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IAA 2013: Walk of Innovations

The 65th Internationale Automobil Ausstellung (IAA) has been running in Frankfurt am Main for the past two weeks. So on Saturday I decided to go for the motor show to catch up on the latest cars and also see first hand the much anticipated Nissan Nismo Watch.

Most of the car makers in this year’s show were also present in IAA 2011. In fact they were even located in the same stands as 2011, with the same high tech touch displays to promote their cars. The difference was that their 2013 car models were now more hybrid and or electric only, for example this new four seater Smart.

What changed on the floor

While I walked around and looked for changes vis-à-vis what was shown in IAA 2011, I noticed that apart from the now expected large screens and touch displays, car makers were using all kinds of social media to engage with their visitors.

Engagement snapshots by brand

Here is a quick photo report of my engagement experiences with the various car makers.

Audi

To make sure I did not miss Audi this year due to 200+ people standing in line to get into the Audi stand, I decided to visit very early in the morning. The line was short, but there were already hundreds of people inside. On walking in, I noticed that the concept for the stand was taken straight out of the Hollywood movie “Upside Down”.

Visitor engagement at the stand was driven through a special photo booth. While people waited in line they got an iPad to play a game and answer three questions about Audi. Winners got custom giveaways like keychains, gummy bears, etc. After that, visitors were ushered into the photo booth which superimposed the photos onto custom Audi backgrounds. Visitors could take home a printed copy and later also download soft copies from www.audiphotoautomat.com.

Mercedes

Next stop was the Mercedes stand which was also impossible to get into in 2011. From the below picture you can see why.

Mercedes put up a huge multi-sensory show that went on for over 20 minutes, while thousands of people just stopped and watched. Children visiting the stand were kept busy with car simulators.

Outside the stand one could test drive the Mercedes off-road jeeps with the help of trained drivers.

Hyundai

Hyundai was the first car brand I came across that was using the event to generate Facebook fans. For liking the Hyundai Facebook page, fans at IAA could win a Hyundai i30.

The rear windscreen of the i30 was converted into a touchscreen which people could use to instantly “Like” the brand’s Facebook page or choose to receive the fan page link via email.

At the stand Hyundai also displayed a touchable music seat for hearing impaired drivers which vibrated as per the music being played. This was still in concept phase and the test seats were being developed out of Korea.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen “Think Blue” initiative was presented via an interactive augmented reality layer that was activated through the provided iPads.

Skoda

Skoda explained their Green Line initiative via a wooden toy car that was supported by the animations in the embedded touch screens.

At the neighbouring table kids were engaged with games around the Green Line initiative.

Michelin

At the Michelin stand, visitors could take pictures with a virtual Michelin mascot and have the pictures emailed to themselves instantly.

Nissan

After having written about the Nissan Nismo Watch last week, I could not wait to see the real watch in action. But to my disappointment the watch was not there as announced. There was only a plastic dummy on display.

But I did take Nissan’s version of real life “Likes” for a spin (first spotted at the Renault stand in the 2011 Amsterdam Motor Show).

The RFID badges allowed visitors to post custom Nissan branded pictures of themselves onto Facebook.

Visitors were also given the option to share the cars they like on Facebook via special Like buttons built into the car info pillars.

Ford

At the Ford stand this year visitors were given head and shoulder massages.

Then to experience the Ford EcoBoost, visitors were put in front of a leaf blower and their reactions captured and uploaded on the Ford Flickr channel.

And for the more social visitors, Ford had a Twitter based contest running.

Kia

At Kia, visitors could superimpose their heads onto a football player and then have the custom postcard sent to their email IDs.

Chevrolet

Visitors at the stand could make small flipbooks of themselves doing funny dances in front of the main character of the Hollywood film “Turbo”.

Or they could write special messages to their loved ones on a piece of paper and the team at Chevrolet would instantly convert them into wearable badges.

Chevrolet was also the only car maker at the IAA who was using Foursquare to offer discounts on their show merchandise.

Mini

Mini this year gave visitors the option to body paint their cars and email the photos to themselves.

Visitors could also slide down a specially created tunnel at record speeds that were also photographed and displayed on a large overhead digital screen.

