APCOA Parking Germany has won first prize at the EPA Awards 2022. The company is part of the APCOA Parking Group and impressed the jury of the European Parking Association (EPA) with its LiveSommer 2020 series of events. The concert series was launched during the first lockdown and attracted top-tier music stars including Robin Schulz, Michael Patrick Kelly and Felix Jaehn to perform in APCOA car parks at Stuttgart Airport ­– and invited audiences to join the party from their own cars.

The events were organised as car concerts to comply with the coronavirus restrictions of summer 2020. Each event accommodated up to 650 cars. APCOA’s LiveSommer 2020 concerts fostered a sense of joy, fun and community during the darkest days of the pandemic, as well as offering much-needed support to the hard-hit live music industry.

APCOA worked with numerous partners to organise the car concert series. These included the lead agency follow red GmbH, Michael Russ GmbH, Music Circus Konzert Büro GmbH, Stuttgart LIVE, Hitradio Antenne 1, Stuttgart Airport and easy ticket service GmbH.

APCOA played an integral role in the conceptualisation and organisation of the events and ensured seamless communication between the events’ partners and sponsors. APCOA FLOW, the smart parking app with contactless and secure payment, supported LiveSommer 2020 as an official partner.

APCOA won the EPA Award in the category “Marketing & Communication on Parking” in recognition of the company’s successful marketing and communication of the concert series. LiveSommer 2020 was accompanied by a comprehensive series of promotional measures, including cross-media campaigns, press and public relations work, out-of-home banners, newsletters and giveaways. The concert series succeeded in attracting sustainable attention for APCOA and, in particular, the APCOA FLOW brand.

APCOA received its award during the 20th EPA Congress in Brussels on September 13. Having been cancelled in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the joy was all the greater as APCOA attended Europe’s leading parking industry event this year: “We are proud to receive this award from the European Parking Association”, says Sebastian Merkle, Head of Corporate Communications & Brand Strategy at APCOA. “LiveSommer 2020 was not only a lot of fun, it also showcased what is important to us at APCOA: togetherness, digitalisation, and public health during the coronavirus pandemic”.