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Sitting in my window I see these car displays in corporate hubs ,or in malls and markets. I for one as a buyer would not buy a vehicle without feeling the drive first hand. But the lack of innovation in these displays keeps me away from them. This forces me to think when was the last time we saw a creative marvel in automobile industry in terms of promotions.:deadhorse

Last I saw a innovative promotion for a car was vento when they had put a 'talking car' in all leading dailies. Then again that was a high budget one time exercise for which nobody knows the ROI.

My point - What kind of low budget exercises have you seen by an automobile major that has made your head turn?? Or are their some which we would like to see?? Lets put our creative caps on and see if we can help these linear thinking auto majors :D

Mods - Searched for a similar thread , found one on TV commercials but nothing on other forms of promotions. Kindly merge if their already exist something related.

Marketing within the Indian auto industry is still painfully traditional; few car makers have the guts and / or in-house talent to come up with innovative campaigns. Creating a facebook page is as far as they'll go out of their typical marketing channels rl:

The one brand that stands out is undoubtedly Volkswagen, with its "talking ad" and that Times of India edition which ONLY carried VW ads - Link to thread.

One very unique marketing strategy that I recall was by Daewoo for the Cielo; basically, 200 car owners would be given the Cielo free for use upto 18 months. At the end of the period, they had the option of buying the Cielo from the company at 3/4th the original cost. It sure as hell created buzz around the car.

Fiat has also had some innovative campaigns recently, including the "diesel car at the price of petrol" contest. Hyundai was offering "price protection" against future petrol price hikes on some of its products.

Then, there's this dealer who was giving a Beetle free with every slow-moving Phaeton you buy :D

Correct me if I am wrong, but Fiat's is "diesel for the price of petrol" right? At least that is what I read, on 2 separate occasions. I don't remember reading the word 'car'. I felt it gave a wrong message. A non-enthusiast would ask, why would I buy diesel fuel for the price of petrol fuel?

I am sorry but did the Fiat campaign "Diesel at the price of petrol" attract anybody ? It never occurred to me that somebody would think that Fiat campaign meant they were offering "diesel fuel at the price of petrol" particularly since the Fiat target is mainly in the cities.

Please explain What is meant by innovation in the promotion campaign because for me if a campaign fails to pull crowds to the showroom then the campaign is no good.

I mean to point out to the ROI.

Did not know about the Daewoo campaign !! so now i know why Daewoo went bankrupt :uncontrol

Similar to Fiat cars their campaigns also end up giving wrong signals to the buyers lol:

adding to what you said, for me innovation in campaign means it increases footsteps in showroom, number of visitors at the site of promotion.
But to top it all a promotion may not induce you to buy a vehicle, but i believe the campaign is a success if you see a promotional activity go to your friend who you knew had some plans to buy a car and tell him "dude there is this thing going on for ___ you should check it out"

I will give you an example there was this display for Aria recently in my office complex (infinity towers), I went there for the heck of it and this display had a mini golf game so i took a shot, went back to my senior told him you were looking for a uv go check out that display.

Here is one that I think is innovative, and shouldn't cost much either:

From Nissan India

High Points:

- Nissan and Ranbir Kapoor are searching for 20 members of the public to star in the world’s first Bollywood movie auditioned entirely on Facebook.

- Beginning October 19th, movie-fans will be able to join in an online talent hunt by uploading a short clip of themselves, to appear alongside Ranbir in the 3-minute Bollywood flick – New Star of India.

- Members of the public will vote to decide who the 20 co-stars will be, and will also help produce the movie by shaping the plot, choosing the music, picking the wardrobe and naming the characters.

- Nissan will also be taking New Star of India on the road and will be touring shopping malls across the country to film live auditions in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkotta, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad & Aurangabad from October 22nd.

- Everyone who votes, shares or takes a test drive from Nissan’s model range will be entered into a competition to attend one of the movie premieres and win a Nissan Micra.

Fiat's ad mentioned that a few of the customers may upgrade to diesel version of the car one bought if drawn.

the ROI was the word of mouth it created and brand buzz which went on for weeks post this coming out - not only with end consumers but pretty much with all ad agencies as well , it was the talk and the envy for those who did not implement it. Not everything needs to lead to sales , sometimes its just breaking through the clutter! :)

And it was not , surprisingly ( and i admit i was surprised) , that expensive. Very targeted , niche activity.

Awesome, something on the lines of 'Step Up' the movie! I am sure all the T BHP members might have applied had it been Katrina instead of Ranbir lol:

I dont know how that whole thing went, I heard they were giving cash discounts as well for people who won and did not want to opt for it. And atleast in NCR I know a person who opted for a cash discount rather than a diesel car. I guess premises of the campaign "petrol car buyer aspires diesel car" was wrong

Was it not?? My perception was it would have cost fortunes !

Totally agree on your point , buzz was amazing. And that is the main issue I am talking about, all our auto manufacturers can come with is different tvc s, only once in a blue moon something like this comes up.

The expenditure was around 5 crore , link below to the report. it might sound like a lot but is quite average given that this was a launch.

How Much Money Volkswagon Spent on TOI Talking Ad Campaign

VW's Add for the Jetta - the whole silvery paper, was also an excellent add I feel. Yes it didn't have the wooing element of the Talking Vento add but was a lot different then the usual adds.

Yes , it did stand out quite a lot.

The eon launch ad in Hindustan times was also unique with different layers being incorporated on the front page , what it did though was making the paper hard to hold and read. :)

Just now a friend of mine asked me whether he should go for Linea. He has booked a Swift Dezire and is frustrated with the waiting period/strike. On asking him who suggested Linea, he said he saw the Fiat's Ad "Diesel at the price of petrol". So definitely the Ad is innovative.

Yes, this is valid point. Not all petrol car buyers would aspire for diesel.

It raises another point :- what made Fiat make this kind of offer? Any feedback for the customers' preferences and aspirations?

I guess that particular campaign didnt work, that is why they have reduced the prices outright.

I don 't know whether its doing them any good, but Nano s presence at Big Bazar was also something unique and was in turn a good campaign.
I have heard they are going to expand it to Westside and Croma !!