"Ok, so this doesn't actually dispense cars, but it does pop-out small canisters containing brochures for the cars along with sheets of stickers showing the various colour options. Also, as we would expect for the highly connected Japanese market, the literature directs users to the Smart website, playsmart.jp, not via a written URL, but via a QR code, which when photographed with a mobile phone camera, links through to the digital portal." (If you understand this last part, e-mail me. I want to learn.)

"Once on the website, visitors can then 'play smart' - an addictive application which allows you create your own smart car with a variety of funky paint jobs and graphics, before racing it around a series of 3D circuits. As you progress through the levels, your interactivity is rewarded with more customisable options for your car. Once you are satisfied with your level of 'pimp', you can then submit your design along with a user name and in doing so, add your creation to the colourful swarm of Smart Cars on the home page. However (and this is where it gets really good), to finish things off, you can then print out a colour net of your vehicle, to construct a proper miniature 3D model!"

It works on so many levels: it maps to the audience, connects with cultural trends, leverages current (at least in Japanese standards) technology, and engages consumers both on and offline. And yet it's pretty simple too. I haven't seen anything quite like it in the U.S.

- Jen Maxwell-Muir