• by Karl Greenberg , March 7, 2007

General Motors' GMC division is reaching out to women for the first time with its first crossover vehicle, Acadia, by launching a campaign this week offering free valet parking to shoppers in eight cities.

The program runs through April and also puts Acadia advertising on some 3 million hand- and machine-issued tickets, as well as on gate booms. A GMC release said the division expects to foot the bill for about 100,000 vehicles in Los Angeles, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa.

GM will not offer free parking for machine-issued tickets. Dallas-based AdverTickets handles, with media planning by GM Planworks and Starcom Worldwide.

GM did a similar program in the past at an Atlanta shopping center for its Cadillac division. An AdverTickets spokesperson said the campaign is the first push the agency has overseen in which a marketer is offering free parking in multiple cities.

"GMC wanted to find a way to introduce Acadia to busy families," says Mary Kubitskey, GMC national advertising manager, in a release.