On the 21st of September 2012, the whole country only had eyes for one event and one event only: the much anticipated commercial release of the iPhone 5. Even after so many years, most major media of the country would spend time and energy covering the hottest topic of all: who would be the first lucky buyer to get his hands on the precious phone?

We had to get in.

We send a previously casted smart owner to queue for the iPhone even before the most die-hard fan would and waited...As soon as the queue started forming, our accomplice held a sign reading “There are some dates you don’t want to miss”. The conversation immediately started and journalists were already interested.

On the big day, our smart owner was the first to get out of the store. He revealed a shirt previously hidden under his sweater reading : “There are some dates you don’t want to miss, Park in time” with the picture of a smart. He then proceeded to spread our message to every media present.

This is how we managed to make smart appear in every major media outlet of the country, countless blogs and even some major international media channels, broadcasting the image and ingenuity of smart to millions of people…all for the cost of a new iPhone.

smart ambushed the launch of the new iPhone 5 at the Apple Store Opera.

Anthony, the first person in line for the iPhone 5 had held up signs saying “There are some moments you just can’t miss." while waiting.

When he came out of the store, with his arms wide open like an athlete who's just won a race, he was wearing a t-shirt that read “There are some moments you just can’t miss. Park on time with smart”. All news crews gathered around him and filmed his performance.

After being interviewed at length, Anthony got into his white smart and headed home still under the watchful lenses of the tv crews.

The operation clearly proved that Smart is THE urban mobility solution. It also brought the Smart brand to centre stage and demonstrated its well-known personality traits: audacious, gutsy, ingenious and fun.

The campaign was broadcast across the world on hundreds of television channels and websites: ABCNews.com, AFP, LCI, Fox News, The Telegraph, CNN, Paris Match, Chicago Tribune, PR Week, Mac World and more.

Smart benefited from a massive coverage equivalent to a media plan worth over €1m for only €679 of investment i.e the price of an iPhone 5.