From the number of keys dropped, ¼ resulted in further inquiries to our insider's email address. These people were given a VIP pass to the SEAT stand at the Motor Show where they could come and see the new SEAT Ibiza ST and were asked to return the USB key. Media coverage of the new model was greater than previous launches at past shows. In many articles on blogs we recognised the photographs and design files that were on our keys and on some auto shows such as Autoplus.fr the new model was profiled among 4 other more likely new models like the Mercedes SLS and the worldwide major seller Toyota Prius.

Knowing our target would be in and around the small city of Geneva, a targeted ambient tactic seemed ideal. The car show is a competitive environment as the brands are clustered together. So the idea of industrial espionage is easy to entertain. SEAT was delighted to give out files on its new model; it just took a little bit of design-reverse engineering to make them seem less consumer-ready and more early/internal versions.Hundreds of USB keys loaded with these ‘Highly Confidential’ files were dropped around hotels where visitors found them days before the launch. To give people a chance to follow up on the story, we included a letter in an innermost file on the key. The letter seemed to be from an insider in SEAT delivering of the files to an outside source, the insider urged caution with the confidential files and included a non-work email address if needed.

For carmakers, the Geneva International Motor Show is a major event to greet the world’s media with their new models. Every year the city’s hotels book out with auto-journalists and car-enthusiast-bloggers. During the 10 days of the 2010 expo carmakers had scheduled 65 new car launches.

For the new SEAT Ibiza ST team the major concern was how to make their model stand out amidst the large range of new cars. The insight we started with was that during this period journalists are bombarded with promotional information on the new cars launched. The strategy was developed so that if we could make the information itself feel exclusive and confidential, then the car would be differentiated. So this became a media challenge; which media will make our information feel exclusive? We hit upon the idea of USB keys that appeared to contain leaked confidential documents from inside SEAT to an unnamed outsider.