GM uses college students to market to college students

The Detroit News had a recent article entitled, “Searching for young buyers, GM asks students for ideas,” which was about a contest that GM held. GM was seeking young buyers to purchase the redesigned Aveo, which will be released over the summer. The company wants to increase sales by attracting young drivers who will “become loyalists for life, moving from one GM brand to another as their tastes change and their income grows.”

In order to figure out ways to reach this demographic, GM decided to ask college students for their ideas. 33 college students from across the country competed to come up with the best public relations campaign for the Aveo. The Aveo is the lowest-priced new car in the United States. The students, who are all active in the Public Relations Student Society of America, were split into teams, and only had one hour to devise a campaign and then had five minutes to present their ideas. As the article mentioned, the contest seemed like a student version of “The Apprentice.” Instead of being rewarded with a job, the students won free admission to a Chevrolet-related event, such as a NASCAR race. Several of the groups came up with the idea of promoting the car on college websites such as facebook.com or myspace.com, which I have mentioned before, are social software sites in which students post information about themselves. Many current college students receive news from these sites. In order to advertise on the Facebook, Chevrolet would have to hire a student rep who would post information and run the site. Students also came up with a tagline for the Aveo as part of their campaigns. One student described it as a “small car with a big personality,” which led her group to propose the idea of a contest called, “Why I have the Biggest Personality.” The contest would allow young people to send in homemade videos to compete for an Aveo.

The winning team decided to focus on the fact that the Aveo was not arriving in showrooms until the summer. Many of the teams suggested campus test drives and T-shirt giveaways, which might not work since college campuses empty out over the summer. The winning team pitched a summer road trip for the Aveo, with stops at theme parks, concerts, and other venues. They also suggested the idea that local media be contacted for each stop to help publicize the tour and create a buzz. Additionally, a local at each stop would be chosen to drive the Aveo to the next stop on the tour. The winning campaign also integrated the Internet into their campaign, with travelogue videos, being able to personalize your own dream Aveo, as well as other interactive features.

This article really caught my attention and after reading it, I was amazed at how many of the topics I have discussed in my blog were used in the campaign proposals by the students. I have written about social software, such as MySpace and Facebook and how advertisers are looking to them to advertise to teens and college students. Also, the concept of consumer empowerment was used in the campaign ideas. This newer advertising method is becoming the way for advertisers to break through the clutter. Some demographics are difficult to reach, especially college students, since they do not always pay attention to traditional media. Therefore, consumer empowerment, or putting the advertising in the hands of the customer, seems to be a successful way to reach these demographics. GM’s contest was an excellent idea by putting the advertising in the hands of the demographic they want to reach. Who better to create a campaign than the target consumers? I predict that this will be one of many companies that will allow the consumers create the advertising.