It appears to be that Chevy has learned its lesson and glimpsing over the fence with the hope figuring out how Scott Monty and Ford has become the “role model” for Automotive involvement in Social Media. Looking at all the indicators what made Social Media what it is today – a powerhouse and a media revolution initialized by a group of Gen-Ys or let’s call them Millenials – Chevrolet decided exactly to target this consumer group with its newest stunt.

They Idea:

Having their newest models driven by students of the University of Southern California and the Stanford University (as they offered it to several other West Coast universities).

The hook:

Make it an “Geny-Y I like it” approach was not just invite the participants for “test-drive” but most likely for joy rides or better called “FREE RIDES”. The models were not Tahoe or Corvettes, which are models defining more the Babyboomer clientele. Chevrolet instead went for new, fresh and modern looking models like the all-new Chevy Cruze, late Gen-y and early Gen-X favorite Cross-over Chevy Equinox, the presumed Toyota Corolla Killer – the Chevy Malibu and of course America’s new favorite Muscle Car the Chevy Camaro. Figuring out, what would make students even more click to sign up for these “free rides”, Chevy “value-sized” its offer by spending approximate $8/person and offered carb-bombs served Taco Bell, McDonald’s or other fast food chains of their participant’s choice.

Hope of going viral:

Last but not least Chevy employees lend flip-cams to the drivers asking them to create and compose a song about their driven Chevy, and posting it with them and the car in it onto YouTube (where else!) This idea is actually not new. Nissan did this kind of composing and song-writing contest in Canada and invited artists, song writers and musicians to be creative with the new upcoming model of the Nissan Cube. Grand Prize here was that the most creative chosen pieces and participants won their own Nissan Cube. Nissan gave away 50 Nissan Cube's during this event in 2009.

Here lays the hope of the Chevy Marketing Executives. Similar to the success of Nissan and its launch via YouTube contests, Chevy looks for an inexpensive way to have these videos going viral and promote the American Brand among the upcoming and hopefully affluent Gen-Ys. Toyota and Honda are still outselling Chevy Malibu even so the Chevy Cruze is up to a great start according to the reported sales numbers.

My Opinion:

I believe Chevy is on the right track, considering to invited younger college kids to “Free Rides” having in mind that you need to be 21 years old even to rent a car from a rental car location. It will help Chevy to gain brand acknowledgement under the youngster and may plants the seed early on to have “Chevy on my mind”. Bon appetit... need to head out and get some fries! ~~VJ

It appears to be that Chevy has learned its lesson and glimpsing over the fence with the hope figuring out how Scott Monty and Ford has become the “role model” for Automotive involvement in Social Media. Looking at all the indicators what made Social Media what it is today – a powerhouse and a media revolution initialized by a group of Gen-Ys or let’s call them Millenials – Chevrolet decided exactly to target this consumer group with its newest stunt.

They Idea:

Having their newest models driven by students of the University of Southern California and the Stanford University (as they offered it to several other West Coast universities).

The hook:

Make it an “Geny-Y I like it” approach was not just invite the participants for “test-drive” but most likely for joy rides or better called “FREE RIDES”. The models were not Tahoe or Corvettes, which are models defining more the Babyboomer clientele. Chevrolet instead went for new, fresh and modern looking models like the all-new Chevy Cruze, late Gen-y and early Gen-X favorite Cross-over Chevy Equinox, the presumed Toyota Corolla Killer – the Chevy Malibu and of course America’s new favorite Muscle Car the Chevy Camaro. Figuring out, what would make students even more click to sign up for these “free rides”, Chevy “value-sized” its offer by spending approximate $8/person and offered carb-bombs served Taco Bell, McDonald’s or other fast food chains of their participant’s choice.

