Lamborghini shifts gears for a new digital-first landscape

Powered by Audi Business Innovation's Automotive Visualization Platform, Lamborghini's new real-time car configurator leverages Unreal ... StefanWenz|August17,2021AudiAutomotive&TransportationLamborghiniVWGroupVisualizationWhencarconfiguratorsfirstcameout,theyhadonesimplepurpose:toenableprospectivebuyerstopersonalizetheirvehiclebeforepurchase. Initially,theprocesswouldhavebeenguidedbyasalespersonattheircomputerinadealership,beforewebconfiguratorsenabledpeopletochangetrims,seats,andwheelsfromthecomfortoftheirownhome. Whilepre-salepersonalizationremainstheprimaryfocusofCGcarconfiguration,itisjustthetipoftheiceberg.Becausetheseconfiguratorsareoftenbuiltonpowerfulreal-timeplatforms,theyopenupawholenewworldofmarketingopportunitiestoautomotivecompanies. AtmajorautomakerslikeLamborghini,it’sadynamicthatisprovidingnewandexcitingwaystowowcustomersandclientsalike.   Acomplete,automateddigitalpipeline LamborghiniispartoftheVWGroup,alongsideanumberofotherwell-knownsisterbrandsincludingAudi,Bentley,Bugatti,Porsche,SEAT/Cupra,Škoda,andVolkswagen. WerecentlyexploredhowaninnovationthatstartedatAudihastransformedvisualizationacrosstheentiregroup.TheAutomotiveVisualizationPlatform(AVP)isanUnrealEngine-powereddataconversionpipelinethattakesheavymanufacturingCADdataofafullyconfigurablevehicleandpreparesitforuseinmarketingmaterials. ItprovidestheVWGroupwithacomplete,automateddigitalpipeline—oneinwhichit’spossibletoupdatevehiclesandcontentatthepushofabutton.Inessence,thatmeansyoucancreateeverythingfromcarconfiguratorstomarketingbrochureimagesandslicksocialmediavideosinamatterofminutes.ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.ATheAVPisthebackboneofLamborghini’snewconfigurator.LorenzoBonora,DigitalProductManageratAutomobiliLamborghini,isthemanwhomanagescarconfiguratordevelopmentstrategyatthecompany.HesaysLamborghinirecognizedtheneedforanupdatedcarconfiguratorafterseeingahugestepforwardindigitalvisualqualityandproductconsistencyintheautomotiveindustryoverthelastfewyears.  Thatcomesatatimewhendigitalexperiencesareplayinganevergreaterroleinthecustomerpurchasepath.Whilemostpeopleprobablywon’tbeaddingaLamborghinitotheircartonlineanytimesoon,research,speculativeconfiguration,andexposuretoadvertisingoccurmoreandmoreoftenovertheweb.Lamborghinihasrealizedthis,andwantsin. “Asatopautomotiveluxurybrand,wewanttoofferthebest-in-classvisualizationtoourcustomers,inordertoconveythehighvalueofourproductsanddeliverthebestcustomerexperience,”explainsLorenzo.ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.AThecompany’sexistingconfiguratorwasinneedofanupgradeinordertomeettherequiredlevelofquality.ByswitchingtoasolutionbuiltontheAVP,Lamborghiniwasabletoimprovebothvisualquality—materials,paints,andlighting—andsystemperformance. “Theresultisabetterproductinfastertime,”saysLorenzo.“Indeed,we’reabletoreducethetimetomarketofdigitalvehiclesbyleveragingtheconversionprocessofUnrealtechnology.”    Lamborghinifansandcustomerscanaccess,throughanydevice,awebversionoftheconfiguratorthatenablesthemtoconfiguretheirdreamcar,generateabrochure,andgetauniqueconfigurationcode.CustomerscansharethatcodewiththeirLamborghinidealershipandretrievetheconfigurationinthedealership.ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.AOntheotherside,Lamborghinisalespeoplecanaccessaspecificdealerversionoftheconfiguratorthatfeaturesapackageofmarketingandcommercialtoolscapableofofferingcustomersanenhancedexperienceinthedealership,including3Dstreaming,videos,andhigh-resolutionimages,amongothermedia.“Thesetoolsstrengthenthedealer'simage,visibility,andreputationasanimportantpartoftheLamborghiniworld,”saysLorenzo.  TheAVPismorethanasimplecarconfigurator,however.It’slikeanengine—onethatcanchurnoutbespokemarketingmaterials,lightningfast.Thatmeansit’snotjustusedatthepointofsale—itcanbeusedtocreatehigh-qualityrenderingsofcarsinrealtime,whichcanbeusedtotargetthecustomeratdifferentstagesalongtheirpathtopurchase.ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.ATargetingthedigitaltouchpointecosystem  Beforepurchasingacar,customerswillhitonmultipletouchpointsalongthebuyerjourney.Inpre-internettimes,thosetouchpointsmighthavebeenseeingamagazineorTVadbeforeadealershipvisit.In2021,thetouchpointsareincreasinglydigital. Toolsatthedisposalofmarketersnowincludesocialmediaadverts,YouTubevideos,onlinearticles,websearchads,snapchatfilters—andevenpromotioninvideogames. AsLorenzoexplains,whenitcomestotheautomotivepurchasepath,it’susefultozoomoutandassessthesepointsofcontactasawhole.“Wehavetothinkofthedigitalexperienceasanecosystemmadeupofmultiplemulti-devicetouchpoints,eachwithaspecificusecase,”hesays.“Asafirststep,wewanttoisolateeachphaseoftheconfigurationjourney,eachusecase,identifythedifferentclustersoftouchpointsand,aftertyingthemtogether,buildaseamless,fullyintegratedjourney.”  ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.ALorenzobelievesthatAVPisthebestplatformtohitthisgoal,sinceitis‘ecosystem-driven’:it’sahighlyintegratedvisualizationenginethatcancreatecontentforallofthedigitaltouchpointsmentionedpreviously,offeringnotonlysuper-fastcloudrenderingbutalsohigh-endsolutionsforLamborghini’sretailnetwork. UsingtheAVP,Lamborghinicancreatemillionsofmarketingassetseveryyear,atafractionofthecostoftraditionalmarketing.Thismaterialmightincludebrochuresoftheexactcaracustomerhasbeenlookingatontheshowroomfloororvideoofayet-to-be-releasedmodelinphotorealisticdetail,inwhichbackgrounds,scenery,carspecificationscanbeswappedinoroutinstantly.ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.ABest-in-classreal-timevisualization ForaluxurybrandlikeLamborghini,it’simportanttohaveaworld-classconfigurator.Thebrandissynonymouswithquality,reliability,andtechnicalexcellence.Inaworldwhereasizablechunkofthepurchasepathwaynowhappensonline,thechallengeishowtodigitizesuchaluxuryproduct—tomakeitsorealitfeelsasifthecustomerweretouchingit. “Alongthecustomerjourney,thecarconfiguratorplaysakeyrole,”saysLorenzo.“Thecarconfiguratormustboostemotionsanddesireinthecustomer’sheart,insuchawaythattheycannotwaittoownanddrivetheirownLamborghini.” Evokingfeelingsliketheseisnoeasytask.YouneedalevelofvisualaccuracyandrealismthatdoesjusticetothemajestyofaluxurycarlikeaLamborghini.”WebelieveUnrealEngineoffersthatbest-in-classvisualization,”saysLorenzo.“Italsodelivershighperformanceasituseslessmemoryandresources,andadditionally,theconversionprocesstoUnrealismuchfasterthanbefore—itnowtakesafewhoursinsteadofdays.Thisimprovementisnotonlyabigadvantageintermsofmodelupdatesbutalsoenablesustoconvertideasintoexperimentsanditerateinaveryshorttime.”  ImagecourtesyofAutomobiliLamborghiniS.P.AAworldofnewmarketingopportunities  ThetoolsandtechnologyoftheAVPareimpressive,butthemostpowerfulthingistheideabehindit.Thesystemhasbeendesignedwiththerecognitionthatthecustomerjourneyhasundergoneadigitalshift.  Whenyouunderstandthat,awholeworldofnewopportunitiesopensup.Youcanstarttothinkofnewchannelsandnewwaysofmarketingthatyoumayneverhavetriedbefore. ThepopularvehicularsoccergameRocketLeagueisacaseinpoint.ArecentcollaborationbetweenLamborghiniandRocketLeagueenabledplayerstodrivetheLamborghiniHuracánSTOinthegame.ThatraisestheprofileofoneofLamborghini’snewestroad-legalmodelsandexposesittoahuge,previouslyuntappedaudienceofpotentialcustomers.Videogamesareplayedbymillionsglobally,makingthisagreatexampleoftheinnovativewaysautomotivecompaniescanreachnewcustomersandgainnewfans.ImagecourtesyofPsyonixAswegetclosertotheMetaverse,industriessuchasfashion,automotive,andgamingaregoingtobecomeevermoreconnected.Cross-marketingopportunitieswillabound,whetherthat’sNike-wearingavatarsinFortniteorHuracán-drivingracersinRocketLeague.CompanieslikeLamborghinithatarealreadyinvestingincutting-edgedigitalsolutionsandpowerfulreal-timetechnology-poweredplatformsaresettoreaptherewards. GetUnrealEnginetoday!Gettheworld’smostopenandadvancedcreationtool.  Witheveryfeatureandfullsourcecodeaccessincluded,UnrealEnginecomesfullyloadedoutofthebox. GetstartednowNewsAugust19UnrealEngine4.27released!Creatorsacrossallindustrieshavesomethingtocelebratewiththisrelease:In‑cameraVFXgoesnext-levelwithaslewofefficiency,quality,andease-of-useimprovements,whileotherhighlightsincludepathtracingforstunningfinalimages,out-of-the-boxaccesstoOodleandBink,production-readyPixelStreaming,andmuchmore.NewsUnrealEngine4.27released!Creatorsacrossallindustrieshavesomethingtocelebratewiththisrelease:In‑cameraVFXgoesnext-levelwithaslewofefficiency,quality,andease-of-useimprovements,whileotherhighlightsincludepathtracingforstunningfinalimages,out-of-the-boxaccesstoOodleandBink,production-readyPixelStreaming,andmuchmore.EventNovember22JointheUnrealEnginesimulationteamatI/ITSEC2021UnrealEngineisdrivingover30simulationapplicationsatthebiggestTrainingandSimulationconferenceoftheyear.Seewheretheyare,aswebreakdownkeybooths,keytalks,andrevealwhichMarketplacecontentwillbefreefromtheweekoftheshow.EventJointheUnrealEnginesimulationteamatI/ITSEC2021UnrealEngineisdrivingover30simulationapplicationsatthebiggestTrainingandSimulationconferenceoftheyear.Seewheretheyare,aswebreakdownkeybooths,keytalks,andrevealwhichMarketplacecontentwillbefreefromtheweekoftheshow.EventOctober5Build:ArchitectureBuild:Architecture2021isnowover—ifyoumissedit,youcanwatchrecordingsfromtheeventhereandcatchuponcutting-edgereal-timeprojectsshowcasedbyindustrytrailblazers.EventBuild:ArchitectureBuild:Architecture2021isnowover—ifyoumissedit,youcanwatchrecordingsfromtheeventhereandcatchuponcutting-edgereal-timeprojectsshowcasedbyindustrytrailblazers.