General Motors Corp. is using the Web to build relationships with car buyers and increase consumer conversation about its vehicles.
At the MIT Sloan CMO Summit in Cambridge, MA on Wednesday, Jack Bowen, general director of CRM for the automaker, noted that while GM is a market leader, it has experienced declining marketshare. This, he said, is partly thanks to a history of focusing on mass media advertising and a perception that its products are of poor quality.
GM knew it needed to play to the emotional investment drivers have with their vehicles. Automobiles are a unique category, he said. Unlike other appliances or mechanical devices, people are so attached to their cars they’ll photograph them and display the pictures in their offices. “You don’t photograph your toaster,” Bowen said.
A new GM site, http://www.gmprovingground.com, launched earlier this week. Created by Digitas, the site offers peer reviews of cars. The testimonials are “realistic” and not unabashed glowing praise, said Bowen, a tactic designed to create consumer confidence.
GM is also using blogging to communicate with drivers online. GM’s vice chairman Bob Lutz — an auto industry veteran and the company’s director of product development
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