General Motors Debuts Integrated Ad Campaign Targeting the Unique California Style
 Californian Charlize Theron (although she has nothing to do with GM, this is a cheap way to get another picture of Charlize on The Auto Channel) |
'Find Your Style' Theme Featured in Billboards, New Web Site and Sweepstakes Created by McCannSF and Zentropy
SAN FRANCISCO, March 22 -- McCann Erickson San Francisco (McCannSF) and McCann's primary online resource, Zentropy Partners (Zentropy) announced the debut of an integrated outdoor and online advertising campaign for General Motors western region. The campaign speaks directly to the diverse styles and unique personalities of Californians, which mirror the diverse options offered by the 65 models in the GM line of vehicles. The theme of the campaign -- "Find Your Style" -- is based on the premise that Californians have diverse tastes and styles, and that no matter what that style is GM has the right vehicle for every individual.
McCannSF and Zentropy integrated resources to develop and launch the campaign, targeting Californians who may never have considered a GM vehicle in the past. Strategy, media and outdoor creative were developed by McCannSF. The web site, www.findyourstyle.com, online creative and sweepstakes were created by Zentropy. The "Build Your Billboard" sweepstakes launches this week. The sweepstakes invites users to turn creative director and execute their own version of the outdoor campaign, with the chance to have their billboard posted in their own hometown.
The outdoor campaign launched in mid-February with an oversized bookend billboard on a high rise building on Hollywood's Sunset Strip. The billboard features LA Lakers basketball star Shaq on the right side of the building looking to the left side, where the bookend billboard has the headline "Hardwood" above a GM Hummer on a solid wood floor and below that another headline "Hollywood" above a GM Escalade on "the red carpet."
The outdoor campaign is composed of six billboard executions appearing in prominent locations throughout Los Angeles and San Francisco. The billboards compare the GM line of vehicles to various California lifestyle attributes, ranging from skiing styles to entertainment choices.
A key goal of the "Find Your Style" web site was to use technology in an innovative way to both highlight GM's innovations and integrate with other established and powerful GM sites. For example, for people who had not previously considered GM, but are interesting in learning more about the vehicles, they can link directly to www.gm.com/story. For people who are now considering GM they can link to www.gm.com/24hour. And, for people who are now ready to purchase a vehicle, they can link to www.gmbuypower.com.
The new web site, www.findyourstyle.com, is built entirely in Flash and introduces engaging interactivities and games. Examples of the edgy style and look can be found in the bright colors and hip photography throughout the site. Some of the innovative interactive areas include:
* "What's Your Style" which enables the user to choose their own
personality by selecting various head and body parts, plus a creative
headline. Once the user has submitted their personality, a scientific
algorithm selects the right GM vehicle for them.
* "Style Starts Within" showcases the beauty of the GM interiors in
smart and interactive ways, rolling over hotspots which highlight
state of the art GM product features.
* "Concentrate On Style" allows the user to play a "concentration" type
game. Once they have found all the right pieces, they are shown all
of the various body styles available on GM BuyPower.com.
* "Build Your Billboard" integrates with the offline campaign and is the
teaser for a sweepstakes launching this week. This area invites the
user to be creative and submit a billboard headline.
Mike Jackson, General Manager for GM's Western Region, stated, "GM's key to market leadership and success in California is high quality, 'gotta have' cars and trucks. With 14 new models and six new nameplates in 2004, this adds to the depth and breadth of our product lineup which is seamlessly integrated through the 'find your style' campaign."
Kevin Moehlenkamp, Chief Creative Officer, McCannSF, commented, "We're really excited about the 'find your style' program. What we're attempting, for the first time, is to get people to consider not just a particular vehicle when shopping, but to consider a family of vehicles. GM has the largest and most varied selection of really great cars to fit the diverse personalities of California and we wanted a campaign to demonstrate that fact. By developing a campaign that generates buzz in outdoor and drives them to a great web site to show off our vehicles, we're helping Californians to shop for a car in a whole new way. GM is a great car company. People will be surprised what they find when they look at them today."
Steve Woolford, Worldwide Managing Director, Zentropy Partners, added, "This is an excellent example of how the online communications channel can be used to extend and enhance the entire advertising message."
About McCann Erickson San Francisco
McCann Erickson San Francisco (McCannSF) is among the top totally integrated agencies in the Bay Area. Advertising accounts include Applied Materials, AMD, Del Monte, Microsoft and Southcorp Wines North America, among others. McCannSF has been named "Western Agency of the Year" by Adweek Magazine and "Ad Agency of the Year" by Technology Marketing Magazine. McCann Erickson is one of the foremost ad agencies in the U.S., with eight full-service offices across the country. McCann has been named "Global Agency of the Year" by Adweek Magazine in three of the past five years. McCann Erickson Worldwide is the world's leading global ad agency network, with operations in 132 countries and is a unit of McCann Worldgroup, which is part of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. .
About Zentropy Partners
Zentropy Partners, (www.zentropypartners.com), is a global Internet professional services company founded in 1995 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its user-centric focus on Experience Architecture & Design has resulted in performance based integrated online marketing campaigns and award-winning Web Design/Development. Zentropy Partners global clients include GM, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Nestle and Unilever, among others. Zentropy Partners is a MRM Partners company, one of the leading relationship marketing agency networks in the world. MRM Partners is a unit of McCann Worldgroup, which is part of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. .