At the North American International Auto Show later this month, Chevrolet will unveil its C6 Corvette — the sixth radically different design since the line was introduced in 1953.
A yearlong marketing campaign culminating in mid-2003 yielded e-mail addresses for 26,000 Corvette enthusiasts, and General Motors is banking that at least a few of them will be plunking down the $50,000 or so it'll take to drive a C6 (and a basic model at that) off the lot. The Corvette's latest iteration marks the first time these names will be solicited since they were initially collected, although at deadline the only thing under tighter wraps than the car's new design itself was the specific nature of the e-mail campaign.
The names were gathered as part of the Corvette 50th Anniversary Celebration, which started in mid-2002 with a survey of 50 key “Corvette ambassadors” — individuals identified by the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY as being highly involved with various Corvette enthusiast clubs and functions.
The initial survey was not intended to be a marketing piece. It consisted of a dozen open-ended questions, e-mailed to the ambassadors in mid-2001, regarding the types of events a Corvette enthusiast would like to participate in as part of the line's anniversary celebration; how far the person would travel to such an event; and what other activities he or she would engage in during a multi-day Corvette rally.
But the survey generated a 700% response rate. Not only did recipients write page-length responses to many of the questions, they were all too eager to forward it on to other Corvette enthusiasts.
“That was when we first felt we were tapping into something that was going to be a big hit,” said Brian Kelley, event marketing manager for Carlson Marketing Group's Mideast division, which designed the campaign.
Kelley quickly rearranged his priorities. Not only did survey respondents offer their opinions, but 24 months ahead of the yearlong road tour (which was to culminate in a rally in Nashville, TN), they were looking to enroll in the celebration and register for whatever accommodations they would need.
In response, rather than focus on general promotional activity, Kelley's team turned its energy to launching a Web site (www.corvette50th.com), which was up by April 2002 and able to sell tickets and link to hotels, as well as provide information about the various stops on the road show. And while direct mail never was going to play a large role, the response Kelley saw convinced him that e-mail could be the campaign's primary channel.
This fit in with the program's budget: While the total outlay for the promotion, including booking entertainment and brand advertising, was in the low millions, the amount allocated for the Web site build and e-mail communication efforts didn't break $200,000.
Kelley's next outreach was to The Chevy Club Connection, an affiliation of 300 or so organizations to which GM provides posters, information and the occasional automotive engineer/speaker. Each club was encouraged to tout the upcoming celebration to its members in e-mail communications — and for those that did not have regular e-mail broadcasts, Carlson retained a full-time writer to create Corvette-based editorial.
As the promotion gathered speed, Carlson was able to contact point people at another 500 clubs and direct them to the Web site, where they could sign up to receive e-mail bulletins.
By the time the 50th anniversary campaign was ready to roll, Chevrolet was communicating directly with 16,000 enthusiasts.
The 12-month jubilee started in late June 2002, with a “Dream Cruise” — a parade of classic Corvettes — down Detroit's Woodward Avenue. According to automotive lore, Woodward was the first paved road in America. It absolutely was the location of Henry Ford's first automobile plant.
During the following year, a dozen locations would host concerts, rallies and other events — and another 10,000 people would enroll in the Corvette e-mail database. While Kelley was not sure if General Motors had one beforehand, if they did it was not made available for this event.
Initially enrollees were contacted monthly, but as the rally in Tennessee neared, the e-mail frequency was doubled. And with each e-mail blast, the enrollment numbers spiked. By last June, most of the 26,000 registrants were signed up, and more than 6,000 vehicles were registered for a Corvette caravan that ran from Bowling Green to Nashville.
At the final event, General Motors was even able to use interactive television as part of its efforts. Home shopping channel QVC set up a live remote from Nashville and devoted an hour to licensed Corvette merchandise, which, according to Kelley, sold very well.
Campaign: Corvette 50th Anniversary Celebration
Agency: Carlson Marketing Group
Media: E-mail, Web site
Budget: Low seven figures (includes six-figure Web site build and five-figure e-mail effort)
Yield: E-mail addresses of 26,000 Corvette enthusiasts
