So, we’re back at base after spending a rather cold evening at the official UK launch of the Fiat 500, and we thought we’d share some of the experience with you. Unfortunately our live-link didn’t even get going, let alone die mid-transmission as we expected, so we couldn’t report from the scene, but here’s a few thoughts after the fact.
We arrived in good time after catching a train in from oop North in Milton Keynes, and found our way to the gleaming beacon that is the London Eye with no fuss at all. Outside the queues seemed busy, and quite confused with people dashing here and there, trying to establish what gate they were supposed to be at, if they were a VIP or not… but we rapidly made our way in and had a good look around.
There were a number of new Fiat 500s on display, some unlocked so you could crawl all over, most locked tight. The display was a little unusual in layout, and appeared a little mishap, but people were finding corners to chat with friends, and a decent crowd gathered at the stage before the Virgin radio DJ and compere for the evening took to the stage around 7 pm.
The gathered posse of people were treated to the usual marketing talk and plenty of videos and commercials for the 500 shown on the enormous screen at the back of the stage, and eventually the evenings audio entertainment got underway. The two bands before the 8 pm unveiling (The Vibrant and The Feeling) did their bit to a pretty small but appreciative audience, as ever the enthusiastic ones huddled at the front of the stage, while the rest of us stood shivering towards the back watching on, sipping on our free hot drinks (thanks Fiat) while taking in the sights and sounds.
The evening was slickly presented, and all the acts went down well, the only complaint in the entertainment department would be the acts didn’t have very long on stage, even Mika, the headline act (alongside the Fiat 500 itself, of course) only managed a handful of tunes before making his way from the stage. Following Mika’s departure a VJ then took over, but by that time the place was almost deserted as most people had seen what they came for, and it was a school night after all!
I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several events of a similar nature to the Fiat 500 launch, and although you can’t complain when things are free, I’m afraid I will have to take issue with a few things I think Fiat could have done better. For a start, one big problem was the rather damp reception the Fiat itself seemed to get at the ‘big’ 8 o’clock unveiling. Part of this, I’m absolutely certain, is because for all the build up and hype leading up the ‘big reveal’, everyone there had already had the opportunity to look at and crawl all over the other Fiat 500s that were already on display. So to the crowd of people watching, there was no big reveal. What would, to us at least, have made more sense would have been to use the rather excellent classic Fiat 500 covers to keep all the Fiat 500s present under wraps until 8 o’clock launch, that way people may have actually been intrigued and a little more excited about seeing the car on stage.
Another problem with the 8 o’clock crescendo was people literally didn’t know where to look. The London Eye itself was apparently supposed to be the focus of attention, but that was adjacent to the stage with the audience in the middle, on the stage various pyrotechnics and flashing lights were all kicking off, and you could sense a little bewilderment in the crowd as they look back and forth between the London Eye and the stage, trying to take everything in at once. It, like a lot of the evening, felt a little messy and even poorly managed to us.
Overall, I would say the entertainers and musicians did a professional job, the radio DJs managed to get through their lines competently, if perhaps a little under enthusiastically.
I’d love to come back from the evening and be buzzing, write a glowing report of the car and the night, but I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity many things could have, and should have been done better. It’s like the ideas where there, at least in part, but the execution was a little half hearted. I’m sure it will look good on TV and sound impressive on the radio, but for us being there, it was fun, the venue fantastic, but could have been so very much better.
If you were at the London Eye event, or indeed at your local dealer’s launch event, we’d love to hear how you enjoyed yourself too.
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