Hope of going viral:

Last but not least Chevy employees lend flip-cams to the drivers asking them to create and compose a song about their driven Chevy, and posting it with them and the car in it onto YouTube (where else!) This idea is actually not new. Nissan did this kind of composing and song-writing contest in Canada and invited artists, song writers and musicians to be creative with the new upcoming model of the Nissan Cube. Grand Prize here was that the most creative chosen pieces and participants won their own Nissan Cube. Nissan gave away 50 Nissan Cube's during this event in 2009.

Here lays the hope of the Chevy Marketing Executives. Similar to the success of Nissan and its launch via YouTube contests, Chevy looks for an inexpensive way to have these videos going viral and promote the American Brand among the upcoming and hopefully affluent Gen-Ys. Toyota and Honda are still outselling Chevy Malibu even so the Chevy Cruze is up to a great start according to the reported sales numbers.

My Opinion:

I believe Chevy is on the right track, considering to invited younger college kids to “Free Rides” having in mind that you need to be 21 years old even to rent a car from a rental car location. It will help Chevy to gain brand acknowledgement under the youngster and may plants the seed early on to have “Chevy on my mind”. Bon appetit... need to head out and get some fries! ~~VJ

Okay, okay I am guilty as well pinning down the autotrader or cars.com rep in regards to “what is my click-through-ratio?” (CTR) or “I don’t know if these banners really do anything for me”, every time they wanted to make an up-sell for ”better exposure” of the brand. There was just too much doubt and not knowing in me to easily pass on these spins – until today (well, may be).

The Online Publishers Association a.k.a. “OPA” was possibly sick and tired of all these objections they heard from their clientele all over the world and decided to put an end to the discussion between as-seller and ad-buyer.

The mystical entity “Banner-Ad” needed to be researched to find out if actually your consumers are taking a look at it. To present even to OPA’s most doubtful critiques and skeptics concrete facts that Banner ads are indeed working for brands and companies, the organization tested conducted a very thorough research.

The study participants had been sat in front of computers and browsing pages with embedded banner ads, randomly selected. If now the participants actually noticed and viewed these occurring ads, OPA decided to connect "these human genuia pigs" with the latest eye tracking technology. Further - additional biometric testing equipment was chosen. The biometric instruments could give the scientist of OPA indications of any emotional response by monitoring breathing and heart rate, similar to a lie-detector test pointing out negative or positive emotional responses.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

I don’t know if I need to apologize to my entire ad reps roster in the past (probably not) but the results conceived during this research opened my eyes and will change my perception how to see banner ads. Actually 96% did indeed pay attention to the upcoming ads during their browsing sessions. Intriguing was that 90% of the test participants noticed the ads right away - in less than 1 second during the page loading.

The OPA further noticed that almost all candidates were looking at the banner ad multiple times. Average number here (please sit down…) – participants had “starred” on the ads 15 times. So, how were the results showing on the “emotional involvement” on the displayed banner ads? (are you still sitting down?) Test candidates responded to the ads almost similar as when they looked at the other parts of the pages.

Even so when users glimpsed a second or third time on the ad (on average after the first 10 seconds) an elevated emotional response was noticed. When the participants were asked to grade these seen ads after the trial, the advertisements got an average of 6.3 points out of possible 9.

ALL IN ALL IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS WORKING

So it appears that OPA’s results and research discovered an important fact. Instead just focusing on the CTR outcome of banner ads and possible tracking figures (like all the prior research indicated to focus on), the OPA’s study shows us now a totally different angle.

Fiction is now Fact: An attractive banner ad will possibly still attract consumers – even so it is not always CTR what counts - it can be at least L.O.V.S – Love On First Sight.

Do you believe in it? ~~VJ, The Social Media Buzzer

Okay, okay I am guilty as well pinning down the autotrader or cars.com rep in regards to “what is my click-through-ratio?” (CTR) or “I don’t know if these banners really do anything for me”, every time they wanted to make an up-sell for ”better exposure” of the brand. There was just too much doubt and not knowing in me to easily pass on these spins – until today (well, may be).

The Online Publishers Association a.k.a. “OPA” was possibly sick and tired of all these objections they heard from their clientele all over the world and decided to put an end to the discussion between as-seller and ad-buyer.

