SMM is of course Social Media Marketing. Social Media is the latest buzzword to describe the phenomenon whereby almost everyone is talking to almost everyone else via Internet websites such as YouTube, Flickr or MySpace. Now the marketing for the 2007 Volvo S80 from Volvo Cars is tapping into such media.
We’re not just talking blogging here, although that’s included too. As Wes Raynal of AutoNews mentions, the directive from road test editor Natalie Neff said, “Take the new S80 for a coupla days and write a blog about it.” That’s fine but it isn’t the only way to tap into these Social Media.
I received a call from Jesse Ship of Matchstick and he followed up with an e-mail, which started off:
I work for Matchstick, Canada’s leading word of mouth marketing company. I am looking for people who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about luxury cars to whom we could potentially loan a 2007 Volvo S 80.
Provided among other things, that I was looking to purchase a new car within the next 12 months and was socially active and a source of information amongst friends, then it might well happen. That new car within 12 months ruled me out, but I found the approach most intriguing.
Matchstick bills itself as Canada’s word-of-mouth marketing company. They believe that the most powerful selling of products and ideas takes place not marketer to consumer, but consumer to consumer. They state that their innovative Product Seeding programmes leverage the power of consumer networks. The result? A natural groundswell of consumer buzz. They certainly have the clients to prove that it works: for example adidas, Motorola, Unilever, Palm, Reebok, Bootlegger, Perfetti Van Melle, Diageo, Campbell’s, Molson, Fujufilm, Panasonic, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, AOL and Starbucks. Now it’s Volvo.
Word-of-mouth marketing has now morphed into Social Media Marketing (SMM). Spreading the word in cyberspace is clearly much more powerful than directly going bouche à l’oreille (mouth to ear) as the French say. Certainly if the loan of a luxury sedan car cannot get those social media buzzing, what will?
Related: The All New Volvo S80
Volvo is looking for enthusiasts for its S80 sedan
