Stuttgart. smart is accompanying the market launch of the new smart fortwo cabrio, which will arrive in showrooms on 10 March 2016, with a comprehensive campaign across all communication channels focusing on the central creative theme of "Open for anything!". Virtual and digital activities in particular are to be implemented for the particularly iconic model of the new smart generation. One highlight is the "Virtual Test Drive Experience". Between 18 February and the end of March 2016, this will offer prospects in various major European cities an opportunity to experience the merits of the open-top city runabout on a virtual journey of discovery. Along with the Virtual Test Drive, the entire campaign will be extended into the digital world by a campaign under the banner "The Most Open Test Drive", thereby arousing attention on social networks, too. The campaign is to be rounded off in classic media by a TV spot and three print motifs.
"The accompanying campaign is as open-top as the new smart fortwo cabrio, as it makes the feeling of driving a cabriolet most noticeable in a very special way. Virtual test drives show enable the prospects to experience the benefits of summer, sunshine, joie de vivre in the smart fortwo cabrio anytime and everywhere in an amazingly realistic and intensive way”, explains Dr Annette Winkler, Head of smart. In the "Virtual Test Drive Experience", the test driver dons a pair of virtual reality glasses and is transported in the middle of winter to a summery, urbane setting in the front passenger seat, where surprises and unexpected discoveries await them beyond the real world. A 360-degree film conveys not only the merits of the smart fortwo cabrio, but also the highlights of the city. This turns the virtual test drive with the smart fortwo cabrio into a very special experience. The virtual test drive campaign is to take place both at selected dealers and at three-day events in the major European cities of Berlin, Brussels, London and Zurich. The campaign kicks off today in the LP12 Mall of Berlin at Leipziger Platz.
Digital challenge: "The Most Open Test Drive"
The smart fortwo cabrio is also leaving its mark on the web, and on social networks in particular, adeptly extending the overarching creative theme of the campaign. A viral film features pairs of people who know each other very well, such as couples, mother and daughter or best friends. They face a very special challenge in the open-top two-seater. The front passengers read out randomly generated questions to the drivers, who are required to answer them openly with a frank "yes" or "no" while on the move. A lie detector on board the smart fortwo cabrio reveals directly whether the question has been answered truthfully. As soon as the drivers are discovered to have told a lie, the cabrio's soft top is closed and the test drive is ended. The campaign can be seen at
www.smart.com/fortwocabrio and on all national and international smart social media channels, such as YouTube or Facebook.
Classic communication: freedom at the touch of a button
The focus in above-the-line media is also on the liberating feeling of open-top driving. The "First Date" TV commercial (
https://youtu.be/NQnpsu1bGfI) relates in humorous style how opening up the smart fortwo cabrio also teases spontaneous, particularly open confessions out of the car's occupants. In the commercial a young woman, on the first date, spontaneously confesses to her date that she has already planned out their life together. In the commercial "Facebook", used online (
https://youtu.be/sDsxptA5nls), a dad completely unexpectedly admits to his teenage daughter that he has secretly looked at her Facebook profile and knows all of her secrets. While his daughter is nonplussed, it is apparent that the driver feels liberated, and he duly enjoys the journey in the smart fortwo cabrio.
Three print motifs with headlines such as "Opening shortly" or "Open-air hero" continue the campaign in supra-regional magazines, daily newspapers and business media, beckoning the coming cabrio season with a modern and fresh look. Under the claim "Open for anything!", the new smart fortwo cabrio is thus to be presented on all channels as the city car in which the sky's the limit - and not only in terms of driving fun.
The agency K-MB Agentur für Markenkommunikation in Berlin is responsible for the idea behind the "Virtual Test Drive Experience", for developing the corresponding concept and for implementing the campaign. The central creative theme and the digital and classic communication measures have been evolved by BBDO in Berlin.
