Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 7

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 7 - Index

Anyone who has spent any time on MySpace
can see that, along with indie rock bands and
disenfranchised teenage bloggers, there’s ample
opportunity to seek out what’s commonly
referred to as “friends with benefits.” But how
many of these “friends” can offer benefits that
include perfectly legal cash incentives of up to
$1,000?
Leo Burnett Detroit and Pontiac have
developed a marketing strategy for the Pontiac
G5 that has the potential to not only turn web
marketing on its ear, but to also change the
image that pops into most people’s heads when
they hear the phrase “friends with benefits.”
In a nutshell, G5 purchasers can register their
vehicles on the “Friends with Benefits” webpage
(www.myspace.com/friendswithbenefits) to get
a “Friends with Benefits” credit card. Once
100 people have registered their G5s, all
100 registrants get $100 on their card. This
continues up to 1,000 people and $1,000.
Tim Galles, creative director at Arc Detroit,
says that in the spirit of MySpace, the friends
(and therefore the benefits) are not limited
to people who have bought a G5. Anyone is
eligible to get a “Friends with Benefits” card,
and although it won’t have any money on it
unless you buy a G5, it will offer other exclusive
perks.
“One of the ideas is that the card itself,
beyond the car, represents benefits [that] you
can get in other places,” says Galles. “The things
that we’re working on – concerts, sporting
events – will keep people friends with us in
different ways.”
“This can be bigger than just cars,” adds Don
McKinney, executive creative director at Arc
Detroit. “It can be cameras, cell phones, TVs.
Let’s say we get 50,000 people who say, ‘Yeah,
I would love to get a great deal on a laptop.’
Then the [trick] is to turn to Sony, Apple [or]
whomever, and basically say, ‘Hey, we’ve got
50,000 buyers right here.’
“That’s the overall thinking behind [this
campaign],” continues McKinney. “Once we get
enough people interested in buying whatever
‘that’ is, then we can start to use those numbers
to get MySpace members great deals on other
products.”
It seems that the momentum is building, since
the program has grown by nearly 5,000 friends
in a little over a month. And by mobilizing the
154 million MySpace denizens, says McKinney,
you can create marketing momentum more
powerful than any company out there. Basically,
when the MySpace masses speak, companies
should listen.
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