BBDO Moscow Offers A Smart Solution To Stranded Motorists

BBDO Moscow Offers A Smart Solution To Stranded Motorists

If one of the arts of advertising is solving people's problems, then BBDO Moscow, with their recent experiential campaign for Smart cars, are some of the smartest artists around. Noticing that the emerging Russian middle class preferred big, expensive cars to smaller models, the brand found it difficult to convince any to consider Smart as an alternative or second vehicle. However, the agency knew that if people were to test drive the Smarts they'd fall in love. So do you get them in the car?

The solution was rooted in the problem of owning a larger vehicle. Due to a lack of car parking spaces in Moscow, most illegally parked cars are picked-up during the weekend shopping. Once car-less, the drivers would go through a real ordeal to get their cars back, involving exorbitant and lengthy cab rides through the city's traffic. Seeing this opportunity, BBDO organised for Smart Teams to jump in and offer free test rides, in Smart cars, to their destination.

We spoke to Deputy Creative Director of BBDO Moscow, Sergey Kozhevnikov, about the genesis of the campaign, the reaction of the saved motorists and if he's suffered a towing himself!

When did you get involved in the Smart Car project?

I have been creating campaigns for Smart since the brand appeared on the Russian market. In spite of the European market, official sales of Smart in Russia started September 2012. Before that Russian motorists didn't know the brand very well, except for small groups of Smart fans who were buying Smart products from secondary market.

Where did the idea spark from? Have you been guilty of a spot of dubious parking yourself?

We have put a lot of effort to search insights and motivations of the target audience, but after we presented the ideas to the client, knowing the difficulty with the perception of a new market for the brand, we still were not satisfied by the way promotion of Smart went. We were looking for a simple and effective solution. The idea was a real spark.

The results of the first sales showed us that consumers don't like going for test drives, they'd simply ignore a small automobile. This makes it more complicated to demonstrate all advantages of Smart in a congested city. We also realized a special thing about the Russian market - those who had a chance to drive Smart mostly buy it as a second car for the weekday's trips to work, because of its mobility and absence of parking problems. Then we started thinking about situations where "Smart" will be useful and convenient, with minimum required actions from car owners to take part in the test drive. And that's when we got the idea - almost every one of us have had a car towed.

How long did the activity run for? Did you run in to any problems?

The activity ran for 3 days near 8 malls in downtown Moscow, where parking problem is urgent. The rate of filling the city with new cars is a lot higher than the appearance of new parking spaces. According to statistic data, average parking searching time in downtown Moscow is 20 minutes. Not everyone is willing to spend so much time looking for a free spot, that's why most of the cars are parked on not allowed parking places. One unexpected problem we got during the operation was illegal cab drivers, who were offering their service to the owners of towed cars for a big money.

What was the response from the members of the public involved?

The operation got positive results. We believe that saved car owners became Smart fans. Most importantly, we turned such an unpleasant event as towing a car into a positive brand experience. Not only victims got involved, but also random pedestrians, who were signing up for a drive too.
 

Do you think the public opinion of Smart Cars the campaign combats is a uniquely Russian one or more widely felt? Do you think that campaign would have worked in other territories?

We got an interesting experience during this event. In our favour, the idea of unexpected test drives can be scaled easily and used in any place needed.

Were you happy with the results? Have you seen more Smart Cars zooming around?

It's very important to us that the case got good reviews on many car sources, including headquarters Mercedes-Benz Smart, as the most effective. Our goal is not just making Smart sales higher, but also creating a community of Smart fans in Russia - people who will fall in love with this unusual automobile brand.

What's up next for you?

Smart is one of those unique brands that everyone can dream to work with. The product's ideology is so strong, that ideas keep appearing and we hope that there are lots of great and breaking-through campaigns ahead of us, especially because Russian market for Smart is still forming and we have to use this unique moment.

Posted on 28th May 2013