Tag: Experiential Marketing

Burger King Truckvertising

Due to strict laws, reportedly around 13,000km of the German motorway network is ad-free. So to convince truckers in Germany to buy freshly grilled Whoppers, Burger King and agency Grabarz & Partner create ads that only truckers can see. The ads sit on the roof of multiple cars that take turns overtaking trucks.

The cars do not just show an ad. They run a sequence of messages that feels like a conversation from the road:

  • “Hey, you up there!”
  • “You look hungry!”
  • “Why don’t you try out the Whopper?”
  • “Fresh and flame grilled”

Once the first few cars get the truckers’ attention, the remainder guides them to the next Burger King, turning the motorway into a moving funnel:

  • “If yes, then wink”
  • “Follow me to Burger King”

As a result, many truckers give in to temptation and follow the cars to the next XXL Burger King Drive-In.

The constraint that forces the creativity

The starting point is the limitation. Large parts of the German motorway network are ad-free, so the classic roadside billboard play is unavailable at scale.

The execution is “roof media” plus choreography

Burger King turns overtaking cars into a media surface and a delivery system. Roof placements ensure the message is visible from the truck cab. A rotating set of cars keeps the sequence going long enough to land.

The craft is the choreography. It is not one clever line. It is a paced interaction that escalates from attention, to appetite, to direction.

Why this works as shopper marketing in motion

This is direct response built into a live environment. The target is already in a vehicle. The call-to-action is a drive-in. The next best action is physically nearby, and the message literally leads the way.

It also respects context. Truckers are not asked to scan, click, or search. They are asked to notice, react, then follow.

What to steal

  • Start with a hard constraint and treat it as a design brief, not a blocker.
  • Use a format the audience cannot ignore in their context, in this case overhead visibility from a cab.
  • Build a sequence that moves from attention to action, not a single punchline.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Truckvertising” in one line?

Car-roof ads overtake trucks on ad-free motorways, deliver messages to truckers, then guide them to the next Burger King drive-in.

Why put the ad on the roof?

Because the goal is visibility from the truck cab.

What is the conversion mechanic?

A staged sequence of overtaking cars that gets attention, then provides directions to the next Burger King.

What is the underlying business aim?

To drive immediate, local store visits and Whopper purchase intent from a high-propensity audience in transit.

Coca-Cola: First Drinkable Advertising

You are looking at a Coke Zero ad on a billboard, on TV, in print, or even on radio. Instead of just watching it, you Shazam it. On your phone, Coke Zero appears to pour into a glass on-screen, and that moment converts into a free Coke Zero coupon you can redeem at select retail stores across the US.

The premise is blunt and smart. Many people think they know the taste of Coke Zero, but they actually do not. So Ogilvy & Mather creates a campaign where the quickest route from awareness to belief is not another claim. It is immediate trial.

How “drinkable” advertising is engineered

This execution turns Shazam into a universal call-to-action layer across media.

  • Any channel can trigger the experience. Billboard. TV. Print. Radio.
  • The smartphone becomes the conversion surface. Visual payoff first, then the coupon.
  • The coupon bridges straight into retail. “Try it now” becomes a physical action, not a brand sentiment.

The important part is not the novelty of animation. It is the end-to-end path from message to product-in-hand.

Why this works as shopper marketing, not just a stunt

The campaign is designed to reduce the classic friction points that kill trial.

  • No guessing what to do next. Shazam is the behaviour.
  • No abstract promise. The ad demonstrates “taste” by pushing you to the real thing.
  • No delayed gratification. The reward is immediate and concrete. A redeemable coupon.

It is experiential marketing that does not require a pop-up installation or a live event. The experience travels with the media buy.

In performance-led shopper marketing, the fastest path from awareness to belief is reducing trial friction and making redemption immediate.

The pattern to steal

If you are trying to drive trial at scale, this is a reusable model.

  1. Create a single interaction that works across channels.
  2. Use mobile to make the experience feel personal and immediate.
  3. Close the loop with a retail mechanic that is simple to redeem.

Do that well, and “engagement” stops being a vanity metric. It becomes a measurable bridge to purchase.

A few fast answers before you act

What makes this advertising “drinkable”?

Shazaming the ad triggers a mobile experience that ends in a free Coke Zero coupon. It is designed to turn exposure into real-world trial.

Why use Shazam in the first place?

It provides a consistent interaction across media formats, including channels where clickable links do not exist.

What business problem is this solving?

Driving immediate trial for a product where many people assume they already know the taste, but have not actually experienced it.

What is the key CX detail that makes it work?

A simple, familiar action. One step to trigger, then a clear reward that can be redeemed in-store.

100% Real Virtual Reality

A passerby in Tbilisi puts on a VR headset and starts touring Ireland. Irish countryside. The streets of Dublin. A traditional Irish bar. Then the headset comes off, and the “virtual” bar is suddenly real. A pop-up pub has been built around them in seconds, complete with actors and Irish stereotypes, and beer in hand. The reveal does not explain the slogan. It makes the slogan unavoidable.

The idea in one line

Use virtual reality as misdirection, then land the brand promise by turning the “virtual” experience into a physical surprise.

What happens in the stunt

Old Irish is a new craft beer entering Georgia. Leavingstone takes a line that could sound like every other beer claim, “100% real,” and makes it literal.

  1. Invite the public into VR
    People on the streets of Tbilisi are offered a VR “tour of Ireland,” including nature, Dublin streets, and a typical Irish bar.
  2. Build the punchline in real life
    While they are inside VR, a crew builds a pop-up Irish bar around them. The space is filled with actors performing how locals imagine Ireland.
  3. Reveal the brand promise as a lived moment
    The moment the headset comes off, the audience is already “in Ireland,” except it is physically there, and the product is part of the scene.

Why this works

Beer marketing often tries to borrow authenticity through language. This one manufactures it through experience.

The proof is theatrical, but the reaction is real

The campaign bets on ordinary people’s genuine surprise. That reaction becomes the content people want to share.

VR is not the product. VR is the setup

Virtual reality is used as a temporary attention lock so the physical transformation can happen without explanation. The innovation is the transition, not the headset.

The brand promise is delivered in one clean, repeatable beat

“100% real” is not argued. It is demonstrated when the environment jumps from virtual to physical.

Results the agency reports

Leavingstone states the video is posted with a modest placement budget, reaches more than 50% of internet users in Georgia, hits 1 million views in 72 hours, and is followed by first-month sales of 515,698 liters, described as 2x.

The deeper point

When a category leans heavily on claimed authenticity, the advantage goes to the brand that can turn authenticity into an event. This is not “VR marketing.” It is live communication disguised as emerging technology.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the core mechanic?

A VR tour of Ireland distracts participants while a real pop-up Irish bar is built around them, so the reveal converts “virtual” into physical.

Why use VR at all?

It creates a believable reason to pause someone in public, and it buys time to build the physical environment unnoticed.

What makes it shareable?

The surprise is immediate, visual, and human. Ordinary people’s reactions are the story engine.

What is the transferable pattern?

Use an emerging-tech interface as a controlled setup, then deliver the brand promise through a physical, social payoff people can experience together.

What is the biggest risk?

If the reveal does not map cleanly to the product truth, the stunt becomes spectacle with no belief gain.