tigerhonaker
04-03-2006, 08:27 PM
Monday, April 03, 2006
Erin Lubin / General Motors Corp.
College students from across the country were asked to come up with the best PR campaign for the redesigned Chevrolet Aveo, which debuts this summer as a snazzier version of its predecessor.
Searching for young buyers, GM asks students for ideas
SAN FRANCISCO -- Twenty-year-old Jenny Ecclestone of Novi had never seen a 2007 Chevrolet Aveo. Nor had she ever developed a public relations program for a new car.
General Motors Corp. gave her the opportunity to do both.
Ecclestone competed with 32 other college students from across the country to come up with the best PR campaign for the redesigned Aveo, which debuts this summer as a snazzier version of its predecessor.
"It was definitely intense, having only one hour (to devise a campaign) and then our presentation time was cut to five minutes (from the original 10 minutes), and then our computer died," said Ecclestone, a sophomore at Michigan State University.
Call it a student version of the popular television program "The Apprentice."
Instead of winning a job, however, the victorious students won free admission to a Chevrolet-related event in their area, such as a NASCAR race, where Chevy provides race cars, or sporting events, where Chevrolet is a prime advertiser.
And GM got to showcase the Aveo to its target market: young people. Like most automakers, GM is eager to bolster 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.
With the PR competition, GM got the inside scoop from young buyers on how to reach this coveted demographic and get them interested in Chevy's most affordable car.
With a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $9,890, the 2006 Aveo is the lowest-priced new car in America.
The students, ranging in age from 19 to 24 and all members of the Public Relations Student Society of America, volunteered for the assignment, which offered a firsthand look at one of only two new Aveos in the United States.
It was the first time GM was involved in the annual competition, held in conjunction with the PRSSA national assembly, said Chevrolet spokesman Travis Parman.
Ecclestone and her group recommended the Aveo be promoted on college Web sites like Facebook.com and MySpace.com, which are the "grapevine" of news for college students today. The sites are online communities where students can post information about themselves.
To get on Facebook.com, Chevrolet officials would need to enlist the help of a "student rep" who would post information and run the site, the students said.
All of the student groups raved about Facebook.com and MySpace.com as key resources, and pitched the popular Web sites as a way to expose students to the Aveo.
Parman, who was active in PRSSA in college and served as one of the judges at the event, took note of the comments.
He said Chevrolet will review the students' suggestions and likely use some to supplement Aveo efforts.
Describing the Aveo as a "small car with a big personality," Ecclestone and her group recommended a "Why I Have the Biggest Personality" contest, which would allow young participants to send in homemade videos to compete for an Aveo.
And one of their tagline ideas played on the Aveo name to describe the new car: "Affordable, Versatile, Efficient (in gas mileage) and Original."
But the winning group, which included a University of Southern California student from the Czech Republic, realized that with the Aveo not arriving in showrooms until summer, many college campuses would be empty.
So, rather than focus on well-worn college campus activities, such as campus test drives and T-shirt giveaways, they pitched a summer road trip for the Aveo, with stops at venues such as theme parks and concerts.
They suggested local media be contacted for each tour stop to help publicize the tour, and a lucky local would be selected to drive the Aveo from one stop to the next.
As the car traveled the country and made the stops, each driver would leave something personal behind -- a personalized cowboy hat from Texas, for example.
The trip, as well as the personal items, would be featured on the Internet, along with travelogue videos. In the end, one of the drivers would win the Aveo in a "See It, Drive It, Win It" campaign.
The thinking of the winning group was "the car is as unique as you are," said Vojtech Horna, the 21-year-old from USC and the Czech Republic.
He also suggested that an Aveo Web site include a customizing area where aspiring buyers could modify and personalize their dream Aveo, post it on the Web site and then tell friends to go take a look.
As Patty Torres, a 24-year-old from California State University-Pomona, put it, "It's a small car, but it has big style. … It's a jewel that doesn't have to be rough on your budget."
Twenty-one-year-old Jessica Randazza, who also was in the winning group, offered personal insight into how young people buy cars.
A student at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., Randazza bought a 2005 Honda Civic a few months ago.
She said she got the Civic because some of her friends had Civics and encouraged her to get one because they enjoyed their cars and their trouble-free operation. After seeing the Aveo, though, Randazza wondered if she'd made the right choice.
Ryan Matejka, a 20-year-old from Rowan University in Pennington, N.J., appeared to be the only student who extensively researched new, small-car competitors coming on the market, such as the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris.
His group, too, concluded that Facebook.com and MySpace.com have big potential for getting young people interested in the Aveo.
Matejka later admitted that cars "are just a passion of mine."
And though he drives a 1999 Ford Mustang that boasts a V-6 engine and five-speed manual transmission, he "would love to work for an automotive company such as GM."
Ecclestone, who's set her sights on a job in public relations for a nonprofit organization, said the Aveo competition was a worthwhile experience and admitted she "really liked" the bright orange Aveo sedan.
Her current ride is a hand-me-down from her sister: a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier.
Asked what she expects to be driving in a few years, after she's well into her career, Ecclestone said it would be "something small and sporty."
"I don't ever want to own a minivan."
To view the Article in (Full With Picture) Click Link Below:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/AUTO01/604030342/1148/BIZ
Ann Job is a California-based freelance writer. You can reach her at annjo84@hotmail.com.
