Alan Poster Satellite Media Tour Corvette America
Issues/Challenges:
Corvette America wanted to make Corvette owners more aware of its newly revamped product site, CorvetteAmerica.com. The aftermarket parts manufacturer asked Lindberg Group to come up with some creative ideas. Around this time, Alan Poster was in the national news when a 1968 Corvette that had been stolen from him 37 years prior miraculously turned up and was returned to him. Lindberg came up with the idea of Corvette America providing parts to restore the ‘Vette in exchange for Alan participating in a media tour set around the refurbished car’s unveiling.
As another step in this new marketing effort, Lindberg Group LLC created a new web site for Corvette clubs and individuals to share their love of Corvettes. The site was linked to the Corvette America Internet sales site. Lindberg Group was faced with the challenge of driving traffic from CorvetteAmerica.com to the new “Vette Club” site. Lindberg Group proposed that this breaking news story about the recently recovered Vette would be a perfect vehicle for connecting with the target “Vette Club” audience.
Corvette America donated a complete interior and many exterior products to help Alan refurbish his Corvette. This allowed Lindberg Group to conduct both television and radio media interviews with Alan, promoting the return of his car to its close-to-original condition and Corvette America’s role in the refurbishment process.
Strategies:
The discovery of the stolen 1968 Corvette was a big feature story when it first broke early in the year, garnering media coverage in major publications, such as The New York Times, and television networks, including Good Morning America. The challenge was to harness the second half of the story so that the media would focus on the results of the refurbishing. The strategy was to approach the story like a news story, while controlling the access, thus the message. Lindberg Group LLC provided all the media with as much information as quickly as possible through a television media tour and wide distribution of pictures and radio feeds within one news-cycle.
Activities:
- Coordinating with Alan Poster to conduct and capture the Corvette America refurbishment process
- Contract with a video crew in California to capture the refurbishment process with Corvette America-donated products (Watch the video)
- Line up a news studio in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (near Carlisle Car Show) to conduct a four-hour national, live television and radio satellite media tour
- Line up a satellite distributor to uplink and promote the refurbishment video to TV stations across the country
- Distribute a Radio News Release (RNR) to radio stations nationwide via satellite and Internet, featuring Corvette America and an audio clip from Alan Poster
- Within an hour of the satellite media tour’s completion, up-link video and photos on LindbergGrp.com/Corvette and distribute news through a video podcast, up-linked to You Tube
- Up-link the Alan Poster refurbishment video to Clubs.CorvetteAmerica.com, Corvette America’s new “Vette Club” website, to direct traffic to the new site
- Follow up with the print, television and radio media coverage, booking over 24 video feeds.
Results:
The Alan Poster Media Tour generated a tremendous response from the national and international media, both mainstream television and radio, as well as auto-related print media. The television broadcasts were seen all over the U.S., in markets such as New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit, Salt Lake City and more. And, in each segment, not only did Alan mention Corvette America’s help, but a backdrop behind Alan highlighted CorvetteAmerica.com, and B-roll footage of the car featuring a Corvette America license plate, were seen throughout each interview.
Through the Alan Poster Satellite Media Tour, Lindberg Group enabled Corvette America to garner a total of 11,871,331 media impressions, through print, radio and television mediums. Corvette America also received a substantial surge of increase traffic to both CorvetteAmerica.com and Clubs.CorvetteAmerica.com, accounting for a staggering 25 percent increase in website hits.