Pontiac Campaign Targets Camera Phone Owners

Pontiac is targeting camera phone owners with an integrated campaign promoting its G6 line of cars. The company zeroed in on camera phone owners as a “sweet spot” demographic of potential new car buyers, affluent and well-educated, Mark-Hans Richer, Pontiac’s marketing director, told ClickZ News.

Pontiac turned to Digitas for the “Catch a G6” campaign, launched March 4. The two-week promotion involves TV, radio, and online ads. All invite camera phone owners to snap pictures of G6 vehicles anywhere in America and email them to win@catchaG6.com. Photos will eventually be uploaded to the campaign’s micro-site, catchaG6.com, and entrants’ names entered into a $1 million cash prize sweepstakes.

“Camera phones appeal to a broad demographic at this point, of people with higher incomes and levels of education,” Richer said. “This is not a very targeted campaign, but for a very specific reason. This is high-volume-selling car we aim to sell to wide groups of people.”

The micro-site is rich in G6 photos and product specifications, ostensibly to help photographers spot the vehicle on the streets. In effect, the site serves as the source of detailed information and the campaign’s branding message. Visitors are also invited to download a free G6 ringtone.

ePrize is administering the sweepstakes, which ends March 18.

The online campaign component launched with a standard banner ad on the Yahoo homepage, followed by a similar ad on AOL’s homepage on March 7. Pontiac plans to run banner ads on other high-traffic sites, including MTV and VH1. Paid search ads, handled by Digitas, will also run for the duration of the campaign, said Digitas VP/Associate Director Tom Penque.

On TV, the company is airing :30 spots, which include a 10-second tag promoting the camera phone sweepstakes. To round out the integrated strategy, Pontiac is also running radio promotions in 25 cities.

Pontiac has already measured some success with the campaign, Richer said, comparing it to the Web site traffic generated by its G6 car giveaway on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2004. On the first day of the camera phone promotion, the micro-site received 93 percent as much traffic as it did on the first day of the Oprah promotion.