Erin Lubin / General Motors Corp.
College students from across the country were asked to come up with the best PR campaign for the redesigned Chevrolet Aveo, which debuts this summer as a snazzier version of its predecessor.
Searching for young buyers, GM asks students for ideas
SAN FRANCISCO -- Twenty-year-old Jenny Ecclestone of Novi had never seen a 2007 Chevrolet Aveo. Nor had she ever developed a public relations program for a new car.
General Motors Corp. gave her the opportunity to do both.
Ecclestone competed with 32 other college students from across the country to come up with the best PR campaign for the redesigned Aveo, which debuts this summer as a snazzier version of its predecessor.
"It was definitely intense, having only one hour (to devise a campaign) and then our presentation time was cut to five minutes (from the original 10 minutes), and then our computer died," said Ecclestone, a sophomore at Michigan State University.
Call it a student version of the popular television program "The Apprentice."
Instead of winning a job, however, the victorious students won free admission to a Chevrolet-related event in their area, such as a NASCAR race, where Chevy provides race cars, or sporting events, where Chevrolet is a prime advertiser.
And GM got to showcase the Aveo to its target market: young people. Like most automakers, GM is eager to bolster 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.
With the PR competition, GM got the inside scoop from young buyers on how to reach this coveted demographic and get them interested in Chevy's most affordable car.
With a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $9,890, the 2006 Aveo is the lowest-priced new car in America.
The students, ranging in age from 19 to 24 and all members of the Public Relations Student Society of America, volunteered for the assignment, which offered a firsthand look at one of only two new Aveos in the United States.
It was the first time GM was involved in the annual competition, held in conjunction with the PRSSA national assembly, said Chevrolet spokesman Travis Parman.
Ecclestone and her group recommended the Aveo be promoted on college Web sites like Facebook.com and MySpace.com, which are the "grapevine" of news for college students today. The sites are online communities where students can post information about themselves.
To get on Facebook.com, Chevrolet officials would need to enlist the help of a "student rep" who would post information and run the site, the students said.
All of the student groups raved about Facebook.com and MySpace.com as key resources, and pitched the popular Web sites as a way to expose students to the Aveo.
Parman, who was active in PRSSA in college and served as one of the judges at the event, took note of the comments.
He said Chevrolet will review the students' suggestions and likely use some to supplement Aveo efforts.
Describing the Aveo as a "small car with a big personality," Ecclestone and her group recommended a "Why I Have the Biggest Personality" contest, which would allow young participants to send in homemade videos to compete for an Aveo.
And one of their tagline ideas played on the Aveo name to describe the new car: "Affordable, Versatile, Efficient (in gas mileage) and Original."
But the winning group, which included a University of Southern California student from the Czech Republic, realized that with the Aveo not arriving in showrooms until summer, many college campuses would be empty.
So, rather than focus on well-worn college campus activities, such as campus test drives and T-shirt giveaways, they pitched a summer road trip for the Aveo, with stops at venues such as theme parks and concerts.
They suggested local media be contacted for each tour stop to help publicize the tour, and a lucky local would be selected to drive the Aveo from one stop to the next.
As the car traveled the country and made the stops, each driver would leave something personal behind -- a personalized cowboy hat from Texas, for example.
The trip, as well as the personal items, would be featured on the Internet, along with travelogue videos. In the end, one of the drivers would win the Aveo in a "See It, Drive It, Win It" campaign.
The thinking of the winning group was "the car is as unique as you are," said Vojtech Horna, the 21-year-old from USC and the Czech Republic.
He also suggested that an Aveo Web site include a customizing area where aspiring buyers could modify and personalize their dream Aveo, post it on the Web site and then tell friends to go take a look.
As Patty Torres, a 24-year-old from California State University-Pomona, put it, "It's a small car, but it has big style. … It's a jewel that doesn't have to be rough on your budget."
Twenty-one-year-old Jessica Randazza, who also was in the winning group, offered personal insight into how young people buy cars.
A student at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., Randazza bought a 2005 Honda Civic a few months ago.
She said she got the Civic because some of her friends had Civics and encouraged her to get one because they enjoyed their cars and their trouble-free operation. After seeing the Aveo, though, Randazza wondered if she'd made the right choice.
Ryan Matejka, a 20-year-old from Rowan University in Pennington, N.J., appeared to be the only student who extensively researched new, small-car competitors coming on the market, such as the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris.
His group, too, concluded that Facebook.com and MySpace.com have big potential for getting young people interested in the Aveo.
Matejka later admitted that cars "are just a passion of mine."
And though he drives a 1999 Ford Mustang that boasts a V-6 engine and five-speed manual transmission, he "would love to work for an automotive company such as GM."
Ecclestone, who's set her sights on a job in public relations for a nonprofit organization, said the Aveo competition was a worthwhile experience and admitted she "really liked" the bright orange Aveo sedan.
Her current ride is a hand-me-down from her sister: a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier.
Asked what she expects to be driving in a few years, after she's well into her career, Ecclestone said it would be "something small and sporty."
"I don't ever want to own a minivan."
To view the Article in (Full With Picture) Click Link Below:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/AUTO01/604030342/1148/BIZ
Ann Job is a California-based freelance writer. You can reach her at annjo84@hotmail.com.