SMG launches two AI-powered campaigns

With its new digital campaigns for ImmoScout24 and AutoScout24, SMG Swiss Marketplace Group shows how technological and creative innovation can be combined. The two campaigns, developed by creative agency Freundliche Grüsse, use both real images and AI-generated moving images. AI is not used as a technical add-on, but as an integral part of the implementation.

Two brands, one innovative approach
AutoScout24 is focusing on the launch of AutoScout24 Direct, a new C2B platform through which private individuals can conveniently sell their vehicles directly to dealers at a fair price. This innovation is creatively translated into a campaign that plays with contrast: Relaxed selling by private individuals on the one hand, intense bidding by dealers on the other.

A visual hybrid format was used in the implementation. While real-life buyers provide emotional authenticity, the dealers’ visual worlds were created using a variety of AI tools. Elaborate camera movements, exaggerated perspectives, and surprising visual transitions enable dynamic storytelling that is both emotionally and technologically compelling.

ImmoScout24, on the other hand, focuses on the diversity of individual dream homes. The question: What if your next home perfectly suits your current stage of life? The creative answer: Four videos showing different living situations, from an old apartment with a bathtub to a new build with a garden.

The special feature: The protagonists were filmed in real life, while their backgrounds – including apartments, facades, gardens, and cityscapes – are entirely AI-generated. The videos were shot in a virtual production setup in front of an LED wall to allow maximum creative control and immersive scene changes.

AI as a creative tool
For both productions, artificial intelligence was integrated into the creative process early on and strategically. This was made possible by Freundliche Grüsse’s in-house ‘AI Creative Studio’, which works with a specialised team of prompt engineers and combines a variety of different tools in a targeted manner. AI thus supported a new type of storytelling in which the technically feasible expanded the conceptually possible.

Midjourney, among other tools, was used to develop visual worlds and interior designs. Nano Banana and Seedream were used for precise image editing and visual refinement, while Topaz enabled high-quality scaling of AI-generated images. Wan AI was used for realistic camera movements and zooms, and complex virtual set designs were created with the help of Kling AI. Veo 3 was used to simulate human movements as realistically as possible. The team generated the voice-overs with ElevenLabs, which also allowed for a high degree of flexibility in terms of content and language.

Digital-first, data-driven, and highly individualised
“As a digitally focused group of companies, the use of AI opens up completely new creative possibilities for us to bring our brands to life. For us, AI as a technology is not just a trend, but a strategic tool for making communication faster, more flexible, and more relevant,” says Sarah Safri, Group Marketing Director at SMG.

Both campaigns were planned digitally and implemented with the production company Boom, with playback on social media, YouTube, programmatic video, and DOOH spaces. Over 500 individual assets enable targeted control – tailored to touchpoints, usage situations, and target group segments. “The strength of these campaigns lies in the deliberate mix: Real people and genuine emotions, combined with AI-generated worlds that enable visual innovation. It is precisely this contrast that makes the stories shine,” says Pascal Deville, Creative Director at Freundliche Grüsse.

Credits
Responsible at SMG: Julia Forjan (Head of Consumer & Private Customer Marketing), Christian Apenzeller (Senior Digital Marketing Manager), Anqi Zhou (Intern B2C-Marketing), Francesco Corbino (Senior Marketing Strategist), Jelena Ristic (Graphic Design), Kristina Milutinovic (Graphic Design), Stefan Stehlik (Graphic Design), Giacomo Iotti (Digital Campaign New Products & AI Lead), Loïc Privet (Digital Marketing Manager), Sebastian Wagner (Senior Digital Marketing Manager), Michael Reichenbach (Head of B2C Marketing), Manuel Hauslaib (Director Marketing), Ivo Wassenaar (Director Private Clients), Roger Tschallener (Head of Marketing Strategy & Branding), Sarah Safri (Group Marketing Director).

Responsible at Freundliche Grüsse: Pascal Deville, Samuel Textor (Creative Direction), Sandro Matter (Beratung), Jacqueline Rufener (Text / Konzept), Kevin Zysset (Art Direction), Julia Felder (Grafik), Pascal Pfohl (Editing), Fabian Biedermann (Gesamtverantwortung).

Boom Creative Studio (Filmproduction): Mitch Bekk, Oliver Schmocker (Regie), Chantal Gugger, Paula Liszko (Production), Luana Cirillo (PA), Martin Sautter (DIT & Post Prod. Supervisor), Alex Martin (Producer Studio), Marlon Candeloro (VP Supervisor), Klemens Trenkle (Facility Manager / Production Assistant), Tom Keller (DoP), Dominic Heim (Beleuchter), Katerina Carambellas (Maske/Styling), Simon Hardegger (Colorist), Joel Habermacher (Sounddesign).

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