Luxury car brands embrace mobile
Other luxury sectors balk at the idea of marketing through the mobile medium, fearing that such a strategy is incongruous with their brand images. However, Rolls-Royce and other luxury automotive brands have not been afraid to promote their vehicles in the space.

For example, a Ferrari Maserati dealership in Seattle has been showcasing its offerings with an iPhone application (see story).

Likewise, Mercedes-Benz has been getting the word out about its high-end line of motor vehicles with a variety of mobile tactics, including mobile Web advertisements (see story) and application sponsorships (see story).

?We don?t see [luxury and mobile] as mutually exclusive,? Mr. Jones said. ?The mobile medium for us helps to strengthen the dealer relationship with existing owners and prospective owners, and provides these individuals with a rich, visually immersive and enjoyable experience.

?We?re not looking to sell vehicles via the mobile channel,? he said. ?We?re looking to provide an engaging and compelling reason via the mobile channel for prospective owners to contact a Rolls-Royce dealer to take the discussion further.?

Final Take
Peter Finocchiaro, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York