NF500 / publicity

Fiat has revealed another weapon in their onslaught of publicity stunts, this time taking the form of enormous interactive bill-boards placed in the heart of berlin, at the site of Checkpoint Charlie on the corner of Friedrichstraße.

Passers by (or just anyone who reads this and has the ability to do so) can send a text message (to number 84000 password “Fiat 500″), and said message will appear scrolling across a 20 metre metre message strip, as well as appearing like on the official Fiat 500 homepage. We’re assuming they’re monitored for decency prior to being emblazoned on a huge picture of the Fiat 500!

Apparently this latest clever piece of marketing is part of Fiat’s wider strategy to involve Fiat 500 fans from around the world, carrying the rather wordy slogan “500 people’s car, created by the people”.

This interactive “advertising cube” was created by Fiat in partnership with the communication experts Carat Wiesbaden and the agency Magic Touch of Hamburg.

This isn’t the first time the Fiat 500 has benefited from some quirky PR in Berlin, previously they took their smart thinking underground to celebrate Fiat’s victory at the 2008 Car of the Year awards.

Fiat has shot a publicity film in a Moroccan salt lake on the border of Algeria, which shows vehicles from the Fiat range all racing together to form a giant moving Fiat 500 outline.

The tag line takes that annoying sporting and business phrase of “110%” a whole lot further by claiming that every Fiat is 500% Fiat, and is supposed to reflect how every car is significant to the image of the brand, of which the Fiat 500 is supposed to be the embodiment.

The commercial is already on YouTube, and presented below for your entertainment and delight (or something like that anyway).