The mystical entity “Banner-Ad” needed to be researched to find out if actually your consumers are taking a look at it. To present even to OPA’s most doubtful critiques and skeptics concrete facts that Banner ads are indeed working for brands and companies, the organization tested conducted a very thorough research.

The study participants had been sat in front of computers and browsing pages with embedded banner ads, randomly selected. If now the participants actually noticed and viewed these occurring ads, OPA decided to connect "these human genuia pigs" with the latest eye tracking technology. Further - additional biometric testing equipment was chosen. The biometric instruments could give the scientist of OPA indications of any emotional response by monitoring breathing and heart rate, similar to a lie-detector test pointing out negative or positive emotional responses.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

I don’t know if I need to apologize to my entire ad reps roster in the past (probably not) but the results conceived during this research opened my eyes and will change my perception how to see banner ads. Actually 96% did indeed pay attention to the upcoming ads during their browsing sessions. Intriguing was that 90% of the test participants noticed the ads right away - in less than 1 second during the page loading.

The OPA further noticed that almost all candidates were looking at the banner ad multiple times. Average number here (please sit down…) – participants had “starred” on the ads 15 times. So, how were the results showing on the “emotional involvement” on the displayed banner ads? (are you still sitting down?) Test candidates responded to the ads almost similar as when they looked at the other parts of the pages.

Even so when users glimpsed a second or third time on the ad (on average after the first 10 seconds) an elevated emotional response was noticed. When the participants were asked to grade these seen ads after the trial, the advertisements got an average of 6.3 points out of possible 9.

ALL IN ALL IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS WORKING

So it appears that OPA’s results and research discovered an important fact. Instead just focusing on the CTR outcome of banner ads and possible tracking figures (like all the prior research indicated to focus on), the OPA’s study shows us now a totally different angle.

Fiction is now Fact: An attractive banner ad will possibly still attract consumers – even so it is not always CTR what counts - it can be at least L.O.V.S – Love On First Sight.

Do you believe in it? ~~VJ, The Social Media Buzzer

We all know Facebook is right now for dealerships around the nation the #1 choice when trying to engage with customers off-site, next to the biweekly or monthly ownership email marketing “blast” (my God do I hate this term “blast”) and/or dealer newsletter provided by IMN, Outsell, 3Birds Marketing or OnStation.

But I could discover throughout my held trainings and seminars that we as dealers very rarely know about the motives of consumers, why they are following us or a brand – why do they like us. What make fans and followers click?

A recent conducted research of Co-Tweet and ExactTarget came closer to provide an answer. The following motives and answers will possibly help dealerships to adjust their engagement level on Social Media Networks. It will help us further in creating new approaches to “catch” potential customers’ attention.

Here the Top 10 Motivations why Consumers “Like” a Brand on Facebook and Follow

1. 40% want to receive discounts and promotions

2. 37% want to show support for the brand/company to thers

3. 36% hope (want) to get free samples, a coupon (a.k.a. freebies)

4. 34% want to stay informed about the activities of the company

5. 33% want to get updates on future products

6. 30% want to get updates and information on future sales

7. 27% like to get fun and entertainment out of it

8. 25% want to get access to exclusive content

9. 22% mentioned they were referred by someone to follow this brand/company

10. 21% want just to learn more about the company

Wow, would you have guessed it. Consumers actually like to receive update and information on future sales!

And by the way, don’t feel bad when you do not have too many interactions, shared thoughts and ideas or provided feedbacks from your “fans, followers and likes”.

The survey found out that indeed only 13% want to interact directly with the company.

So, my suggestion would be: Take the numbers, share them with your sales and management team and start to tailor a Facebook Marketing plan around the findings.

Happy reading, planning and executing...VJ the Social Media Buzzer

We all know Facebook is right now for dealerships around the nation the #1 choice when trying to engage with customers off-site, next to the biweekly or monthly ownership email marketing “blast” (my God do I hate this term “blast”) and/or dealer newsletter provided by IMN, Outsell, 3Birds Marketing or OnStation.

