Renault México drives leads with Social Media.

Background

For the debut of its new model, the Stepway 2012, Renault Mexico wanted to target consumers in Mexico City between the ages of 25 and 40 who had graduated from college, were working their first job and interested in buying their first car.

Objective

Because these younger consumers are avid users of the internet, Renault wanted to use digital media as the center of the campaign. The objective was twofold: to engender awareness of the Stepway, and to generate leads and entice consumers to visit a dealership for a test drive.

Challenge

Getting leads is difficult in Mexico because consumers are very security-conscious and wary of giving up information—even to a business’ registration site. Renault had to devise a way to build trust with consumers so that they would divulge enough personal information so that they could be invited for a test drive, and the dealership would have multiple ways to follow up with them.

Strategy

Renault used a rich media banner campaign to pique consumers’ curiosity about the contest. A short TV ad and some print ads for brand awareness backed up the banner campaign.

The interactive banner, which featured the rendering of a turntable that a hip-hop DJ would use to scratch a record during a party, was placed on the heaviest-traveled car-related sites in Mexico: YouTube’s homepage, Yahoo! Autos, MSN’s homepage and auto section, and Terra Autos. If users provided their email address, they could scratch the record on their own, and were later emailed an invitation to the Renault contest website.

The contest, which was posted on a Facebook page for the brand, had four activities that revolved around the car: a Stepway trivia quiz, a parking challenge, a create-your-own-postcard of where you could travel with the Stepway, and a compose-a-jingle race. The person who finished first, with the highest combined score, won a Stepway. The second-place finisher received a Macbook Pro, and the third prize was an iPad. Scores were based on the number of “likes” a person accrued. If players used the dealer contact form to request a test drive, they received extra points.

To register for the contest, people had to provide more personal information—their name, age, postal code, email and telephone number. This information went directly to the dealership that was most accessible to the consumer. Then the dealer contacted the consumer to offer more information and a test drive.

Renault’s digital marketing manager in Mexico, Wendy Delgado, told eMarketer that the No. 1 way consumers find out about a new car model in Mexico is to visit a dealership. “The internet is the most important medium [for car shopping] behind visiting a dealership.”

Results

Renault México Stepway Facebook Campaign Results, Aug-Sep 2011

Key Takeaways

“The campaign was very important for us,” Delgado said. “It taught us that we can measure everything, and that social media is very important.” Renault was so impressed with the results that Delgado’s digital budget increased 60% for 2012. Delgado said that the automaker knew people were interested in digital—now it knows exactly how interested.

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