Parking in the city is rarely fun, so BBDO Germany turns a regular test drive for the smart fortwo into an interactive parking game inspired by musical chairs.
An iPhone app plays music and directs teams around central Berlin. When the music stops, teams have to find a parking spot immediately. The last team to park and verify their location with a photo upload is eliminated. The competition runs out of the smart Center Berlin, where eight teams battle to become Berlin’s first “parKING”.
How the game works as a test drive
The mechanism is simple. A timed audio cue creates urgency. GPS-style direction turns the city into the board. Photo proof keeps it honest. Underneath the playfulness, every round forces the product truth the brand wants to dramatize. In a dense city, a small car that can slip into tight spots changes the outcome.
In urban European mobility marketing, turning a functional advantage into a public game is a reliable way to make a test drive feel like entertainment rather than evaluation.
Why it lands
It converts a daily friction into a competitive moment, then makes the proof visible. People do not need to be told that parking is painful. They already feel it. The activation reframes that pain as a challenge where speed, composure, and the vehicle’s city fit are the deciding factors.
Extractable takeaway: If your product benefit only matters in a real context, stage a rule-based experience that forces the context to happen. Then let the rules make the benefit obvious without narration or feature lists.
What to steal for your next activation
- Build the experience around one constraint. Here it is time pressure when the music stops. One constraint keeps the story legible.
- Use verification that audiences trust. Photo proof is simple and public. It prevents the “this is fake” reaction.
- Turn the environment into the media. The streets of Berlin are not a backdrop. They are the gameplay.
- Make the rules do the branding. When the win condition is aligned with the product truth, the brand message arrives naturally.
A few fast answers before you act
What is parKING in one sentence?
It is a city-wide parking game that turns a smart fortwo test drive into musical chairs, guided by an iPhone app and enforced with photo verification.
Why does a game work better than a normal test drive here?
Because it creates stakes and a clear outcome. A standard test drive is private and subjective. A game produces winners, losers, and shareable proof.
What makes this feel “made for Berlin” instead of generic?
The rules depend on dense city parking reality. The city’s constraints are the point, so the activation feels native to the environment.
What is the main risk when brands copy this pattern?
Misaligned rules. If the game’s win condition does not directly demonstrate the product truth, you end up with a fun event that does not build the intended belief.
