The automaker Thursday launched a promotion on its Facebook Page where fans can write and star in their own Saab banners that are designed to look like the company’s actual U.S. ad campaign, “The Story of Saab.” Saab will choose the best consumer-generated banners, which will run on the homepages of The New York Times, Wired and AOL, among others. McCann Worldgroup Detroit's Team Saab unit developed the program.
Saab’s not the first marketer to tap consumer-generated content. Most notably, PepsiCo has relied on consumers for five years to create its Super Bowl ads, a program that has netted the company a lot of pre-game buzz and even some USA Today AdMeter wins. Other car companies have also tapped consumer-generated promotions before, most notably Volkswagen, which asked consumers to choose the name of its next SUV in 2006. (VW chose the name Tiguan.)
For Saab, the move comes as the brand recently re-emerged as an independent company after being spun off from General Motors. The banner program is designed to tap into the enthusiasm of core Saab fans who, the carmaker hopes, will then spread the word via social media.
Todd Turner, principal of Car Concepts, says that strategy makes sense since Saab has a visibility problem these days. “Saab’s problem isn’t their customers or people who know them,” Turner says. “Saab’s problem is people who don’t know them.”