Smart: The Simplest Test Drive Ever

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: MERCEDES-BENZ
Agency: BBDO RUSSIA GROUP
Category: Special Build
Advertising campaign: SMART TWIST: THE SIMPLEST TEST DRIVE EVER
Producer: Anna Chernaya (BBDO Russia Group)
Director: Avdotia Alexandrova (P.P.C.M Enterprise)
Account Supervisor: Christina Tancher (BBDO Russia Group)
Producer: Denis Shushin (BBDO Russia Group)
Executive Creative Director: Igor Lutz (BBDO Russia Group)
Producer: Valery Gorokhov (BBDO Russia Group)
Copywriter: Victor Lander (BBDO Russia Group)
Creative Director: Mihai Coliban (BBDO Russia Group)
Graphics/Animation: Timofey Alexandrov (P.P.C.M Enterprise)
Copywriter: Evgeniy Gavrilchenko (BBDO Russia Group)
Account Supervisor: Anna Sokolova (BBDO Russia Group)
Producer: Daria Yastrubitskaya (P.P.C.M Enterprise)
Advertiser's Supervisor: Ekaterina Geraseva (BBDO Russia Group)
Art Director: Konstantin Tokarev (BBDO Russia Group)
Account Manager: Yana Bader (BBDO Russia Group)
Implementation
We involved a city-wide chain of corporate self-service cafeterias called Cafetera. There are 18 Cafeteras in Moscow’s biggest business centers (total daily audience 10 000 people), a bulls-eye hit into Smart’s target audience: upper-middle class white collars. The lines in Cafeteras during lunch hours are as terrible as the parking situation around them.We noticed that just a simple 900 turn of a tray will increase the number of trays on the counter by 50%. And this is exactly how it feels to park a Smart.
Execution
A simple sticker on a tray turned it into the simplest test drive ever. And the effect of Smart parking is visible immediately, on the counter.
Client Brief Or Objective
Smart by Mercedes is a perfect car for a big city with huge parking problems. In Moscow, it takes an average of 19 minutes a day for a driver to find a parking place. Yet people still try to squeeze their mid-to-large cars into limited places. The task was to drive the audience’s interest in Smart by demonstrating its amazing parking abilities. The results were to be measured by hotline calls and test drive applications.
Outcome
Total people reached by the message: approx. 9000Hotline calls increase vs. planned: 186%Smart Test Drive online applications coming from Smart Twist vs. classic media ads: 26:1 ratioTotal people applying for a test drive: 85 - 250% increase vs. the monthly averageConversion rate 70% - people applying for a Test Drive vs QR code readingsCafetera lines efficiency increase during the promo: 35%