Since its debut last year, the new FIAT 500 has been one of the most talked about small cars in Europe. Now people in Berlin can share their thoughts on the 500 with th everyone in the immediate vicinity. A pair of billboards installed near the former Checkpoint Charlie reflect the words of passers-by. Along with videos and other messages, the 3,100-square foot boards also invite viewers to send a text message to a special number. The messages then scroll across a 65-foot wide ticker on each board. Presumably the messages are moderated in some way (either human or automated) before they appear on the boards, otherwise this PR stunt could get very interesting.
[Source: Fiat]
PRESS RELEASE
The Fiat 500 speaks out in Berlin
The Fiat 500 continues to get itself talked about and once again in innovative and spectacular style. In the heart of Berlin at the legendary Checkpoint Charlie, on the corner of Friedrichstraße, the new Italian cult car calls out to passers-by from the top of a huge advertising cube with videos, messages in lights and giant hoardings.
From two hoardings, each measuring 288 square metres, the Fiat 500 invites passers-by to send a text (password "Fiat 500", number 84000). The result is a 20 metre message strip with scrolling messages and greetings that also appear live on the homepage of the new Fiat 500 via Rss-Feed.
This original campaign fits perfectly into a marketing strategy that sets out to involve fans from around the world with the slogan "500 people's car, created by the people" Suffice it to say that 3,000,000 people have contributed ideas to the Fiat 500 project by visiting the website http://www.500wantsyou.com/.
This sensational outdoor campaign in the very heart of Berlin was created by Fiat together with the communication experts Carat Wiesbaden and the agency Magic Touch of Hamburg.
Incidentally, the Fiat 500 has already caused great interest in the German capital: the prestigious "Car of the Year 2008" prize won by the Fiat 500 what was handed over at a ceremony in Berlin on 28 January. To mark the occasion a ground-breaking initiative has been organised in the German capital, which involved a car manufacturer using part of its underground rail network for the very first time. From the beginning of 2008 until 27 January, two Fiat 500s painted in the exclusive pearl white body shade, were seen on a flatbed railtruck being drawn by a train. As the train went through each of the 170 stations, U-Bahn travellers were able to admire the tiny Fiat.
James Garner recovering from mild stroke
VIDEO: God's ringtone is a V10-powered Audi R8
IIHS releases official results on the smart fortwo
Tragedy at LeMons: Send love and a little bit more
Officially Official: New Ferrari California exposed!
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang
Future Classic: 1984 Chrysler Minivans
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
First Drive: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen
Project Track Slut, Part One: Pick a weapon on the cheap
_thumbnail.jpg "Lamborghini Reventon unboxed in Las Vegas")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
joe @ May 8th 2008 7:53PM
i think that link is wrong. Was it a literal translation of a german link? it shows up as one of the domain squater sites with links to advertisers when i try it.
Aprime @ May 8th 2008 7:59PM
lol, a URL error in a press-release.
Can't wait to hear about the reliability if they can't even put out press releases correctly. :V
Sam Abuelsamid @ May 8th 2008 8:08PM
It's possible the domain was hijacked
Aprime @ May 8th 2008 8:29PM
Eh, these companies usually take over the domains after they 'expire', if Fiat couldn't renew the damn thing it's their own fault. ¬_¬
DNS hijacks are rare and totally uncommon ground with domain holders like this.
montoym @ May 8th 2008 8:01PM
I'd like to see the 500 available in the US.
With Alfa Romeo making a comeback and Ford bringing the Fiesta. We need more mini cars here. They are fun little runabouts. We need them with small, diesel engines as well. Nothing like 60mpg and torque!!
Andrew @ May 9th 2008 8:19AM
Nothing says, "I hate cars" more than driving a diesel subcompact. Listen to a 3-cylinder diesel SmartCar drive by and you'll know what I mean.
montoym @ May 9th 2008 12:19PM
I can't say I've heard a 3cyl diesel Smart. But, I'd doubt that the Smart diesel is built as a "fun" car more than an economical one. Many of the newer diesels sound nothing like diesels of old, or at least very little and are much more akin to small gas engines.
That said, I'd still rather hear an internal combustion engine of any type than the whirr of an electric engine or nothing at all.
LoneWolf @ May 8th 2008 8:26PM
Hehe, it's only a matter of time to the sentence "All your Base are belong to us"
rouse42 @ May 9th 2008 1:18AM
http://www.fiat500.com/eng/
Jorge @ May 9th 2008 10:34AM
This place in particular is a part of history, in particular when two Germanys existed and this was one of the pinnacles of east vs west, too bad you can´t take a picture there without the car billboard. Im glad that thing wasnt there when I visited last year.
Travis @ May 9th 2008 2:36PM
god I want that Abarth 500, or even better, the SS version. price it at or slightly below the Mini, and I'll give you my deposit right now...