|
General Motors learned its lesson the hard way: In a world of consumer-controlled content, the consumer can't be controlled.
GM invited consumers to write copy and create 30-second online ads for the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe. Several of the ads attacked the SUV as a gas guzzler, a contributor to global warming and a warmonger. “Don't buy me,” read the headline of one ad. Allowing consumers to alter or spin content as they wish is an attractive technique for automakers that seek “engagement” with potential customers. But it also carries big risks. GM shouldn't be surprised that its contest attracted negative messages, analysts say. The automaker insists it wasn't. Chevrolet spokesman Michael Albano notes that the contest kept visitors on the Tahoe Web site for an average of nine minutes. The contest ended last week. “We knew when we entered into the area of two-way discussion with our customers that there might be some negative interpretations,” Albano says. Chevrolet says it has no plans to remove negative ads. Some experts say GM should have monitored the homemade ads before allowing them to be posted. “There needs to be... a lot of foresight about whether it really makes sense for your brand,” says Eric Valk Peterson, vice president of Agency.com., an interactive-marketing company in New York. At the same time, if a marketer imposes too many controls on an interactive program, “it's not going to be embraced by anyone who's passionate,” says Jeff Marshall, senior vice president of Starcom MediaVest Group, a media management company in Chicago. “You've got to be able to take a calculated risk,” Marshall says. “There are always going to be detractors.” Says Colleen DeCourcy, chief creative officer of the Organic digital-marketing agency in San Francisco: “If you're going to buy a Tahoe anyway, you don't care about the negative statements, because you figure they are made by political extremists. If I'm a dyed-in-the-wool SUV driver, I wouldn't care.”
|
