TxDOT Don’t mess with Texas® Case Study
The Challenge:
The Don’t mess with Texas(R), remains permanently ingrained in the state’s psyche and is recognized around the world. But maybe not as the Texas Department of Transportation had hoped. The phrase had taken on a life of its own as something beyond the original intent. The state wanted to refocus the energy around the brand to the original intent. Don’t mess with Texas means don’t litter. Geomedia was engaged to help gamify ananti-littering concept as TxDOT was cross-crossing the state with the educational message.
Objectives:
Create an experience that’s just as fun as it is memorable, while also incentivizing Texans to properly dispose of their trash and keep Texas highways clean.
Gamify the message of the campaign via a virtual reality (VR) experience, that could travel and be easy to execute.
Solutions:
Geomedia developed a VR game to virtually place users into an interactive, 360-degree scene of a picturesque Texas roadside. In the play area of the game, virtual garbage items, resembling some of the most common offenders of Texas litter, were scattered at the players’ feet and around the playfield. The game allowed players to use the VR headset and controllers to become immersed in this scene and pick up the trash. The objective was to gamify the importance of throwing trash into trash cans, opposed to tossing it out on the side of the road. Immersed in a beautiful landscape, modeled after a real Texas roadside in Fredericksburg,Texas, participants are challenged to earn points for each piece of trash they throw away and are encouraged to shoot for high score in the time allotted to each VR experience.
Results:
When the Don’t mess with Texas VR station debuted as an attraction at the PGA Valero Texas Open, the station was beloved by participants and guests. The attraction accomplished the goal of recentering the understanding of Don’t mess with Texas means don’t litter, while also being a memorable, fun, and innovative approach to extending the campaign’s reach.