What is 230?
Over the past couple weeks, a viral marketing campaign has been sweeping the country asking American consumers “what is 230?”. The campaign ads, which feature a green background screen with the words “what is” above the numbers 2, 3 and 0 made from an electric outlet smiley face, have been splattered across a number of mediums. At the end of the ad there are teaser messages saying find out on 8/11. Yesterday, General Motors came forward during a press conference and said they were the ones behind the ads. The campaign was to build hype around the new Chevy Volt, due out in late 2010, which is reported to get at least an estimated 230 miles per gallon.
What was great about this campaign is that it got consumers talking about what was going to happen and really created a substantial amount of Internet buzz. There was a dedicated Web site located at http://www.whatis230.com/ which featured viral videos of people asking just “What is 230?”. There were also links to Facebook and Twitter allowing consumers to speculate what was going to be unveiled. During Sunday night baseball the “What is 230” logo was on the backstop as the Red Sox tried unsuccessfully to avoid losing to the Yankees for the fourth straight night.
In addition, a number of press outlets were writing stories about what was going to be announced. Ad Age successfully guessed correctly that the ads were from GM for the new Volt’s MPG. Others said it was to showcase an electric car that would run on a 230 volt outlet like a washing machine; however, if you know anything about electricity, household appliances run on 220 volts.
At the conference yesterday, Chevy announced that the Volt is ahead of schedule and would be on car lots by the end of 2010. The volt will have a price tag of $40,000, which Chevy reports could lower over time as the technology is modified. This announcement successfully placed General Motors, once the world’s largest automaker, at the forefront of green technology, something they have been hammered for in the past.
I want to take a second as an American and applaud GM. I don’t think I will be rushing out to get a Volt next year but I am glad to see that their thinking is starting to change and adapt to the world. My entire family used to drive GM cars until my mother’s GMC Jimmy’s transmission broke, and I burned through two Pontiac Grand Ams in less than 3 years. Now we all drive Toyotas because they are known for their reliability. We got sick of buying new brakes every 8 months, sick of purchasing new steering racks, sick of putting thousands of dollars into cars for wear and tear due to inefficient manufacturing. That is what killed GM families like mine, Americans got sick of purchasing subpar products. Today, the company has gone bankrupt and consolidated a lot of their brands showcasing how GM’s faults have hurt them, but yesterday was a sign of potential hope for the once great American car manufacturer. I don’t think the Volt is going to solve even a tenth of GM’s problems but it finally showed forward thinking by a company Americans have been viewing as old and outdated.
Tags: Advertising, Chevy Volt, General Motors, MPG, What is 230?
