2018 Brand Experience & Activation

TALKING SCRATCHES

TitleTALKING SCRATCHES
BrandMERCEDES-BENZ RUSSIA
Product/ServiceSMART AUTOMOBILE
Category B02. Use of Ambient Media: Large Scale
Entrant BBDO Moscow, RUSSIA
Idea Creation BBDO Moscow, RUSSIA
Credits
Name Company Position
Sergey Kozhevnikov BBDO Russia Group Creative Director
Alexandra Dedyukina BBDO Russia Group Copywriter
Sergey Egorov BBDO Russia Group Senior Art Director
Anna Sokolova BBDO Russia Group Client Services Director
Kamila Narimanova BBDO Russia Group Account Manager
Valery Gorokhov BBDO Russia Group Senior Producer

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

We reminded to potential customers that 'smart' - the perfect car for the city. Driving this maneuverable and comfortable vehicle means easy and safe parking.

Background

In Moscow, parking of shopping malls is a driver’s hell. Crowded space with narrow parking lots and the lack of room for maneuver causes stress for drivers and problems for cars. We chose it to show the advantages of a new smart, compact and maneuverable city car that is much easier to park.

Describe the creative idea

We noticed that paint scratches on columns are a well-known symbol that reminds drivers that every car is in danger.. …But not in case of smart, a perfect car for big city parking. Driving this maneuverable and comfortable vehicle means easy and safe parking. And that's what we wanted to tell potential customers.

Describe the strategy

TA: “Responsible materialists", 25-55, families, high income. Consider having easy going, comfortable, high quality 2nd of 3rd car in the family (after sedan and SUV) for multi purposeful, multi parking city/district trips. But big car's owners have a lot of problem in city, especially with parking. We found out that this fear can be turned into joke — by turning a scratched column into a communication point in one simple move.

Describe the execution

We went to one of the most visited Moscow car parks, right in the heart of the city. Our clear message was delivered with a fun and witty phrase that could be easily read. The message finished with the smart website address. Graffiti's phrases: – Think smart. www.smart.ru – Parking doesn’t fit you? www.smart.ru – Smaller car – less problems. www.smart.ru – Are you sure that scars adorn? www.smart.ru Hundreds of drivers got our messages.

List the results

The message was clear: a compact car is much easier to park. We created a very simple solution that reached the target audience with the bull’s-eye accuracy. The campaign lasted for 1 month, and over 350 000 shopping mall visitors faced our activation.