According to the brand, it is embracing the future of mobility as it was inspired by the virtual realm and gaming trends.

The new commercial portrays the new Volkswagen Polo navigating through a futuristic and gamified version of Mzansi — the Mzansiverse — with digital avatar characters to match.

The brand says that it was inspired by the metaverse and the campaign is powered by the new Polo with IQ.DRIVE. Volkswagen and their creative partners have aimed to mirror the new Polo's features and design with a gamified virtual world where anything is possible.

Sam Coleman, the commercial's director, says that he was passionate about ensuring that Johannesburg, the city the ad was shot and set in, featured as a strong character throughout the ad.

"To recreate Johannesburg but maintain reality was crucial to me," says Coleman. "It was about creating a Johannesburg that has never been seen before. I wanted to feel like a switch had been flicked, taking Johannesburg into the future. Then at the same time, I wanted the characteristics of Johannesburg to still be felt." 

According to Volkswagen, the commercial is leading the way as the first brand commercial, globally, to incorporate NFTs into their ad. Volkswagen has additionally introduced its first-ever NFT collection.

Five unique Polo NFT Collections were created and inserted into the commercial for fans to find in order to stand a chance to win them. The aim was to gamify the fan experience to deliver not only an entertaining ad but one that rewards fans for their participation.

With the Polo being locally manufactured — and in the spirit of Volkswagen's continued commitment to 'Drive Local, Support Local' — the campaign, commercial and NFT collections are all locally created. The local contributors include:
  • Ogilvy Cape Town for the conceptualisation of the '#GameOnVW' campaign
  • Patriot Films for production
  • Polycat for the development of animation and computer-generated imagery
  • Field, a South African music team, for the creation of the commercial soundtrack 
  • Moonchild Sanelly, a South African artist, and
  • Resonate for sound design. 
According to Volkswagen, creating the commercial and the Mzansiverse — alongside 100 unique NFTs — required hundreds of hours of research and pre-production. 

"Our new Polo Mzansiverse commercial and NFT campaign is testament to our brand having an eye on the future. This is not only in the innovation of our vehicles but in our ambition to embrace the passions of our customers and drive evolution in how we engage with them through our marketing executions," says Bridget Harpur, head of marketing for the Volkswagen.

For more information, visit www.vw.co.za. You can also follow Volkswagen on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.