BMW

BMW, like Mercedes, put up a multi-sensory show at their stand. But compared to Mercedes it was short and not as extravagant. Still pretty impressive.

Kumho Tyres

On the way out I spotted Kumho Tyres giving away various petrol and tyre related coupons. To win the coupons visitors had to catch them while being closed inside a wind cabin.

Why this direction matters

Across the stands, the consistent pattern is not “more screens”. It is more reasons to create something. A photo. A badge. A flipbook. A posted image. A public interaction that becomes proof you were there. The stand stops being a catalogue, and starts behaving like a content studio that rewards participation. The real question is how a stand turns a visitor into a willing participant and publisher. The strongest stands here are the ones that give people something to make, not just something to look at. That works because visitors are more likely to remember, share, and talk about an experience when they leave with something they helped create.

Extractable takeaway: If you are designing for an event, do not start with channels. Start with a social object, meaning a photo, badge, flipbook, or other shareable artifact people can take away, share, or replay. Then build the simplest capture and distribution loop around it.

In large European trade shows, brands increasingly treat the stand as a live media channel where every interaction can become a shareable moment.

And that was a quick overview of what I experienced at the 65th Internationale Automobil Ausstellung. (To read about my experience at the 2011 show, click here.)

Until the next show in 2 years. This is Sunil signing off from IAA 2013.

What to steal from IAA 2013 for your next show

Queue utility. If people must wait, give them something to do that feeds the experience (Audi’s iPad game and questions).
Instant takeaways. Printed photos, emailed images, and small artifacts create memory and sharing triggers.
Low-friction publishing. RFID, built-in Like buttons, and email delivery reduce the “I’ll do it later” drop-off.
Make participation visible. Leaderboards, overhead screens, or public displays turn individual actions into crowd energy.
Match the mechanic to the brand truth. Eco themes paired with AR explainers, performance themes paired with physical challenges.

A few fast answers before you act

What is this IAA 2013 “walk of innovations” about?

It is a photo report from the IAA show floor in Frankfurt, focused on how different car brands used interactive touchpoints and social mechanics to engage visitors.

What is the main shift versus earlier shows?

Beyond large screens and touch displays, more stands are designed around capture and sharing, photo booths, RFID check-ins, instant email delivery, and social prompts.

Which engagement mechanics show up repeatedly?

Instant content creation (photos, flipbooks), low-friction sharing (RFID, embedded Like buttons), and public spectacle (multi-sensory shows, overhead displays).

What is the practical lesson for event marketers?

Design one clear participatory moment that produces a social object, then remove friction from capture and delivery so visitors can share immediately.

How do you keep these activations from feeling gimmicky?

Anchor the mechanic to a brand truth, and make the output useful or delightful for the visitor, not only promotional for the brand.

MINI: Salutes You in London

In August I wrote about how Coca-Cola Israel used technology to personalise billboards for people who drove by.

Now, as part of its ongoing Not Normal campaign, MINI decides to give MINI drivers in London a custom message by taking over a run of giant billboards along a fast-paced road for a two-week period. “Not Normal” is the positioning line for celebrating owners over product claims.

Reportedly, the campaign reached out to 1,941 MINI drivers in London during the run.

How the billboards “recognise” drivers

The mechanism is deliberately human. Spotters use iPads to identify approaching MINIs and trigger the right creative. Each message is sent with pictures of the make and model of the MINI it relates to, so the driver sees something that feels directed, not generic.

In urban out-of-home advertising, combining live triggers with personalised creative can make a brand message feel like a service moment, not just media.

A human-triggered approach is the right call on a fast road, because it keeps the moment specific without pretending you have perfect recognition tech.

Why this lands on a road, not in a feed

Most personalised media is private and one-to-one. This flips it into a public setting. The driver gets a direct salute, and everyone else sees a brand that appears to be paying attention to its community in real time. That publicness is the multiplier, because it turns a personal moment into shared talk value, meaning people retell it.

Extractable takeaway: Public personalisation works when the proof cue is instantly legible to bystanders, not just meaningful to the target.

