Advertising Age has a great article with details and some early results for Pontiac's experimental Internet-Only advertising push for the G5. According to the article:
"The G5's digital debut will cost 60% to 70% less than a traditional car launch, although he declined to reveal specific spending. (A launch for a new model such as the G5 typically runs $25 million to $30 million.)
And guess what, there are results! It's just a glimpse, but I'm hoping that Pontiac will share more details after the campaign has matured.
"Though the effort started quietly six weeks ago and is scheduled to run
through year's end, it looks to be off to a strong start. In August, G5
sales exceeded sales goals by 185%."
Looks promising... who's next!
This is a great sign. I wish more brands would be brave enough to believe that not all launches have to revolve around a big TV ad.
Posted by: Tweetings | August 30, 2006 at 11:11 AM
Auto manufacturers are caught in a viscious cycle of advertising and I would love to see it broken by efforts like these. The old John Wanamaker line that only 50% of advertising is effective we just don't know which half? Well I clock car advertising at 20% effective - maybe. Where's my science? I stake my own "blink"-like perception against any research. If anyone - say Ford - thinks they are going to do anything but grind themselves into the ground with undifferentiated cars pushed via TV ads, they are nuts. Shopping for cars is all on the Web. Cars look the same. The brands in the middle don't mean very much. Save money from TV and do some cool online.
Posted by: John Bell | September 01, 2006 at 04:04 PM