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February 12, 2007

Pontiac MySpacing the Right Way?

It's not enough to just have a MySpace profile anymore. In fact, I believe it's almost expected that you do, if you're a company. But it's not enough, in my opinion, to JUST have a profile. It needs something more than coupons and "insider information," (which isn't really insider information). There needs to be a bigger hook.

Benefits_pontiac I think someone has finally figured out a good spin to a MySpace profile. Yesterday, while on AdPulp, I ran across this post about Pontiac's new MySpace profile. The profile/program is called "Friends with Benefits." Aside from the obvious joke in the title (as pointed out in the comments section on the AdPulp post), I think that this program shows promise.

The premise is this, when/if you buy a new Pontiac G5, go to the MySpace page and register the car. When you do that, you'll get a "Friends with Benefits" debit card. The more people that buy a car and register, the more money is put onto the card (up to $1,000, which would be 1,000 people).

The G5 is already being marketed to the younger crowd, so a MySpace presence is a must. In addition, they're speaking to a crowd that likes the incentive of extra money. I know, doesn't anyone like extra money? Sure. But I think this crowd likes the extra money, especially when all they have to do is tell their friends about it. And in the end, if they really do get 1,000 buyers registered, that's a $1,000,000 promotion right there (plus the costs of any extra marketing they do).

Is that a number that's just outrageous? No. Is it in line with marketing budgets of other car manufacturers? Yes, maybe less-than. Is the idea more appealing than $1,000 off the purchase of a new car? To me, it is. Nice work, Mark-Hans Richer (Pontiac's Director of Marketing) and whoever your agency is, kudos.

Posted by SethyG on February 12, 2007 at 03:21 PM | Permalink
Categories: Advertising , Brave New Marketing , Pop Culture , Web/Tech

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Comments

Couldn't agree more: with marketers of all breeds flocking into MySpace, it's become increasingly tedious to differentiate oneself. Pontiac's approach is likely to become a standard in months to come.

Posted by:Brendan | February 13, 2007 at 01:55 PM

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