The Brief

China’s car buyers love luxury saloons. The smaller smart car was therefore proving a hard sell. We needed to convert inquiries into sales – quickly. We found the time lapse between initial enquiry and purchase was too long. Buyers were cooling-off, having second thoughts. So we needed to rev up the smart buying experience. We did this by turning car buying into an instant, fun experience by making smart the first car available in China at the click of a mouse.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We partnered with leading e-commerce site Taobao to launch the first-ever e-commerce platform for cars in China. We then created urgency by taking advantage of a new trend in Chinese e-commerce – the practice of ‘Group Buys’. If 200 smarts were bought, we’d give them a 23% discount (regular industry discounts are 10-30%). They could also make a ‘Fast Buy’ in three ways: two opportunities to buy limited stock of model smart cars for 1 RMB, or buy a real smart car for 1 RMB. Three days before launch, we built anticipation by letting key opinion formers know about our plans.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

We proved instant purchase and Group Buys were just what potential smart owners wanted. Our first order arrived within just 24 seconds of launch. The first 60 cars were booked at a rate of 1 every 2 seconds! After just over three hours, we’d booked 200 smarts – a sell out! It was one of the fastest and most exciting car sales in China’s history. Within a month, we’d sold 796 smarts. The month following our campaign, we sold a further 963 units. Average sales before the campaign were only 229 units a month. We achieved a 106% month-on-month sales increase.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Internet shopping offers instant gratification. This is what we needed to offer smart’s young, dynamic audience. Digital media also brought the traditional dealership potentially to millions of people. We then turned a major e-commerce trend sweeping China – Group Buys – to our advantage. By doing this, we ensured one of the most enjoyable cars to drive would also be the easiest to buy. And we also invited the top 20 Taobao store owners to use smart in fashion shoots for their products. Consumers could vote for their favourite shoot, which drove traffic to the site. This reinforced smart’s trendy icon status.