General Motors is launching a pair of experiential marketing programs this year for its core Chevrolet
brand that extends its corporate "May the Best Car Win" mantra into a multi-market, test-drive program that lets consumers drive both Chevy vehicles and the vehicles Chevy competes with.
One of the programs leverages GM's presence at some 30 auto shows around the country, while the other is something completely new in the category: a permanent or semi-permanent, minimally branded,
brick-and-mortar facility to be called "Test Drive Studio."
The latter, which will begin in four markets this spring, has been batted around GM for a while, per Steve Tihanyi, general director
for marketing services, alliances and branded entertainment at the company. "It's a concept I discussed 10 years ago; now we are making it come to life," he says, adding that the facilities location
will be based on ZIP code targets for Chevy products. It will be run on a pilot basis in Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. If successful, the studio program will be expanded, he says.
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The studios will feature Chevy's "heart of the market" products for "modern families," per Tihanyi: Malibu, Traverse, and Equinox, plus competitors in each of the segments in which the Chevy vehicles
compete.
"It's a non-threatening environment," says Tihanyi. "It's not pressure -filled; you can drive all the right competitive products against the [vehicles]. If you take Malibu as an
example, we will also have vehicles like Camry, Accord, Ford Fusion, or Taurus, so you get a really good cluster of vehicles to experience at your own pace."
The studios, which will be either
in industrial zones or high-traffic retail areas -- Tihanyi says GM is still working on locations -- will likely have a laid-back, perhaps "industrial-hip," feel, with WiFi, and a café/lounge.
"Ultimately, we want it to be customer friendly; we want them to feel good about being there. The last thing we want is people hovering over you. It will not look like a dealership and will not be
branded Chevrolet," he says.
Tihanyi says that to market the program, Chevrolet will do an extensive digital play in the four markets, tracking people as they are shopping, "So, hypothetically,
if you are on Edmunds.com and shopping a Camry, we are going to offer up an opportunity to come to the Test Drive Studio in that market to compare everything you have in your shopping set right now.
Our feeling is you may have not had the Malibu in your consideration set, but if you try it, you will."
The company is also launching a competitive test-drive program that coincides with auto
shows in 30 markets around the country. "What we are trying to do is leverage the period of the auto show to create this experience. One thing we know about auto shows is a lot of people who come will
be in market in zero to 12 months," he says.