Holy Toledo! - General Motors' marketing strategy for its OnStar navigation system

American Demographics, March 1, 2001 by Joan Raymond

Byline: JOAN RAYMOND

EVEN SUPERHEROES NEED TO STOP FOR DIRECTIONS. THE MEMO Hopelessly lost? Worried that your car will break down on a lonely road in the middle of the night? General Motors has got the solution: a panic button. The OnStar system is a high-tech aide-de-camp that combines the virtual with the human. After it's installed in a new GM car, a monthly subscription and the press of a button gives you access to a 24/7 call center staffed with highly trained advisors who can do more than just provide directions. OnStar advisors can unlock car doors, interpret glaring dashboard lights, and dispatch emergency assistance if they detect that your airbag has been deployed. By 2003, GM plans to have the OnStar system active in 4 million vehicles, up from just 1 million vehicles in 2000. But to achieve that level of growth, the company had to convince consumers that the system is a must-have on today's highways. The auto maker also had to establish the OnStar brand before an onslaught of competitors muddied the marketplace. How would GM establish OnStar's as a fixture on America's dashboards?

THE DISCOVERY The first step was to explore consumer attitudes toward the OnStar system through a series of exploratory focus groups among subscribers and nonsubscribers in Chicago. Two key findings emerged: Safety and security were the reasons consumers were interested in purchasing OnStar. Consumers think of the system as a form of "empowerment," allowing them to hit the open road knowing that they've got help available at the push of a button. Cultural Dynamics, a West Point, Connecticut-based group of anthropologists who study human behavior, conducted 20 in-home and in-car interviews with subscribers located in Washington, D.C. and Denver. The company discovered that OnStar's advisors were extremely important to their subscribers. In the cold, hard, world of technology, OnStar's "real," friendly, and knowledgeable advisors were a welcome stroke of humanity.

Armed with this knowledge, OnStar was ready to shape its creative strategy. The team again turned to focus groups with subscribers and nonsubscribers, conducted by its ad agency, Warren, Michigan-based Campbell-Ewald. It discovered that nonsubscribers simply didn't understand what OnStar did and why it would be useful to them. The agency created several advertising executions, and respondents reacted most positively to a spot that featured Batman. Focus groups revealed a strong fit between the Batman character and the "personality" of the OnStar brand - both are viewed as trusted, caring, capable, and responsive.

THE TACTICS In February 2000, OnStar unveiled its Batman campaign, focusing on the synergy between the Caped Crusader and the OnStar advisor. In the 30-second spots that aired, Alfred, the unflappable butler, introduces Batman to the newest addition to the Batmobile - the OnStar in-dash button. Alfred cites the benefits of increased safety. In another spot, Batman contacts the OnStar advisor to remotely unlock the Batmobile's doors. Once in the car, the advisor alerts our hero to the fact that the Batmobile is low on jet fuel. In the third spot, the Batmobile's airbag has been deployed. The OnStar advisor contacts Batman to determine whether he needs assistance. The target group for the ads: early technology adopters.

THE PAYOFF The Batman campaign put OnStar on the road to dashboard ubiquity. In January of 2000, there were just over 100,000 new service activations. By June, that number had climbed by 169 percent to nearly 300,000. Subscriber renewal rates also increased: In January 2000, OnStar's renewal rate was 32 percent; by July, it was 58 percent. Thanks to the campaign, OnStar saw a 35 percentage point increase in TV ad awareness, an increase of 17 percentage points in unaided brand awareness, and a whopping 42 percentage point increase in total brand awareness. The campaign also drove traffic to OnStar's Web site. Between January and June 2000, home page hits increased by nearly 600 percent, and users spent 28 percent more time on the site than they did before the campaign. If only there were an OnStar system for cyberspace.

Product OnStar Campaign "Batman" Advertising Agency Campbell-Ewald Research Companies JD Power, MRI, Diagnostic Research International, Millward Brown