Spanish car manufacturer SEAT wanted us to present two new models at the Geneva Motor Show (4th of March 2014): the Mii designed by fashion brand MANGO was to be introduced in this new design, and the racy Leon Cupra that was to be presented for the first time. And all in a mere 13 minutes.

Under the umbrella of the slogan “Technology To Enjoy”, we brought the brand to life: We conceptualized a press conference that first pulled people in through an eyecatcher, then held their attention with an atmospheric re-enactment of a speed record the Cupra had recently broken.

We thus staged a face-to-face consumer experience that encouraged positive participation ultimately aimed at increased market penetration and sales. Additionally and very immediate, we beat the competition in terms of attracting attention by far.

The general objective was also the main challenge: to make the SEAT press conference stand out and lure journalists to it – in a setting, which is buzzing with another 65 press conferences and where 150 new models were being presented.

The other objective was to immerse the journalists in brand world, to bring up all relevant elements and information about the two cars, which were to be revealed, while also stirring up emotions.

To achieve these objectives, we worked up curiosity by an attention grabber and told two outstanding, memorable stories, which could then be retold by the press.

“Total immersion, total information, total emotion – you truly surpassed our expectations”: This is how our clients summed up our performance and the design of the press conference. They also were thrilled with both the amount and the quality of reporting generated at the press conference, as journalists truly followed the two storylines we had given them.

Because not only our clients were very happy with the design and implementation, the participating journalists were also thrilled: “Awesome and outstanding”, “brilliant idea” and “truly far-sighted” were just some of the comments journalists left at the SEAT Media Lounge.

Not to forget the general interest we attracted – our Marilyn became talk-of-the fair, simply because the staging was so outstanding and visible from afar. A crowd of hundreds and hundreds gathered at the stand, and stayed. To be entertained and informed, or rather: to enjoy technology – just like the slogan said.

To truly stand out, we had to attract attention and not only show something breathtaking, but to firmly ingrain it in people’s brains – with images likely to be photographed, and stories likely being retold.

Therefore, we first worked up curiosity by an attention grabber visible from afar: A Marilyn Monroe Look-Alike levitated under the ceiling, with two SEAT Mii hidden under a gigantic version of Monroe’s iconic white dress. The dress was then gently blown away to reveal the car. The onlookers that gathered to see the goings-on were then drawn in (and added to) a grandstand atmosphere of a race track that followed, as we re-enacted the record break of the Cupra, exactly following the timeframe of the newly set record. Additionally, we sped up the action by a super-slow-mo stage design that made the Cupra seem the only thing perceptibly moving fast.