BlaBlaCar Daily’s Carpooling Month challenge encouraged its community to share more everyday journeys and progress through five experience levels in its app.
To bring those digital badges into the real world, BlaBlaCar Daily worked with Hercules Merchandise on a collection of custom pennants. Each colour-coded design represented one of the campaign’s levels and was created to be displayed inside the cars where everyday carpooling takes place.
Encouraging everyday carpooling
BlaBlaCar Daily is BlaBlaCar’s service dedicated to short-distance, everyday carpooling, particularly regular journeys between home and work.
From 1 to 30 June 2026, the company organised its “Mois du covoit’” challenge, primarily for users connected to its partner businesses and territories.
The campaign focused on progress. Participants completed journeys and worked towards higher experience levels in the BlaBlaCar Daily app. Whenever an eligible user reached a new badge, they were automatically entered into the corresponding prize draw.
Participants who advanced through several levels gained several opportunities to win. This gave both new and regular carpoolers a reason to take part, rather than recognising only the most experienced members of the community.
Five badges, each with its own identity
The Carpooling Month challenge featured five experience levels:
- Explorateur
- Baroudeur
- Pilier de la route
- As du covoit
- Super covoitureur
Each level had its own badge and colour:
- Bronze for Explorateur
- Silver for Baroudeur
- Yellow and gold for Pilier de la route
- Green for As du covoit
- Purple for Super covoitureur
Together, the five badges created a clear visual journey through the campaign. BlaBlaCar Daily asked Hercules Merchandise to translate this digital system into a coordinated collection of physical pennants.
The designs needed to belong to the same family while keeping every level easy to recognise. A shared layout provided consistency, while the different colours gave each pennant its own identity.
Taking the campaign beyond the app
The connection between the product and the campaign was immediate. These were not generic promotional items featuring only a corporate logo. Each pennant represented a badge that users could encounter and unlock in the BlaBlaCar Daily app.
Designed to hang from an interior rear-view mirror, the pennants placed the campaign inside the everyday environment of its audience. The digital badges existed on users’ screens; their physical versions could be displayed in the cars used for shared journeys.
This made the pennants a natural extension of the campaign. They connected an online experience with a recognisable object without requiring a separate visual concept.
A simple and consistent design system
BlaBlaCar Daily wanted the collection to feel simple and uncluttered. Plain backgrounds allowed the badges to remain the main visual element, while contrasting borders gave each design more definition.
All five pennants followed the same overall structure. The background colour, badge artwork and finishing details were then adapted to the corresponding experience level.
This consistent approach was important. If the designs had been too different, the collection would have lost its unity. If they had been almost identical, the hierarchy between the levels would have been less clear.
Colour provided the balance. Users familiar with the badges in the app could understand the relationship between the five physical designs at a glance.
Why the purple pennant stood out
The purple Super covoitureur badge represented the highest experience level in the BlaBlaCar Daily app. It also became the most requested pennant during the campaign.
As interest grew among users, BlaBlaCar Daily ordered an additional run focused on the purple version.
The response to this design reflected the position of Super covoitureur within the badge system. The five levels created a progression, while the purple badge provided a clear destination at the top.
Turning that status into a physical item gave it a visible presence outside the app. The pennant could be displayed in the setting most closely connected to the achievement itself: the user’s car.
Connecting physical merchandise with a digital community
BlaBlaCar Daily’s Carpooling Month campaign already had a strong structure, with five levels, recognisable colours and a clear reason for users to progress. The custom pennants extended that existing idea rather than introducing an unrelated giveaway.
They gave the badges a physical form, increased the visibility of the campaign and created an item suited to the daily habits of its audience.
For organisations planning a similar campaign, the choice of merchandise should begin with the community and the context. Where will the item be used? How does it connect with the activity being promoted? Does the design already mean something to the recipient?
In this case, the answer was already present in the campaign. BlaBlaCar Daily supplied the five badges and the community behind them. The pennants gave those digital identities a place inside the car.
Create your own custom pennants
Custom pennants can be adapted for communication campaigns, corporate events, sports clubs, membership programmes and community initiatives.
Whether you need one design or a coordinated collection of colour-coded versions, Hercules Merchandise can help you create a product that reflects your visual identity and its intended use.
Discover our custom pennants or contact us to discuss your project.
Article written by Cédric
Member of the Hercules Merchandise team, specialising in merchandise for sports clubs and associations.
