Erik Qualman's Blog, page 698

Super Bowl Ad Sneak Peak – GM Pre-Releases Spots via Facebook

As we reported a few weeks back, GM hired Big Fuel out of Detroit to handle their social media activity. GM is stepping up their social media efforts — starting with their flagship brand Chevrolet. GM has pre-released their Super Bowl advertisements via Facebook and YouTube. You can view them here.

 

This is a smart way to use social media to amplify the companies existing marketing efforts. Many companies have hired social media experts that have developed programs in isolation rather than leveraging existing programs/ad buys.

Now, if GM were "uber progressive" they would use the data they collect over the next few days via social media and run the commercials that resonate the best with viewers. Or at a minimum, put the ads that performed the best in the most desirable :30 time slots during the game (generally the early spots are better).

Of the ten spots showcased on their Facebook application there were two, in my opinion, that stood out:  1] "Misunderstanding Chevy Cruise" 2] "Miss Evelyn."  Interestingly enough they were #1 and #2 in terms of views respectively (55,000 & 49,000). So, it appears my opinion is a shared one.

Hence, what I'd suggest Chevy do is insert the funny old person spot ("Misunderstanding") into the first Super Bowl ad placement that they have.

This may halo their other advertisements.  I'd even go so far as recommending not playing some of the spots (nobody would miss a car that transforms into a robot) and playing the "Misunderstanding" spot again.  Many companies don't react/adjust to the data that is afforded to them via social media.

One of the spots ("Status") incorporates the fact that the Chevy Cruz allows for Facebook status updates (video below).

The premise of this spot has so much potential, but seeing a dude with a cheesy mustache smirk that his first date went well certainly doesn't have the punch it could.

A cool spot could have been a guy that had to attend a wedding with his girlfriend during the Super Bowl and DVR'd the game and avoids hearing about the score until he jumps in the car and his status updates tell him – completely bumming him out [even cooler would be actually inserting the real score of the game at that point Packers 17 Steelers 17].  That being said, the current "Status" spot will probably resonate well with potential female buyers.

According to Big Fuel, this sneak peek features all of Chevy's biggest players, Cruze, Cruze Eco, Silverado HD, Camaro and the revolutionary new Volt.

Bravo to GM and Big Fuel and you heard it hear first…expect to see many tweets with the line from the old man stating "Who asked you!?"

By Erik Qualman

Recommend Book: The New Rules of Marketing and PR

A Social Media Valentine's Day

We thought the above video would be a great reminder for all of us that Valentine's Day is right around the corner. For guys there are a lot of social media tools that will make life easier – as you see in the video. Please find below a great infographic from eHarmony on what is most important in a relationship.

Amazon Kindle: Valentine's Gift $139

By Erik Qualman