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GM Uses SPY Theme To Educate Consumer's: GM’s New Interactive Site Goes “Undercover” To Educate Consumers
GM’s New Interactive Site Goes “Undercover” To Educate Consumers

Ambush Video Reveals Risks of Purchasing Used Vehicles Without Manufacturer Certification


DETROIT – What would happen if you turned more than 20 undercover film and surveillance professionals with eight cameras loose to show the potential drawbacks of buying a used vehicle that is not manufacturer certified? That’s what GM’s Certified Used Vehicles team did and the results were not at all surprising.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling manufacturer-certified pre-owned brand*, today launched www.usedcarambush.com, an interactive web site developed to educate and entertain consumers by depicting the risks associated with purchasing a vehicle from a private seller. In contrast, the site also informs consumers in an engaging manner about the guarantees and peace of mind assurances that shoppers receive when purchasing a manufacturer certified used vehicle.

  “There’s great confusion among consumers about what constitutes a certified used vehicle,” said Mark Mathews, director, GM Used-Vehicle Activities. “Manufacturer certified vehicles offer new-vehicle-like benefits and financing options where others do not; private sellers being the most risky option.”

The GM Certified Used Vehicle’s manufacturer-certified program offers such assurances as:

5-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty
3-Month/3,000-Mile New Vehicle Warranty Extension
24/7 Roadside Assistance & Courtesy Transportation
CARFAX Vehicle History Report
3-Day/150-Mile “No Questions Asked” Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
GMAC New Car-like Financing
Extensive 117-point inspection by factory-trained technicians
These assurances are not offered through dealer-certified programs, independent used-vehicle dealers or private parties as illustrated in the video vignettes.

The GM Certified Used Vehicles Ambush site displays surveillance style footage of the ambushes as they happen. Actual used vehicle sellers are intercepted by an MTV-Punk’d-styled actor who asks the questions that private party used-vehicle sellers often don’t want to hear and interjects humor with off-the-wall requests. During one “Ambush,” the actor brings out a big red house phone and asks if he can install it in the seller’s home to call for roadside assistance any time, day or night.

All Ambush participants were fully informed of the intended use of the footage and were compensated for their time.

GM Certified Used Vehicle’s agency, Mullen, worked closely with the GM team to conceptualize, develop and produce the video vignettes and web site. Mullen manages the account from its offices in Detroit and Wenham, MA.

“Using the hidden cameras, we were able to film our buyer attempting, in fairly bizarre fashion, to get things like financing and courtesy transportation from a private seller," said Mullen group creative director and copywriter Jim Hagar.

“We even bought one of the cars and then tried to return it a few days later with a three-day, 150-mile guarantee, claiming the seller's girlfriend was not impressed by the vehicle,” said Hagar. “The goal was to do something really different and breakthrough for the category, and I'd say this is pretty different."

More than 400 hours of video footage was shot over a four-day period during March, 2008 in the Las Vegas area, with almost 20 people being “Ambushed.” The Used Car Ambush site will launch with six vignettes that are arranged in an interactive way to replicate the perspective from inside a surveillance van, providing the user with the ability to control the camera motion and move between scenes. Additional vignettes will be released throughout the remainder of the year.

“The site is designed to be fun and entertaining,” said Larry Pryg, national advertising and marketing manager, GM Certified Used Vehicles. “More importantly, it will engage consumers and make them well-informed shoppers. “

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GM Uses SPY Theme To Educate Consumer's: GM’s New Interactive Site Goes “Undercover” To Educate Consumers



Comments:

Images hosted in your AgentSpace can now be posted in the comments section using the following syntax (case matters):
[img]IMAGE URL[/img]
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kthorkthor - 7/26/2008 12:59:06 AM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Let's educate the poster when to use an apostrophe.

The apostrophe has three uses:

1) to form possessives of nouns
2) to show the omission of letters
3) to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.

Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms.

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