CarBravo, the GM-backed used car platform, is adding a playful twist to the Detroit Auto Show experience this year with a clever activation that combines creativity and commerce. Partnering with MRM Detroit, the brand has launched a unique guerrilla marketing campaign featuring over 1,000 toy-sized pop-up shops scattered across Downtown Detroit, including outside Huntington Place Convention Center.
This activation builds on CarBravo’s award-winning campaign from 2024, where the company sold inflated Barbie toy cars during the height of Barbie mania, cleverly mirroring its ethos of fair and honest pricing for used vehicles.
For 2025, the campaign shifts focus to 1:64 scale toy cars, SUVs, and trucks, each transformed into miniature “pop-up shops.” Equipped with QR codes, these tiny vehicles invite attendees to explore CarBravo’s inventory of affordable, certified used vehicles at metro Detroit dealerships.
Steve Wineman, Marketing and Advertising Manager for CarBravo, shared the campaign’s lighthearted intent, “CarBravo is all about delivering a unique used car experience, and getting our message out via a thousand toy cars during Detroit’s biggest auto week is unique. It’s a fun, playful way to tell our story, sell some cars, and help everyone feel the ‘euphoria.’”
Jeff Cruz, Chief Creative Officer of MRM Detroit, emphasized the alignment with CarBravo’s brand identity, “CarBravo is all about a fun and positive shopping experience, so of course, a thousand toy-sized pop-up shops serving as a smile-inducing invitation into our commerce site seemed right on brand.”
Since its launch in 2022, CarBravo has sought to redefine the used car market by offering an elevated, GM-backed buying journey. Shoppers can choose from a wide variety of makes and models with the added assurance of certification. The platform provides the flexibility to shop online, in-person, or a combination of both.
The first phase of the campaign, which went live on January 11, is poised to engage the approximately 800,000 annual attendees of the Detroit Auto Show. By blending creative marketing with cutting-edge technology, CarBravo is not only driving interest in its platform but also delivering smiles along the way.
This innovative activation highlights CarBravo’s mission to reinvigorate the used car experience—one toy car at a time.
CREDITS:
BRAND: CarBravo
Marketing Manager: Steve Winema
AGENCY: MRM Detroit
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Cruz
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