But I could discover throughout my held trainings and seminars that we as dealers very rarely know about the motives of consumers, why they are following us or a brand – why do they like us. What make fans and followers click?

A recent conducted research of Co-Tweet and ExactTarget came closer to provide an answer. The following motives and answers will possibly help dealerships to adjust their engagement level on Social Media Networks. It will help us further in creating new approaches to “catch” potential customers’ attention.

Here the Top 10 Motivations why Consumers “Like” a Brand on Facebook and Follow

1. 40% want to receive discounts and promotions

2. 37% want to show support for the brand/company to thers

3. 36% hope (want) to get free samples, a coupon (a.k.a. freebies)

4. 34% want to stay informed about the activities of the company

5. 33% want to get updates on future products

6. 30% want to get updates and information on future sales

7. 27% like to get fun and entertainment out of it

8. 25% want to get access to exclusive content

9. 22% mentioned they were referred by someone to follow this brand/company

10. 21% want just to learn more about the company

Wow, would you have guessed it. Consumers actually like to receive update and information on future sales!

And by the way, don’t feel bad when you do not have too many interactions, shared thoughts and ideas or provided feedbacks from your “fans, followers and likes”.

The survey found out that indeed only 13% want to interact directly with the company.

So, my suggestion would be: Take the numbers, share them with your sales and management team and start to tailor a Facebook Marketing plan around the findings.

Happy reading, planning and executing...VJ the Social Media Buzzer

You can call it as you'd like to "unnecessary", "OMG", "why?", or "big brother is watching you" but it appears to be eminent that Hyundai is listening to the market, researches their potential consumers and future drivers very well and adapts much more faster than our other OEM's, when implementing Social Media and automotive into consumer's behavior.

Hyundai is planning to make geo-location, Facebook and it's new telemetric system ready for the masses, starting this year. The so called concierge/rescue service Blue Link will offer the already wide spread routine emergency assistance in cars and trucks, convenience features and vehicle location sharing to family and friends - set up by you and through Facebook.

I can imagine that when pushing the send button, the message will read on Facebook status kinda "I'm at Office Max at 4123 Wilshire Rd in my fantastic new 2011 Hyundai Sonata", with hyperlinks to the Hyundai OEM website and a special offer from the mentioned Office Max...

Hmmm, didn't I just write something about 81% Millenials are having at least 2 social media network profiles, and will check at least 3 times a day their status on what they are up to and where they are? Hyundai is reading research paper as it looks like.

Presumptions are that the service will operate through a smart phone app, as well as is linked to a call center, which will be alarmed when a car crash occurs or the airbags deploy, sending the car's navigation unit data. So nothing really new, knowing this feature already from OnStar and similar assist systems.

An SOS button and capabilities to immobilize a stolen car remotely will be offered as well.

NOW IT'S GETTING INTERESTING, ESPECIALLY FOR WORRIED MOM's AND DAD's

Hyundai noticed that especially parents love to be in control, when borrowing their car to their teenage daughter or son. To accommodate the "urge" to know almost everything, Hyundai owners will be able to set up a so called "geo-fence". When your kid is deciding to take a detour across the city and the vehicle leaves a proscribed area, Mommy and Daddy will receive a text message. The same happens when a preset speed limit is broken. 

Because Social interactivity and connectivity can't be any longer avoided, a compatible Smartphone app will make sure to have incoming text messages reading out loud through the car stereo (similar to Ford's sync), flashing lights, unlocking the doors and starting the car. Now, do we only have to wait for have a kind of "dragon speak" software writing text messages and sending them via voice control.

Blue Link will launch this year in the Sonata, followed by the all-new Velostar, and will be fully integrated into the Hyundai line-up by 2014.