What the campaign is really doing for MINI

The work reinforces the Not Normal positioning by celebrating owners rather than pushing product claims. It also turns “existing drivers” into the hero audience, which is a neat way to build loyalty and social proof at the same time.

The real question is whether the salute feels like a genuine community nod, not a clever stunt.

Transferable moves from MINI Salutes You

Use a simple trigger and a clear payoff. Recognition plus a tailored line is enough if the timing is perfect.
Keep it brand-native. A salute fits a community brand. A hard sell would break the spell.
Make personalisation visibly specific. Showing the make and model is the proof cue that prevents it feeling random.
Design for safety and readability. Short messages, high contrast, instant comprehension.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “MINI Salutes You” in one line?

A digital out-of-home activation that displays personalised messages to MINI drivers as they pass selected London billboards.

How are the personalised messages triggered?

Human spotters using iPads identify approaching MINIs and trigger the relevant creative, including make and model visuals.

Why use billboards for personalisation?

Because it makes recognition public. The driver feels noticed, and bystanders see a brand visibly celebrating its community.

What do you need to make this work without advanced tech?

A small set of tightly written messages, clear proof cues (like make and model), and a reliable human trigger that can fire the right creative at the right moment.

What is the main transferable lesson?

If you can time a simple personalised moment perfectly, you do not need complex tech to create a campaign people retell.

Renault Clio: A Test Drive Takes a Sexy Turn

TNT’s “A dramatic surprise on an ice-cold day” meets Pepsi MAX’s “Jeff Gordon test drive prank” in this latest test drive video for the all new Renault Clio.

In the video a couple of guys are seen taking the Renault Clio for a spin. After a regular beginning, the salesman shows off the “va va voom” button, a prank trigger that flips the drive into a choreographed romantic scene.

This is a staged test-drive prank, not a feature demonstration. The “va va voom” button is the trigger that flips an everyday drive into a choreographed French fantasy.

And here is a version for the ladies.

The button as a narrative trigger

The mechanism is a single, irresistible cue. A salesman introduces a mysterious button. The driver presses it. The world outside the windows transforms into a set-piece built from instantly recognizable signals, so the passenger can “feel” the promise without a single spec sheet.

In automotive marketing, test drive formats often double as shareable entertainment that reaches far beyond the dealership.

The real question is whether the launch gives people a story worth retelling once the drive is over.

Why it lands

This works because it turns a low-drama ritual into an event with a clear before-and-after. The joke is simple enough to follow in seconds, and the escalation is visual enough to hold attention without context. Most importantly, it makes the test drive itself the content, not the car brochure. The stronger creative move is the trigger-led transformation, not the flirtation itself.

Extractable takeaway: If you can attach a single, obvious trigger to a dramatic “world change”, you turn a routine product interaction into a personal story. Personal stories are easier to retell, and harder to forget, than feature lists.

What to borrow without copying the exact gag

One trigger, one transformation: keep the entry point unmistakable and the payoff immediate.
Design for first-time viewers: someone should understand the premise even if they start watching mid-scene.
Let the participant stay authentic: the strongest moments are the unscripted reactions, not the actors.
Use stereotypes carefully: shorthand can make an idea legible fast, but it can also age poorly if the tone tips.
Make the edit do the persuasion: pace and escalation matter more than how many “surprises” you add.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Renault Clio “va va voom” test drive video?

It is a staged test-drive prank where pressing a “va va voom” button triggers a choreographed romantic, Paris-themed scene around the car.

Why does this format work for car launches?

Because it makes the test drive itself feel like an event. That creates watchable reactions and gives people a reason to share the experience, not just talk about the vehicle.

What’s the key mechanic to reuse?

A single, easy-to-understand trigger that causes an immediate, visible change in the environment. The trigger creates curiosity. The transformation creates the story.

Is the “va va voom” button a real product feature?

No. In this context it functions as a storytelling device that kicks off the prank and reframes the test drive as a fantasy sequence.

What’s the main risk with this style of stunt?

Tone control. If the surprise feels awkward, intrusive, or relies on stereotypes in a way that offends, the conversation can flip from “fun” to “cringe” fast.