DEPT® launches biggest campaign of the year for smart

Integrated communications team smart FLUX has developed the biggest campaign of the year for car brand smart Europe GmbH. Launching on 25 October 2022 under the statement “This is smart”, it marks the start of the pre-order phase for the new compact SUV, smart #1, which will officially launch in the European market at the end of 2022. The campaign shows how effective communication can be when creative, media, data and tech are combined.

smart, which is historically known for primarily solving parking problems in the city with its small vehicles, is transforming itself into a provider of intelligent, premium electromobility as it enters the compact car segment. To support this transformation, smart is radically changing its sales model and communication strategy to a customer-centric, data-based, and hyper-personalised approach. For this, smart relies on the communication group smart FLUX, which designs and controls the marketing for the European market. The latest campaign, “This is smart”,  heralds the pre-order phase of smart’s first compact SUV with the main goal of generating pre-orders for the new vehicle. The campaign was devised and delivered by DEPT®, which is part of smart FLUX.

The campaign faces the challenge of bringing both the new brand positioning and the first member of a new product family closer to smart’s target group. Under the claim “This is smart“, the past and future of the car manufacturer are linked; the launch of the brand’s first compact SUV will show that smart’s well-known avant-garde and future-oriented spirit can be extended to different shapes and sizes. The campaign also positions smart on a cultural level as an advocate and promoter of progressive ideas that allow the target group to look to the future with optimism.

Björn Schick, Chief Experience Officer at smart Europe GmbH: “With “This is smart”, we are starting with the positioning of the smart brand as an ‘urban companion’, which also fully meets the zeitgeist of the modern, urban target group with a product like the smart #1. It’s about future-oriented and solution-oriented ideas that actively enrich people’s everyday lives, such as our digital key which can be shared with a network of friends and thus forms an approach to shared mobility.”

DEPT® was responsible for the creative conception and production of the idea, as well as the development and execution of the full-funnel campaign architecture, which combines an effective media mix, a solid platform, the right tech set-up and data infrastructure into a holistic customer journey. The focus of the campaign is on modern digital formats, touchpoints and channels such as TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Spotify and Twitch.

Together, smart and DEPT® are also focusing on the expansion of creative automation technology, which enables the automated production of thousands of assets and, thus, the creation of hyper-relevant content for CRM, onsite and social media, as well as data-supported adjustments to the creative mid-flight.

Josephine Gerves, Managing Director of smart FLUX, DEPT®, said: “With this campaign, we want to connect with people who care about urban life, mobility and the environment, and who care about interacting with brands that tick like themselves. We have created a brand experience that communicates the attitude of smart; an attitude with which the target group can identify.”