You can call it as you'd like to "unnecessary", "OMG", "why?", or "big brother is watching you" but it appears to be eminent that Hyundai is listening to the market, researches their potential consumers and future drivers very well and adapts much more faster than our other OEM's, when implementing Social Media and automotive into consumer's behavior.

Hyundai is planning to make geo-location, Facebook and it's new telemetric system ready for the masses, starting this year. The so called concierge/rescue service Blue Link will offer the already wide spread routine emergency assistance in cars and trucks, convenience features and vehicle location sharing to family and friends - set up by you and through Facebook.

I can imagine that when pushing the send button, the message will read on Facebook status kinda "I'm at Office Max at 4123 Wilshire Rd in my fantastic new 2011 Hyundai Sonata", with hyperlinks to the Hyundai OEM website and a special offer from the mentioned Office Max...

Hmmm, didn't I just write something about 81% Millenials are having at least 2 social media network profiles, and will check at least 3 times a day their status on what they are up to and where they are? Hyundai is reading research paper as it looks like.

Presumptions are that the service will operate through a smart phone app, as well as is linked to a call center, which will be alarmed when a car crash occurs or the airbags deploy, sending the car's navigation unit data. So nothing really new, knowing this feature already from OnStar and similar assist systems.

An SOS button and capabilities to immobilize a stolen car remotely will be offered as well.

NOW IT'S GETTING INTERESTING, ESPECIALLY FOR WORRIED MOM's AND DAD's

Hyundai noticed that especially parents love to be in control, when borrowing their car to their teenage daughter or son. To accommodate the "urge" to know almost everything, Hyundai owners will be able to set up a so called "geo-fence". When your kid is deciding to take a detour across the city and the vehicle leaves a proscribed area, Mommy and Daddy will receive a text message. The same happens when a preset speed limit is broken. 

Because Social interactivity and connectivity can't be any longer avoided, a compatible Smartphone app will make sure to have incoming text messages reading out loud through the car stereo (similar to Ford's sync), flashing lights, unlocking the doors and starting the car. Now, do we only have to wait for have a kind of "dragon speak" software writing text messages and sending them via voice control.

Blue Link will launch this year in the Sonata, followed by the all-new Velostar, and will be fully integrated into the Hyundai line-up by 2014.

According to a newer study from L2, Generation Y or also called Millenials are the consumer Group to watch out for, when trying to convince and to engage them to interact with your brand, make or model.

As the study revealed 81% of affluent Gen-Y consumer opening and checking their status on Facebook each day. On the other site 45% are reading at least one blog or newspaper content and 41% watch television daily. Taking a closer look how the Gen-Y affluents connect with brands, the study reveals more than 80% of female Gen-Y's do that through social media, comparing it to just 63% of the male Gen-Y affluents. Most likely the action for these Millenials to follow or like a brand will be triggered by special online offers or promotions a company is displaying.

Here again: more female (38%) than male (28%) will decide to give it a try and follow. Because Facebook is just in such a dominating position, do not attempt as a business or marketer to neglect your micro-blogging endeavor. Twitter for example is still up and coming and 1 out of 4 Millenials checked their status, responses, direct messages and name mentioning in the last 24 hours.

Who are actually these "affluent" Gen-Y's? Why should we have them in our scope and building a possible Marketing strategy around them?

The average affluent Gen-Y consumer is around the 27 year old bracket. Income is approximately at the $100,000 per year range, which will definitely double by the age of early 30's. 75% of the focus group in this study mentioned their "somewhat affinity" to a brand in which 43% of them admitted of "following some good brands" and 32% of these participants even had "a brand crush", which made them follow a brand. The most interesting part here: 12% considered themselves "brand devotees" or as I would state "HERE ARE YOUR BRAND EVANGELISTS - locate them, target them with special offers and perks, and you'll create your own self-sustaining "referral marketing department".

What else was found during L2's study?

