Launched to much fanfare and acclaim, the new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle soon found its reputation battered due to false product claims in the media and public misunderstanding. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determined the Volt was 100 percent safe following an investigation, the car's reputation continued to face an uphill battle and sales were slow to climb. This program leveraged the power of social media and the influence of key online influencers to help restore the Volt's reputation. The effort increased high level of awareness by 1,200 percent, positive opinion of the car by 512 percent, increased purchase consideration by 370 percent and spurred 90 percent of participants to say they would recommend the Volt.Chevrolet needed to change the conversation and re-educate consumers about the Volt’s unique, innovative electric vehicle technology to repair its reputation to increase consumer consideration. Chevrolet tasked MSLGROUP with this challenge. MSLGROUP chose to work with Klout, a company measuring online influence, as the best way to quickly identify and reach influencers aligned with the Volt’s target consumer. Our program ended up exceeding the program objectives, generating the following results: 1. INCREASED POSITIVE ONLINE CONVERSATIONS: • Engaged Relevant Digital Influencers: Engaged 1,800 consumers through loans and six Klout Ups; Klout scores averaged 54, exceeding goal of 40 • Generated More than 52,000 Pieces of High-Quality Content, Exceeding Goals: 52,418 pieces of online content (tweets, retweets, Facebook shares, comments and likes) generated by 2,205 influencers • Exceeded Impressions Goals by 59 percent: Generated nearly 557 million social impressions, exceeding our goal by 59 percent • Drove Additional Media and Blog Content: 165 media and blog placements, including unique coverage in Reuters, Bloomberg Businessweek, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune and NBC Bay Area, generating 174.9 million media and blog impressions for a program total of 688.1 million impressions (i.e. total social, media and blog impressions) • Chevrolet’s Klout score jumped from 43 pre-campaign to 93 post-campaign, giving Chevrolet the highest Klout score of any automotive brand 2. INCREASED CONSUMER SENTIMENT (based on pre and post-loan survey results) • Increased high level of Volt awareness/knowledge by 1,200 percent • Increased very positive opinion by 512 percent 3. INCREASED CHEVROLET VOLT PURCHASE CONSIDERATION BY 370 PERCENT (participants that said “I’d strongly consider the Volt"). • Social media content demonstrated participants were talking about considering a Volt purchase or lease • 90 percent of participants said they would recommend the Volt and many shared this on social media • The team confirmed six sales from program participants or their immediate friends as a result of the program
Situation Analysis When Chevrolet introduced the electric, fuel-efficient Volt, it won every automotive and technology award and earned top safety ratings. Despite these accolades and nearly doubling sales from January 2012 to February 2012, Volt sales were behind projections. This was attributed to false product claims being made by the media, as well as negative media coverage resulting from the topic of political debate as well as a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation. While NHTSA ultimately determined the Volt is 100 percent safe, this combination of setbacks left a mark on the car’s reputation and hurt sales. To overcome these obstacles, Chevrolet needed to change the conversation and re-educate consumers about the Volt’s unique, innovative electric vehicle technology to repair its reputation to increase consumer consideration. Chevrolet tasked MSLGROUP with this challenge. Objectives 1. Drive a powerful stream of positive online conversation around the Chevrolet Volt to shift the focus from a negative, non-product fueled discussion to a positive, product focused conversation • Engage at least 1,000 relevant social media influencers with a Klout score above 40 • Drive more than 40,000 pieces of positive social media content (tweets, retweets, Facebook shares, comments and likes) to create more than 350 million total impressions 2. Increase consumer sentiment (determined by pre- and post-loan survey results, content of social media shares, survey comments and email feedback) regarding the Chevrolet Volt • Increase Volt awareness (high level of knowledge) by 50 percent • Increase positive opinion by 50 percent 3. Increase Chevrolet Volt purchase consideration by 30 percent to help increase sales Audience Analysis The demographics of the Chevrolet Volt’s target audience includes: college-educated consumers that are 30 years of age or older, that have a household income of $100,000 or higher and a daily commute of 40 miles or less. They are often early adopters of new technology and are concerned about sustainability and the environment. The program needed to target this "Volt consumer." In addition, it needed to target them in key Chevrolet Volt markets. The markets would: • be cities with strong sales volume potential based on positive attitudes toward plug-in electric vehicles and sales history • have a great concentration of "social influencers" (which would be determined by a large number of Klout users with high scores and relevant topics in that market) • have local infrastructure to facilitate vehicle deliveries Based on this, the program would target/be implemented in six markets: Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. Research/Planning The team’s experience demonstrated that when people got