Opel were introducing a new generation of Bi-Fuels models - cars that run on LPG as well as regular gasoline. The objective of the introduction campaign was simple: Raise awareness of the fuel saving benefits of these new Bi-Fuel models. And position Opel as a sympathetic brand.

Rather than tell people about the benefit of our new Bi-Fuel models we decided to let them experience it for themselves.

Our idea was to take over one gas station and lower the ordinary gasoline prices to the same level as LPG. Then record what happened.

After selecting the optimum location, date and time for the activation we fitted the interior and exterior of the gas station with hidden cameras. Then we lowered the price.

To make sure enough people participated, we got famous Opel brand ambassadors to share the story with their social network.

News spread fast. Pretty soon there were huge queues of cars. The people were so surprised that they took pictures of the price and shared it themselves. We even got an extra PR push thanks to the police stopping the stunt due to the number of cars.

The story got so big that it became national news with two minutes of dedicated TV coverage. We released a film of the activation on YouTube where it was spread widely.

But the truly big story was in the figures. In a single month, sales of Opel Bi-Fuel models shot up 600%.

Our first step was to find the gas station. It had to be in a location with a high level of traffic without the risk of causing too much disturbance to the transport network. As we didn’t want the positive effect of our story to be overshadowed by negative press.

After researching the average traffic levels of our chosen gas station and consulting with the road authorities, we chose Friday as the most suitable day. And began the activation after the morning rush hour.

We wanted the reactions of people to be as authentic as possible. So we installed several candid cameras within the interior and the exterior of the gas station to capture their real emotions. And only revealed our message after they had experienced the surprise.

To amplify our message we used Opel’s famous brand ambassadors to spread the story through their social networks.

The Bi-Fuel Happiness activation exceeded all goals. We had 60% more participants, twice as many YouTube views and the number of visitors to the Opel website was 25% above our goal.

The story even became national news. As a result, 26% of the people surveyed during regular brand tracking said that Opel was an innovative brand. This was not only above our expectations but also meant Opel was now considered the most innovative car brand in the Netherlands.

Most importantly the activation had a concrete effect on the business. Within one month sales of Opel Bi Fuel models increased 600%.