Kelley Blue Book's VP of advertising reviews the exclusively online launch of the Pontiac G5, and shows how GM uses trust in third-party sites to direct in-market buyers to its vehicles.

Just a few short months ago, when Pontiac announced that all of the advertising for their newest model, the G5, was to be done online, a lot of eyebrows raised around the industry. With the cost of introducing yet another new model into the crowded marketplace that is today's automotive landscape, Pontiac made the distinct decision to harness the power of the internet to better reach their target market. 

It's a "radical experiment," said Mark-Hans Richer, Pontiac's marketing director. Because they know who is most likely to buy the G5 -- namely younger men -- they can target their ads to where they can be found. "We know where the bull's-eye is," he added, "so it's easier."

General Motors gets it. They understand that the internet can reach in-market car buyers and specific demographic audiences more effectively than most other advertising types combined. This, of course, is not GM's first foray into the online "test" world. Earlier this year GM's Chevy, GMC, Buick and Pontiac brands ran national TV ad campaigns inviting vehicle shoppers to visit third-party internet websites to compare their vehicles to others in the marketplace. The campaign was a success, driving thousands of in-market car buyers to in-market sites-- which vehicle shoppers already know and trust.

The January 2006 program, dubbed "Delta," had GM partnering with in-market sites to generate interest in GM products. As part of the program, Kelley Blue Book built custom microsites for the GMC, Buick and Pontiac brands. These sites included Kelley Blue Book's trusted data-- such as new vehicle pricing, options, safety features and quality ratings; they also invited shoppers to compare GM brand vehicles to their market competitors, and enabled this comparison with online tools right on the site. What made this campaign so powerful was that it was from a credible third party-- not from GM itself. The validity and factual comparisons from a third-party site made the comparison tools for Buick, GMC and Pontiac all the more substantive. 

A national television and print campaign for GMC drove shoppers to "Compare at kbb.com"; when shoppers visited the site, they had already gotten "the message" from the broadcast and print campaigns and followed up by comparing GMC vehicles on kbb.com's side-by-side comparison tool. If shoppers clicked from an online ad, they'd go to the GMC customized microsite featuring the same side-by-side comparison tool. (The microsite KBB developed also "lived" -- and continues to live -- on the GMC.com website.)

Because of kbb.com's relevancy and ability to reach in-market car buyers, the goal of increasing consideration -- and "dare-to-compare" -- was a success. During the promotion, more online comparisons were completed for GMC trucks, and pricing report requests for GMC products increased significantly.

With regard to Pontiac's online campaign for the G5 and G6, they ran a "Spotlight" feature on the kbb.com home page, as well as other home page ads. The G5 and G6 campaign on kbb.com ran three separate weeks in March, June and July. Again, Pontiac's overall pricing report requests spiked during the campaign. And in August 2006, G5 sales exceeded Pontiac's goals by 185 percent.

Other automakers can find that same bull's-eye online, just as Mark-Hans Richer did. Where better to find people interested in buying a car than on third-party automotive research sites? Kbb.com alone sees more than 10 million unique visitors each month, with more than 70 percent of them planning to buy a new car within six months. Buyers easily access and navigate these third-party sites, entering their zip codes and communicating their vehicle purchase interests. It's difficult to get more targeted than that.

With the launch of the G5, Pontiac now knows the level of success internet campaigns offer, and the ability this specific campaign had to reach potential G5 shoppers. The online-only campaign resulted in a successful new-nameplate introduction in a way that was not only targeted, but shaved millions from their budget as well.

Robin Cooper is VP of advertising and business development at Kelley Blue Book. Read full bio.