Mercedes-Benz Interactive Print Ad

The interactive print ad mania continues. After RWB and Axa, we have Mercedes Benz joining in with their ad for the new Mercedes CL63 AMG. Here, “interactive print” means a printed ad that triggers a second action beyond the page itself.

Why “interactive print” keeps showing up

Print is fighting for attention against screens, so the stronger responses are the ones that make print behave a little more like digital. That works because the page stops acting like a finished message and starts acting like a trigger, which gives people a reason to continue.

Extractable takeaway: Interactive print works when the page creates one obvious next step that makes the brand promise feel more vivid, not when it adds novelty without payoff.

In brand marketing, this matters because print only earns another look when it turns attention into a deliberate next step.

What Mercedes-Benz is trying to do

The real question is not whether print can be made interactive, but whether the interaction makes the brand feel more immediate and memorable.

Interactive print is only worth doing when the mechanic sharpens the brand idea rather than distracting from it.

For Mercedes-Benz, the business intent is to make the CL63 AMG feel more active, premium, and attention-worthy by turning a static print placement into a more engaging brand encounter.

The useful takeaway for brands

  • Give print a job. Not just to inform, but to activate.
  • Keep the interaction obvious. If the mechanic needs explanation, it dies on the page.
  • Let the reveal earn the attention. The payoff should justify the extra step.

A few fast answers before you act

What is this Mercedes-Benz post pointing to?

It points to Mercedes-Benz joining the interactive print wave with an execution for the Mercedes CL63 AMG.

What were the earlier references in this interactive print trend?

Earlier examples referenced here include the RWB execution and an AXA-related print activation.

What is the core mechanic of interactive print ads?

The print ad becomes a trigger that invites a second step, so the experience continues beyond the page.

Why does the format matter in 2011?

It helps print compete by creating engagement rather than relying on a static message alone.

What should brands learn from this format?

Brands should use interactivity only when it makes the printed asset more useful, more memorable, or more aligned to the brand idea.

Fiat Street Evo

Leo Burnett Iberia has launched a new app called Fiat Street Evo, described as a “not-printed” car catalogue. A catalogue that is virtually on every street in your city.

Fiat Street Evo recognises traffic signs as if they were QR codes and associates each sign with a feature of the new Fiat Punto Evo. For example, a STOP sign points you to braking. A curve-ahead sign points you to intelligent lighting that guides you through bends. The list continues across the everyday signage you pass without noticing.

When street furniture becomes a product demo

The mechanism is a neat inversion of the usual brochure logic. Instead of printing a catalogue and hoping people keep it, the city becomes the index. Your camera becomes the browser, and the sign becomes the trigger. Here, “street furniture” means the signs and fixtures already in public space.

In automotive launch marketing, the strongest mobile ideas turn the real world into media without asking people to change their routine.

Why it lands

It reframes “specs and features” as discovery. You do not read a list. You unlock a feature in context, tied to a symbol you already understand. That makes the catalogue feel lighter, and it makes exploration feel like play rather than research. This pattern is stronger than a brochure-style feature list because it earns attention through context, not interruption.

Extractable takeaway: Product education travels further when it is organised around familiar cues in the environment, not around the brand’s feature taxonomy.

What Fiat is really trying to achieve

The real question is whether you can make the phone the first place curiosity goes by attaching product education to cues people already recognise. This kind of execution is doing two jobs at once. It builds attention for a new model, and it makes the phone the first place curiosity goes. That matters because the intent moment is not always at a dealership. It is often on the street, in motion, and in between other tasks.

Patterns to borrow for mobile launch marketing

  • Borrow existing symbols. Traffic signs already carry meaning. Use that meaning as your information architecture.
  • Keep the mapping intuitive. The sign-to-feature link should feel obvious, or people will drop the experience.
  • Design for quick sessions. One sign. One feature. One payoff. Repeat when you feel like it.
  • Make “catalogue” feel like exploration. A sense of discovery beats a long scroll of specifications.
  • Use the city as distribution. When the triggers are everywhere, frequency becomes effortless.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Fiat Street Evo in one sentence?

It is a mobile catalogue concept that recognises traffic signs and uses each sign to reveal a related Fiat Punto Evo feature.

Why call it a “not-printed car catalogue”?

Because the “pages” are distributed across the city as street signs. The phone becomes the reader, and the street becomes the catalogue.

What makes the sign-to-feature mapping important?

The mapping is the comprehension layer. If the association feels natural, users keep going. If it feels random, the idea collapses into novelty.

What is the biggest execution risk?

Recognition reliability. If the app struggles to identify signs in real conditions, people will not persist beyond the first attempt.

What should you measure in a pilot?

Successful recognitions per session, repeat usage, time-to-first-payoff, and whether the experience increases search, dealership visits, or brochure requests.

Fanta: Lift & Laugh

A school elevator that refuses to stay boring

Ogilvy Brazil sought to reinforce Fanta’s brand image of “joy” in the USA. So they came up with an elevator prank called “Lift & Laugh”.

An elevator in a school in Atlanta was chosen to arouse students curiosity and laughter. In the elevator they installed a device that responded to the movements and comments from the students.

The mechanic: a responsive space that reacts back

This works by turning a routine moment. waiting for an elevator ride. into an interaction loop. The environment listens, then answers in real time, so the people inside start experimenting to see what triggers the next reaction.

An ambient ad is a brand experience placed in an everyday setting, where the setting itself becomes the medium and the message is delivered through participation.

In youth and soft drink marketing, “joy” only sticks when it is felt in-the-moment, not just claimed in a tagline.

The real question is whether your experience design can make play discoverable without instructions.

Why the prank lands with students

It creates instant permission to play. The elevator is a confined stage, the reactions are immediate, and the group dynamic amplifies everything. If one person laughs, everyone joins, and the experience escalates without needing instruction.

Extractable takeaway: When the audience’s own movement or words trigger an immediate response, the fun feels earned and becomes more likely to be retold.

The business intent: make joy a repeatable brand behavior

This is not just a one-off gag. It is a proof point for a positioning idea. Fanta turns dull places into fun places. If the experience is good enough, the brand gets earned attention plus social retell value without needing to push product features.

In the end many students did not want to get off the elevator and asked for a repeat trip.

What to steal if you want an experience people replay

  • Make the interaction discoverable. People should learn the rules by trying, not by reading.
  • Reward experimentation fast. Short feedback loops create momentum.
  • Design for groups, not individuals. Laughter spreads socially. Build for that amplification.
  • Anchor the behavior to your brand. The “why” should map cleanly to what you stand for.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Fanta’s Lift & Laugh?

It is an elevator prank experience where the elevator reacts to students’ movements and comments, turning a normal ride into a playful, responsive brand moment for Fanta.

Where did the activation take place?

It was staged in a school in Atlanta, using a real elevator as the experience space.

How does the elevator prank create engagement?

It uses immediate cause and effect. People try something, the elevator responds, and the group starts experimenting together to trigger more reactions.

Why does this work especially well with students?

The elevator becomes a contained stage and laughter spreads socially. One reaction gives others permission to play, which escalates the experience quickly.

What makes this “ambient advertising” rather than a standard ad?

The everyday environment becomes the medium. The message is delivered through participation in a real situation, not through a screen or a slogan.

What should brands learn from this format?

If you want “fun” as a brand attribute, build it into a situation people already live. Then make participation the delivery mechanism, not a message about participation.