The Snarkiness of Crowds

Chevrolet thought it had a brilliant marketing idea, or at least, it was going to borrow someone else’s brilliant marketing idea. Just turn over the marketing of the Chevy Tahoe to the public.
Hey, if viral marketing worked for other companies, why not a powerful multinational corporation trying to sell an SUV?

In theory, the company was hoping that visitors to its Web site would e-mail their own videos around the Web, generating interest for the Tahoe through what is known as viral marketing. By the measure of Chevrolet Tahoe videos circulating the blogosphere and the video-hosting Web sites like YouTube, that goal was achieved. But the videos that were circulated most widely like the commercial that attacked the S.U.V. for its gas mileage, may not be what Chevrolet had in mind.
Nor was the ad using a sweeping view of the Tahoe driving through a desert. “Our planet’s oil is almost gone,” it said. “You don’t need G.P.S. to see where this road leads.”
Another commercial asked: “Like this snowy wilderness? Better get your fill of it now. Then say hello to global warming.”

NPR has more (audio link).

Posted by on April 5th, 2006 at 12:44 pm


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