SMART CABRIO ALLEY

TitleSMART CABRIO ALLEY
BrandMERCEDES-BENZ
Product / ServiceSMART CABRIO
CategoryA01. Posters
EntrantBBDO CHINA Beijing, CHINA
Entrant Company BBDO CHINA Beijing, CHINA
Advertising Agency BBDO CHINA Beijing, CHINA
Advertising Agency 2 PROXIMITY BEIJING, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Leong Wai Foong BBDO Greater China Executive Creative Director
Arthur Tsang BBDO Beijing Executive Creative Director/Copy Director
Howard Mok BBDO Beijing Deputy Executive Creative Director/Art Director
Gin Tee BBDO Beijing Creative Director/Art Director
Woody Hu BBDO Beijing Creative Group Head/Art Director
Lakuta Li BBDO Beijing Creative Group Head/Copy Director
Magic Xu BBDO Beijing Senior Art Director
Digi Wu BBDO Beijing Group Account Director
Fred Wang BBDO Beijing Account Manager

Brief Explanation

In a city infamous for smog and air pollution it is little wonder that convertibles do not sell well. Our task was to help reframe the benefits of the soft top smart while remaining true to the core of smart’s ultimate city car positioning. The objective was to be able to make walk-in customers at dealerships, who would come with the intent of enquiring about a regular smart, to consider or change their interest to the cabrio.

The Brief

To promote awareness of the smart fortwo cabrio in showrooms in Beijing. While the regular smart fortwo is generally well-known to the public, popularity of the cabriolet version is very low. Across the city, smart sells a tiny proportion of the soft top leading to a back-log in inventory.

How the final design was conceived

In the true manner of the smart brand, we wanted to humorously reframe the physical properties and abilities of the car. With the soft top down, the smart fortwo cabrio can offer a complete panoramic vista… up. This offers a unique view of the city, where space is limited and the majority of people live their lives and stories above the ground. In order to complete the experience, we placed the multi-perspective artwork directly above a smart fortwo cabrio in the dealership.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The response to the design was unexpectedly positive. Dealerships reported a five-fold increase in the sale of the cabrio across the city and all the sales were made from dealerships where we had installed the campaign. Not only that but inquires for test drives were also increased by 20% and general dealership traffic improved significantly over the campaign period. Anecdotally dealers did report that some customers had come to visit the dealerships based on word of mouth about the campaign.