behind the wheel of the Volt, their understanding of the technology increased and so did their opinion of the car. This information meant consumer driving experiences in the real world would be key to improving opinion. The research also showed Volt owners love their cars with 93 percent saying they would definitely buy the car again – the highest vehicle enthusiasm rating ever recorded by Consumer Reports. This rating showed it would be imperative to put people behind the wheel of the Volt as part of a program to help change negative perception and forge a positive brand reputation. We also did research on how people's opinions can be influenced. Consumer and influencer research showed 90 percent of consumers trust peer recommendations while only 33 percent trust ads. In addition, only 6.2 percent of social media participants were producing 80 percent of influencer impressions. Based on this research, we determined the path to reshape the Volt’s reputation resided with giving the most influential and relevant social media influencers behind-the-wheel access to the Volt to build positive conversation and change consumer opinion. Strategy While the research showed that consumer trial of the car would drive positive opinions of Volt, it isn't always feasible to give all drivers a hands-on experience. Based on our research findings that 90 percent of consumers trust peer recommendations and 6.2 percent of social media participants produce 80 percent of influencer impressions, MSLGROUP determined the path to reshape the Volt’s reputation resided with giving the most influential and relevant social media influencers behind-the-wheel access to the Volt to build positive conversation and change consumer opinion. Our strategy was established to engage the most active of social media influencers with the Volt to amplify their experiences through their given networks. MSLGROUP chose to work with Klout, a company measuring online influence, as the best way to quickly identify and reach influencers aligned with the Volt’s target consumer. Once consumers learned about the opportunity and got behind the wheel, social media allowed for instantaneous feedback. Because they were not required to do anything in exchange for the Perk, it allowed for authentic conversations when users chose to talk about their experience. Tactics Chevrolet provided target influencers with three-day Chevrolet Volt loans as part of a Klout Perk. The target was at least 30 years old, had a minimum Klout score of 40, lived in one of our six markets and had authority (Klout) in social media, technology or the environment. A Klout landing page allowed influencers to sign up for loans and local Chevrolet Volt-branded Klout events. The landing pages also served as a forum for influencers to share thoughts via pre-loaded Facebook and Twitter statuses and feedback by rating the Perk. Klout Ups, social events that served as a secondary touch point, were held exclusively for qualifying social media influencers in trendy venues in each market. The Volt was displayed, Chevrolet ambassadors educated attendees about the vehicle, prizes were given and conversation was encouraged in this casual, yet educational, environment. Daily monitoring captured participant conversations on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs and traditional media throughout the program. Pre- and post-loan surveys (conducted via Survey Monkey) were completed with all participants to measure sentiment change. Both modes of feedback captured the passion of the influencers and demonstrated that the experience positively impacted opinion. Results 1. Increased Positive Online Conversations: • Engaged Relevant Digital Influencers: Engaged 1,800 consumers through loans and six Klout Ups o Klout scores averaged 54, exceeding goal of 40 • Generated More than 52,000 Pieces of High-Quality Content, Exceeding Goals: 52,418 pieces of online content (tweets, retweets, Facebook shares, comments and likes) generated by 2,205 influencers • Exceeded Impressions Goals by 59 percent: Generated nearly 557 million social impressions, exceeding our goal by 59 percent • Drove Additional Media and Blog Content: 165 media and blog placements, including unique coverage in Reuters (http://reut.rs/11sLJiI), Bloomberg Businessweek (http://buswk.co/WTF21y), USA TODAY (http://usat.ly/YHbjev), Wall Street Journal (http://on.wsj.com/YHbJBw), Chicago Tribune (http://bit.ly/WTFoVX) and NBC Bay Area (http://bit.ly/XSWS60), generating 174.9 million media and blog impressions for a program total of 688.1 million impressions (i.e. total social, media and blog impressions) • Chevrolet’s Klout score jumped from 43 pre-campaign to 93 post-campaign, giving Chevrolet the highest Klout score of any automotive brand 2. Increased Consumer Sentiment (based on pre and post-loan survey results) • Increased high level of Volt awareness/knowledge by 1,200 percent • Increased very positive opinion by 512 percent 3. Increased Chevrolet Volt purchase consideration by 370 percent (participants that said “I’d strongly consider the Volt"). • Social media content demonstrated participants were talking about considering a Volt purchase or lease • 90 percent of participants said they would recommend the Volt and many shared this on social media • The team confirmed six sales from program participants or their immediate friends as a result of the program Vendors Involved in Campaign MSLGROUP worked with Klout to identify influencers, distribute influencer invites, coordinate sign up, provide us with participant names and contribute to the final campaign measurement. MSLGROUP coordinated everything else in partnership with Chevrolet.
