Marketers cozy up to consumers

When Ford Motor Co. launched the new Ford Fusion, the automaker used the Norwegian trio Hurra Torpedo to promote the sedan aimed at 25- to 30-year-olds.

Fans were able to follow the group, which uses washing machines and toasters as musical instruments, as they traveled the United States in a red Fusion SEL, creating a Ford-sponsored rockumentary blog that featured video from the "Life in Drive" tour.

On the band's official Web site, virtual visitors can enter a sweepstakes, which ends on Saturday, to win the Fusion used on the tour.

The rockumentary blog and the band's Web site are drawing heavy traffic, said Ford spokeswoman Linda Perry-Lube, and many users are downloading the video featuring the Fusion and Hurra Torpedo smashing kitchen appliances.

"We know that we reached millions of people with this," Perry-Lube said.

The tactic exemplifies the unique marketing approaches automakers are trying to win consumers' attention in an already fragmented media market that just keeps splintering with the emergence of e-mail, online chat rooms, video-on-demand, satellite radio, digital music players and other technologies.

Automakers are waving good-bye to the days when slapping a brand logo on a concert banner was enough to generate buzz, and punching up their creativity to get their products noticed by consumers without resorting to in-your-face advertising that can be a turn-off.

So they're virtually parking their gleaming cars and trucks in the blogosphere, making promotional material available via digital video recorders like TiVo, embracing viral marketing and inserting ads into TV shows and movies that consumers download for viewing on their ubiquitous iPods.

Automakers are also gradually and secretly driving into small Web communities that reflect a target market, or creating their own, that they hope to reach.

"The biggest thing that marketers are grappling with is that you need to be in all of those places," Perry-Lube said.

With the debut of more than 40 new cars and trucks at the 2006 North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center this month, the stakes are mounting for automakers -- whether they're struggling or prospering -- to attract more buyers while spending precious marketing dollars wisely.

"With the onslaught of the Internet and information anybody can pick up with a click of a mouse, smart companies are beginning to realize the consumers have control over information they've never had before," said Toby Bloomberg, president of Bloomberg Marketing.

Bloomberg operates a blog called divamarketingblog.com that offers tips to businesses on how to use online diaries to market products.

Consumers have become savvier about companies' marketing tactics, said Dawn Ahmed, national sales promotions manager for Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion brand, which is credited with building brand awareness the old-fashioned way: by word of mouth.

"Consumers are looking for people that are going to appeal to them in a unique way," Ahmed said.

In a campaign for the Lincoln Zephyr sedan, for example, Ford launched an urban Web site called lincolnlounge.com that includes a link for feedback on vehicles, the Lincoln brand and events.

There's also a "Sounds of Lincoln" page where contemporary rhythm & blues can be heard.

To turn heads for General Motors Corp.'s new Chevrolet Impala, a newspaper advertisement made it appear as if the brand's logo was busting through copy, said Andrea Wells, executive vice president in charge of GM's Chevrolet marketing account at Campbell-Ewald, an ad agency.

A television campaign also allowed viewers to track the number of times they saw the Impala image pop up on their TV screen as part of a sweepstakes contest. Consumers tallied the numbers and registered to win the prize on a GM Web site.

Karl Greenburg of Brandweek Magazine said becoming interactive with consumers is a major way automakers are attempting to draw a crowd.

"The trend now is to get people to do things because that's what the media is becoming anyway," he said. "Interactive media used to mean sit down in front of a computer and go online. Now it means engaging with the media away from computers, anywhere on the streets."

Ford conducted an interactive campaign called Fusion Flash concerts. To attend the event, consumers had to sign up to receive text messages alerting them of the concert's start time and location.

Not all automakers are embracing unconventional marketing. Campbell Ewald used the backdrop of New York City's Times Square to introduce viewers nationwide to the all-new Chevrolet Tahoe on New Year's Eve.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has taken a more traditional approach to marketing to rebuild sales.

The company's sales and marketing employees at its North American headquarters in Cypress, Calif., are required to make courtesy phone calls to buyers of the new Eclipse coupe to thank them for their purchase and create a personal bond with the company.

The automaker is also forming a consumer council of 10 buyers, two from each of Mitsubishi's five U.S. regions, to keep the company abreast of consumer issues. But Mitsubishi still flexes creative muscle.

On television, the automaker opted to launch a commercial for itsEndeavor that's in Japanese and has English subtitles, a different approach from its Asian counterparts.

"Imagine being awoken by that in the middle of the night," said Dave Schembri, Mitsubishi's vice president of sales and marketing in North America. "Everything is up for grabs today in marketing and advertising."

That includes the auto show.

Chrysler Group will use text messages to update consumers about new models unveiled at this year's Detroit auto show.

They will also be able to receive an audio tour of new vehicles on their mobile phones.

Potential buyers will have the option of requesting a brochure or contacting a Chrysler dealer.

Jeff Bell, vice president of marketing for Chrysler's Jeep brand, says interactive media such as the audio guided tour is one way that automakers can attract consumers.

Holding brand-sponsored events geared toward specific buyers and using branded entertainment -- television programs funded partially or entirely by a brand -- are other ways.

"These are three answers to fragmentation and 30-second commercial skipping," he said.

You can reach Josee Valcourt at (313) 222-2300 or jmvalcourt@detnews.com">jmvalcourt@detnews.com.