NEWS
Fiat 500 Car Launch
January 2008
The Fiat 500 was at long last unveiled to the public during the official launch on Monday 21 January 2008. Using the London Eye as the symbolic backdrop and its capsules as a fun part of the launch created a memorable and unique concept to introduce a car. Working with CT’s long standing client, design and marketing agency, innovision, CT assisted in the provision and co-ordination of the video and programming for the event.
Fiat’s goal was to create a sense of anticipation for the launch at the London Eye. With this in mind, Arc Worldwide, who conceived the project, worked with innovision and Fiat to design a lengthy PR and marketing strategy, kicking off with a “countup clock” outside the London Eye, which was installed at the beginning of January and counted up to 500, in real-time to coincide with the show, 500 hours into the new year. The clock installed by Creative Technology was formed using 3x3panels of Mitsubishi OD10, measuring 3.84m x 2.88m. The clock was programmed by Gary Holford and his team in CT’s Media Systems department, utilising Watchout on site.
For the live event on 21 January. CT installed 2 additional screens. The smaller of the two, a 3.6m x 2.7m Barco OLite612 screen, was flown at right angles to the countup clock, and was predominantly used for live camera and video relay for the audience and VIP area.
The second screen formed the backdrop on stage with the screen measuring 9m x 4.7m of Barco OLite 612. The entertainment featured live performances from Mika, The Feeling, The Vibrants, introduced by Virgin Radio DJs hosting the event.
The fast-paced, eye-catching images were created with a combination of camera relay, video inserts, on-stage VJ and a Hippotizer. Aswell as the two mixes for the LED Screens a third mix of the launch was streamed directly to every Fiat dealership in the UK.
Scott Burges, CT Account Director was responsible for managing all video elements on the project. Scott states “When working on a live event in a busy public area, there are many factors to consider, especially when record levels of rain fell for 2 weeks prior to the show day! However, with all this in mind, everything went really well and the launch of the car was really well received.” Scott continues, “It was the first time most of us involved in the project had worked with the OLite 612. We were all extremely impressed with it’s performance and felt it provided exceptional image quality.”
