Saturn is turning heads in the nation’s capital with a $500,000 marketing campaign that includes erecting greenhouses around the city to drive awareness for the automaker’s environment-friendly hybrid SUV.
Two of three greenhouses located around Washington, DC, opened yesterday; the third debuts today. All showcase the Saturn Vue Green Line, a hybrid SUV, with a lush green vegetation as a backdrop. To engage the public, Saturn is hosting green-themed activities at each location through Oct. 29.
Visitors can participate in cooking demonstrations using organic foods, and knitting and crocheting demonstrations that use organic yarn. During the event, some consumers will receive free tree seedling as part of a giveaway. For food, Saturn is giving attendees free green apples branded with the Saturn logo and free organic smoothies. Local music artists provide entertainment.
The greenhouses are also the venue for learning opportunities, including a presentation on “Sustainability and Architecture” hosted by Sam Grawe, executive editor of Dwell Magazine.
Saturn tapped DC-area environmentally conscious businesses for the demonstrations and to outfit the greenhouses, the company said. Each greenhouse is equipped with a recyclable floor and is furnished with benches and recyclable plant pots. The greenhouses are located at Union Station (50 Massachusetts Ave., West Metro Side), Ronald Reagan Building (14th Street and Constitution) and at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo (DC Armory, near RFK Stadium). At the Marathon Expo location, children can participate in an arts and scraps car-building activity using recycled materials.
“Using greenhouse is a perfect metaphor to get consumers to say ‘Hey, that’s pretty darn clever,'” said Tony Parrottino, national sales promotion manager for Saturn. “There is so much [advertising] for consumers to consume everyday and what we’re really trying to do is to be innovative, to make a lasting impression on people.”
That lasting impression cost Saturn a modest $500,000, which includes the creation of the customized greenhouses and events, Tarrottino said. The company plans to use the greenhouses in tours across the U.S. next year, he added.
E-mail blasts to 40,000 consumers who opted in for more information on hybrid vehicles in the DC-metro area helped to drive buzz for the initiative. Billboards ads in Union Station and p.r. also support. The Birmingham, MI, office of ClearBlue handles.
Meanwhile, on Oct. 29, as a sponsor of the 31st Marine Corps Marathon, also held in Washington, DC, Saturn will give the first 10,000 runners of the 26,000 registered runners who cross the finish line in the event, free Saturn-branded sandals to relieve aching feet.
“The first thing runners want to do when they cross the finish line is to take their shoes off,” Parrottino said of the sandals idea. The automaker will also activate sponsorship of the event with signage, car displays and is providing10 Saturn vehicles to travel the marathon route.
Detroit-based Saturn is a brand of GM.
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