automotive

Chevrolet Seeks Klout For Sonic

Chevy-Sonic

Chevrolet is launching a new campaign in partnership with Klout Perks, the consumer-facing platform of online measurement firm Klout. Through the Perks program, which rewards users for their online influence, the General Motors’ division is promoting the 2012 Sonic subcompact car. The goal is to get influencers in Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta and Dallas to talk about the car. Consumers in those cities who are Klout members can sign up via the Klout Perks platform to get a chance to drive the 2012 Sonic for free for three days between Nov. 11 and Dec. 14.

To get the car, the participants -- about 150 of whom will ultimately get to drive the Sonic --must have a Klout score of 45 or above in areas like music, technology, adventure and travel, which all index strongly among the Millennial set. Those whom Chevrolet chooses to reward with a loan then document and post their experience with the Sonic across their social media channels.

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Carolin Probst-Iyer, Chevrolet's manager of digital consumer engagement, tells Marketing Daily that the program is in line with what the automaker has been doing from the get-go: reach out to Millennials through social media platforms.

"We have been activating a lot around the social space, so it was natural to look for programs that worked in the past," she says, adding that Chevrolet used Klout for a test program in Chicago earlier this year, offering three-day loans to influencers. She says the program reached 1.5 million people directly, and through them some 3 million impressions.

"It was a logical decision for us to continue and do on a national scale, as it allows us to reach social influencers -- people with a large social following, who are influencing people based on select interests," she says.

The company is using its retail network to provide the test drives in each of the regions, per Probst-Iyer, who says there are some 28 to 30 Sonics available in each market for the loans. "Klout is managing the logistics," she says, adding that if it is as successful as the initial test was, it may be continued. Indications are that it will be.

"I looked at some early metrics, and we were already sold out [for the program]. So except for few spots in Dallas, we have given away all of the loans. If it's successful we will look into an extension."

 

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