Facebook seems to be the "Holy Grail" for these Millenials because fundamentals reveal

• more than 50% say that their attitudes towards a brand was shaped through Facebook
• 54% of them clicked "LIKE" on a brand fan page in previous month
• 38% have posted a comment in the previous month
• 30% shared the brand they followed with their network (love this WOM number)

Video content as second "holy oracle", short behind Social Networking

No doubt, watching and sharing video content is a daily task for Gen-Y's. According to the numbers

• 56% watched a video on YouTube the previous 24 hours
• Hulu videos or shows were downloaded and watched by 19%
• 13% used a mobile device to watch a video
• and 21% found a different video source other than YouTube and Hulu.

So when all these numbers reveal how "video hooked" and addicted Millenials are, why not calling out for creative video contests, featuring your brand, make or model? Just make sure that the channel is checked "non-public" at the time the creative results will be submitted. Reason is too avoid to have material suddenly posted which will compromise your product or displays content not suited for business purposes. Trust me on this - according to my German proverb: TRUST IS GOOD - CONTROL IS BETTER.

In case you have already tried to focus on certain age groups, like Gen-Y, Gen-X and Baby Boomers and may have run a campaign, what did you see and conclude out of the campaign? Please feel free to comment and share your insights.

According to a newer study from L2, Generation Y or also called Millenials are the consumer Group to watch out for, when trying to convince and to engage them to interact with your brand, make or model.

As the study revealed 81% of affluent Gen-Y consumer opening and checking their status on Facebook each day. On the other site 45% are reading at least one blog or newspaper content and 41% watch television daily. Taking a closer look how the Gen-Y affluents connect with brands, the study reveals more than 80% of female Gen-Y's do that through social media, comparing it to just 63% of the male Gen-Y affluents. Most likely the action for these Millenials to follow or like a brand will be triggered by special online offers or promotions a company is displaying.

Here again: more female (38%) than male (28%) will decide to give it a try and follow. Because Facebook is just in such a dominating position, do not attempt as a business or marketer to neglect your micro-blogging endeavor. Twitter for example is still up and coming and 1 out of 4 Millenials checked their status, responses, direct messages and name mentioning in the last 24 hours.

Who are actually these "affluent" Gen-Y's? Why should we have them in our scope and building a possible Marketing strategy around them?

The average affluent Gen-Y consumer is around the 27 year old bracket. Income is approximately at the $100,000 per year range, which will definitely double by the age of early 30's. 75% of the focus group in this study mentioned their "somewhat affinity" to a brand in which 43% of them admitted of "following some good brands" and 32% of these participants even had "a brand crush", which made them follow a brand. The most interesting part here: 12% considered themselves "brand devotees" or as I would state "HERE ARE YOUR BRAND EVANGELISTS - locate them, target them with special offers and perks, and you'll create your own self-sustaining "referral marketing department".

What else was found during L2's study?

Facebook seems to be the "Holy Grail" for these Millenials because fundamentals reveal

• more than 50% say that their attitudes towards a brand was shaped through Facebook
• 54% of them clicked "LIKE" on a brand fan page in previous month
• 38% have posted a comment in the previous month
• 30% shared the brand they followed with their network (love this WOM number)

Video content as second "holy oracle", short behind Social Networking

No doubt, watching and sharing video content is a daily task for Gen-Y's. According to the numbers

• 56% watched a video on YouTube the previous 24 hours
• Hulu videos or shows were downloaded and watched by 19%
• 13% used a mobile device to watch a video
• and 21% found a different video source other than YouTube and Hulu.

So when all these numbers reveal how "video hooked" and addicted Millenials are, why not calling out for creative video contests, featuring your brand, make or model? Just make sure that the channel is checked "non-public" at the time the creative results will be submitted. Reason is too avoid to have material suddenly posted which will compromise your product or displays content not suited for business purposes. Trust me on this - according to my German proverb: TRUST IS GOOD - CONTROL IS BETTER.

In case you have already tried to focus on certain age groups, like Gen-Y, Gen-X and Baby Boomers and may have run a campaign, what did you see and conclude out of the campaign? Please feel free to comment and share your insights.