To promote its self-parking car, Ford set up a marketing stunt called 'The Parisian Pinball Park' in Paris. Known for its fast-paced drivers and difficulty of finding a parking space, Paris was the perfect location for this prank.
As drivers tried to parallel park into a small spot, a large Pinball billboard would light acknowledging a new player. When the drivers continuously bumped the cars in the front and back of them, the screen would light up red just like a pinball machine does. The billboard overhead would scroll across the word "ouch." One driver was so bad that Ford awarded him with the worst driver award. Then, they put him in a self-parking car so he could see the difference.
Auto Pinball Promotions
'The Parisian Pinball Park' Does Not Award Excellence
Trend Themes
1. Interactive Marketing - Creating engaging and immersive experiences like 'The Parisian Pinball Park' can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for brands to capture consumer attention and build brand loyalty.
2. Gamification - Applying gaming elements, such as the Pinball game concept in 'The Parisian Pinball Park,' can offer unique and interactive ways to promote products or services.
3. Self-parking Technology - The use of self-parking cars, showcased in 'The Parisian Pinball Park,' represents a trend in automotive technology that can revolutionize the convenience and safety of parking.
Industry Implications
1. Automotive - Automotive companies can leverage interactive marketing and gamification strategies to promote their products and showcase innovative technologies like self-parking cars.
2. Marketing and Advertising - Marketing and advertising agencies can explore interactive marketing concepts and gamification techniques to create memorable and impactful campaigns for their clients.
3. Entertainment - The entertainment industry can integrate gamification elements into their experiences to engage audiences in new and exciting ways, as demonstrated by 'The Parisian Pinball Park' marketing stunt.