I haven’t owned a car in 20 years, so billions spent on car ads mean nothing to me. But The Oprah Winfrey Show sure got my attention yesterday by giving each of her 276 audience members a new car in the longest GM ad in history.
It’s easy to see why GM would think it was worthwhile to give away $7 million worth of cars on Oprah to get the hundreds of millions worth of free publicity the stunt generated. It was, The Daily News reports, “believed to be the largest mass giveaway ever on TV.” And it proves that PR still trumps advertising.
The giveaway was on every network’s evening news, made the front page of The NY Daily News, and was the talk of many a town last night. The Oprah Show site gushes about it and runs a ton of free advertising and PR for GM.
Said The Washington Post, “Oprah Winfrey made the wildest dreams of General Motors come true yesterday when she devoted the entire first half of her syndicated talk show’s highly anticipated 19th-season debut to GM’s new Pontiac G6 sedan.”
The GM Website has a video of the Oprah Show giveaway, and a chance for those who were not in Oprah’s audience to win the same car. Multi-media campaign integration would be better yet if the GM homepage linked to the giveaway story.
Now advertising guys, take a look at the way sell my car online Atlanta. Cars aren’t feel good items. We risk our lives in them on highways, we cart our children around in them, we count on them to get where we need to go. And we spend freaking $30,000-plus on them.
Time for car companies to wake up and stop inhaling gas fumes. You want to sell cars, you relate them to ordinary people’s lives, like Oprah did. Then people look, listen, and buzz. And they buy your car.
Oprah Show Car Giveaway Proves Again That PR Trumps Advertising
BL Ochman | September 14, 2004 | Permanent Link | Comments (7) | TrackBack (
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When you say “cars aren’t feel good items” I have to disagree. Cars are all about emotion and desire. Even if you don’t know the first thing about cars and don’t have one or need one, when you’re standing on a corner and some exotic model passes by (Like a Bentley or Ferrari) it catches your attention. Living in a city you view the automobile as more of a hassle than anything. Parking, traffic, tolls. But that’s not what it’s all about for most people, especially outside Manhattan. It’s about freedom, and for some the pure pleasure of the experience. The problem with the auto industry is that there are too many cars out there that fail to keep the excitement of ownership going past the first two weeks. Two years ago I bought a new car (for about $26,000 loaded) and I still try to find excuses to drive it daily even though I now live in a city with abundant public transportation. Do I care about traffic, parking or tolls? Nope. Do I feel like it’s an appliance? Nope. Every drive in this car is exciting. And to this day I can’t walk away from it in the parking garage without looking back and smiling. It’s that kind of emotion that ever manufacturer should build into every vehicle be it a sedan, minivan or sports car.
For men, maybe, cars are about emotion and desire. They evoke neither in me or most women I know.
I see from your blog that you have a Mini. OF COURSE you love it. what a cool car. but that’s not what most people drive, or why they buy a car. Car ads are lame (except for minis)
It’s time for car companies to think beyond showing a car driving on a track.
Someone at GM is a Marketing Genius!
Have you heard that GM, with Oprah Winfrey’s help, has given away 276 Pontiac G6 2005 sports sedans? I’m going to guess that you have, and because of that someone at GM deserves a big fat bonus!
The media coverage for this Pontiac PR stunt is remarkable. But, what
And Suddenly She’s Everywhere
Oprah that is. With her recent Pontiac stunt, Oprah has ignited discussion on Marketing blogs around the Blogsphere.
True, car ads are pretty lame. Even though the MINI campaigns are interesting it didn’t get me to go to the dealer. I was dragged there by a friend who was interested and left two hours later after putting down my deposit. But two years later even their ads are getting a little tired.
I think if finances aren’t an issue that the act of purchasing a car is all about emotion for men and women, albeit more of a status symbol for men. Again, trying not to insult, but maybe it’s different outside of Manhattan.
That said I agree with you John about GM. The marketing people there are excited about the car and they should be, 1a. it’s their job and 1b. for GM the car is pretty decent. But compared to the rest of the market it’s pretty lame and boring. But that’s what’s selling in the states. The other problem they have is pricing. When you can buy a nicely equipped Accord or Camry for the same amount of money then who wouldn’t? They have the high quality and customer service reputations that continually eludes GM. If it weren’t for fleet buyers like rental car agencies then GM would be number 2 or worse.
And at least the G6 is practical which is more than I can say for the Chevy SSR and Hummer H2 SUT, which are two more answers GM has provided to questions no one asked. Oh and be prepared, you’ll be tired of looking at pictures of the new Pontiac Solstice long before it ever hits the streets and disappointed in the finished product because Lutz is making them design it around a price point.
It’s going to seriously cost them in taxes, though. nothing in this country is free. http://www.seenontvnow.com