Aston Martin solidifies mobile strategy with second app launch

Experience Aston Martin

British automaker Aston Martin is cementing its presence in mobile with the launch of a new application called the Aston Martin Experience.

Available for iPhone, the app incorporates the phone’s GPS and camera features as well as a variety of interactive experiences found in the first Explore app that featured an accelerometer, speedometer and interactive tours. It is available for $5.99 in Apple’s App Store.

“The Explore app features all of the best Aston Martin content, including rich videos, interactive factory tours, images and product leaks,” said Dan Lowden, vice president of marketing at Digby, Austin, TX.

“For the Experience app, Aston Martin has expanded the application to include utilities meant to enhance the driving experience as well as content to reflect the Aston Martin lifestyle,” he said.

“The ability to explore exotic drives, bars, restaurants and other destinations reinforces the type of brand associations that Aston Martin is targeting. Very cool stuff.”

Aston Martin was not available for comment. Mr. Lowden agreed to comment as a third-party expert.

The brand launched its first app, Aston Martin Explore, in December (see story).

Moving the needle
The Experience app draws on its predecessor, Explore, to highlight Aston Martin vehicles using accelerometer and speedometer features.

The brand certainly knows how to market its application, as the Explore app has more than 50,000 downloads (see story).

Designed to sound and look like some facets indicative of Aston Martin models, users can press a button to “rev” their iPhone engines with the accelerometer.

Users can also use the app to judge the speed of their own cars via the Aston Martin speedometer feature.

Consumers can try out different branded models including the V8 and V12 Vantage, DB9, DBS, Rapide and One-77.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage speedometer

The Experience app incorporates a city guide which highlights 40 cities worldwide. Users can use the app to find bars, restaurants and hotels.

The app uses the iPhone’s GPS to discover the nearest roads and destinations.

The GPS finds the closest roads

A telemetry feature is also included. This uses the app’s accelerometer and gyroscope to display the G Force placed on the vehicle. Users can share this via social media.

Aston Martin telemetry feature

“The telemetry and speedometer utilities of the Experience app are highly advanced, and likely one-of-a-kind, in terms of their usage of the phone’s accelerometers to measure G-force,” Mr. Lowden said.

0-30 in 5.99
The Explore app is multifaceted and in-depth. Therefore, it takes up a considerable amount of room on an iPhone.

“It took us 30 minutes to download it,” Mr. Lowden said.

This elongated download time could frustrate users who do not have a reliable Internet connection, or the time to spend waiting on the download.

Furthermore, the copious amount of data could hinder consumers from downloading the app if they are unsure whether or not it is worth that much real estate in their iPhones.

The Experience app costs $5.99, while the Explore app is free. This could possibly confuse consumers or dissuade them from purchasing the new app.

“Explore has all of the beautiful Aston Martin branded content that a user would expect out of the Aston Martin application, for free,” Mr. Lowden said. “The incremental utility added to the Experience app pay version is interesting, but may be difficult to associate with the $5.99 purchase price.

“For those who love the Aston Martin brand, both apps give you a great experience that provide you with a taste of what driving one in real life would be,” he said.

Final Take
Rachel Lamb, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York

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Tags: Aston Martin, Aston Martin Experience app, Aston Martin Explore app, luxury, luxury marketing