Trendsetters BMW & GMC Using the Web to Drive Sales

Today's larger, progressive companies are investing millions of dollars into discovering how to deliver their message effectively to consumers via the Internet. For smaller businesses with smaller budgets, the dollars that larger corporations sink into bolder internet marketing campaigns are like free internet marketing lessons without risk or expense.

While your company may not be as large as those mentioned in this article, the following scalable examples illustrate how moving even a small portion of your marketing budget over to Internet Marketing can translate into noticeable returns for your company.

BMW Takes Hollywood Online

6.5 years ago on bmwfilms.com BMW released and distributed a stunt-filled, action mini-film series called "The Hire" starring actor Clive Owen (Sin City and The Bourne Identity). Guided by such directors as John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Hulk, Brokeback Mountain), Wong Kar-Wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo (Mission Impossible II), and Joe Carnahan, this was unquestionably a big-budget Hollywood style production.

The 8-part series, each directed by a different director, won numerous awards and received accolades from the New York Times and Time Magazine. The result: over 100 Million film views translating into approximately 1.9 million film views per month over its 4.5 year run which ended in October of 2005. Though the series is no longer available for download, various websites still sell the DVD 6.5 years after it first debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.

If these films released via non-traditional media such as television, the statistics would have been less accurate and much more time-consuming and expensive to track. Imagine if those films made just 1% or 1 Million of those viewers curious enough to visit a BMW showroom. If even 1% of those 1 Million leads purchased a vehicle at an average vehicle cost (est.) of $50,000.00 USD that translates into $500 million USD of additional sales over 4.5 years; just over $111 Million a year of additional revenue.

Sure, few companies have the budget that BMW has but try scaling it all down and finding a unique way to present your own products online that will excite your target market and leave your competition in the dust. The lesson here is thinking outside the box.

GMC Uses Traditional Media to Support Online Campaign

For the last 3 years, GMC has been working with creative company Digitas - the National Football League (NFL), and the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) - to power an online interactive campaign for GMC.com. Mary Kubitskey, national advertising manager for GMC had this to say about the decision to move advertising dollars online: "Any day I'll trade traditional media money for something nontraditional. Digitas did a great job in putting together a promotion, and we feed the promotion with traditional media." The campaign is a direct result of the company moving a larger percentage of its advertising dollars online.

She also added, "As with all our traditional marketing advertising, we're trying to go more digital. It's not a surprise that 30-second ads aren't working like they used to, and this gave us an opportunity to interact with NFL fans and football. I spend too many hundreds of millions of dollars in traditional media and broadcast 30-second spots and it's getting hard to see that money work for us. So we're engaging Digitas to keep trying to bring us what's new."

Bigger companies are starting to realize that traditional media doesn't have the same bite as it used to so they're thinking of ways to use traditional means in conjunction with newer online strategies to advertise effectively. Think of ways you can use your existing locations or marketing mediums to augment or enhance a web marketing campaign.

By Michael Dela Cruz.

Visit the Blog about gmc philadelphia

The GMC Acadia SLT-1: The Mid-Size SUV That Has It All

GMC has always been known for producing trucks and large cars. But they have also ventured into the mid-size SUV market with the Acadia. The sports utility vehicle is one serious competitor in the said market simply because this vehicle is designed to give its driver and passengers everything that they have come to expect in an SUV. The vehicle is not the cheapest in its class but once you considered what you would be getting, its price tag seems reasonable enough.

The GMC Acadia is powered by GM’s 3.6-liter V6 engine which is capable of giving out as much as 267 horsepower. This kind of power gives the vehicle good acceleration and top speed. What the Acadia uses to transfer all those horsepower to the wheels is a smooth six-speed automatic transmission. The gearbox is precision engineered to provide smooth transition of the power from the engine to the drive wheels. The Acadia comes with an optional al-wheel drive version. The configuration allows the engine to supply traction to the front wheels whenever it is needed. The transition from two to four wheel drive is smooth too. This is the result of the precision engineering and design of the vehicle.

The all-wheel drive capability of the Acadia gives it superior traction in any road and weather condition. It can handle snow and ice with ease. Aside from taking on icy and slippery roads, the GMC Acadia also performs well in city traffic where constant acceleration and deceleration is needed. The Acadia can also maintain its high performance even on hill climbs which some vehicles would have much trouble conquering.

In terms of comfort, the GMC Acadia offers good ride comfort to its occupants. The seats are designed to give comfort to its occupants. One of its seat’s features which ensures the comfort of anyone sitting on it is the fact that it is heated. Handling of the SUV is more car-like than truck-like. This is an impressive feat since GMC is known for trucks more than they are known for their cars. The Acadia stands out among its class-mates due to the fact that it offers great ride comfort, something that can be rarely found on sports utility vehicles.

Another good selling point for the GMC Acadia aside from the performance, good ride quality, and high performance parts, is its cargo capacity. The sports utility vehicle boasts of having 19.7 cubic feet of cargo space. This can be increased significantly by folding the third row seats. With the third row of seats folded down, the cargo space increases to 68.9 cubic feet. This is suitable for those who needed good cargo space for their luggage. The GMC Acadia can seat seven people but only the first two rows of seats can comfortably seat a grown-up. Just like every SUV in the market, the third row of seat is best left to children or small grown-up.

Other features of the vehicle include a power liftgate which makes loading cargoes much easier. A navigation system is also optional. Aside from these features, the Acadia also has a climate control which keeps the occupants even more comfortable even on long drives. It also comes with an XM Satellite radio which gives the occupants a wide range of choices of commercial-free music stations.

The GMC Acadia is a good investment if you are looking for a mid-size SUV which can give you good performance and good ride quality. Its comfort level is also good and since it comes from General Motors, you can be assured that the components used in the manufacture of the vehicle are reliable, as reliable as Volvo 960 parts.

By Glady Reign.