Illustrates Power of the Medium to Conference of Advertisers
Irvine, CA (July 25, 2002) - When it comes to digital marketing, Volvo Cars of North America LLC is using past success to improve upon the future in launching its latest vehicle.
Volvo Cars partnered with America Online in 2000 to launch its Volvo S60 in the industry's first digital-only launch of a car. With an incredible 300+ percent return on investment for the S60 launch, it's only natural the automaker would refine the strategy in launching its XC90, the company's first SUV.
Phil Bienert, Volvo Cars of North America Manager, CRM and Future Product Strategy, described the remarkable response and return on investment from Volvo's initial campaign at the 2002 Marketing Conference and Trade Show. The show was co-sponsored by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA).
In his presentation entitled "Who Says You Can't Introduce Cars Online?" Bienert noted, "Despite the risk involved, we were confident that this strategy made sense, given the limited budget. The overwhelming success led to a new mandate: an "AOL" every quarter."
This innovative strategy resulted in another marketing milestone: the March 2001 "Road to the Volvo S60" campaign. In a tie-in with the NCAA March Madness finals, the Volvo promotion included interactive and traditional TV, WAP-enabled phones, PDAs and in the Internet. The world's first fully integrated campaign drove consumers to enter a sweepstakes to win a Volvo S60, while providing them with up-to-the-minute information on the basketball finals.
Here too, the results were equally groundbreaking. The message of "ReVolvolution" (Volvo's rallying cry to promote the newly styled models) was exposed more than 250,000,000 times. More than 60,000 entries were filed via these multiple touchpoints. Fully one-third of these entrants opted in to engage in an ongoing dialogue with Volvo, resulting in tens of thousands of sales leads. "All this was accomplished with a budget only 10 percent above the existing television spot buy." Bienert noted.
Finally, Mr. Bienert gave preliminary details of the upcoming promotions planned for the launch of the all-new Volvo XC90, slated for November 2002. "We already have a web presence and are using the Internet as lead media, just as we did for the S60. This has already generated interest that is tracking at a significantly faster pace than the S60. We have a database of well over 50,000 hand-raisers interested in the XC90 to-date," said Bienert, noting the vehicle is still four months from being in showrooms.
"As we learn from these promotions, we continue to refine and adjust the components," said Bienert. "But year on year, we see a greater acceptance of digital messaging, particularly when you provide consumers with valuable content." He concluded by telling the audience of marketing executives that "convergence isn't coming; it's arrived."
These digital marketing initiatives were created in collaboration with New York-based Euro RSCG MVBMS Partners, Volvo's integrated marketing agency of record.
CONTACTS:
Stephen R. Bohannon
Volvo Cars of North America, LLC.
Phone - 949-341-6718
sbohanno@volvocars.com
Greg Jones
Euro RSCG MVBMS Partners
(212) 886-4210
greg.jones@eurorscg.com
