In anticipation of its new Tribute sport utility vehicle, which will be shipped to dealers next week, Mazda of America has joined with ABC’s enhanced “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to give viewers a chance to win the SUV while giving it an early marketing push.
The first night the promotion went up, more than 70 percent of the 100,000 people visiting the enhanced “Millionaire” site at ABC.com signed up for a chance to win the vehicle. Nearly 3,000 of those people then went to Mazda’s site to look at the vehicle themselves, said Kim Simmons, director of marketing at Mazda North America.
“Our marketing at this point is much more psychographics than demographics,” Simmons said. “We are launching this entire new brand campaign called ‘Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,’ and we wanted to do something exciting and a little bit different and at the same time drive traffic to the dealerships and the Web site.”
The promotion runs until Aug. 31. A winner will be chosen after each broadcast. Participants need to log on to ABC.com and fill out a short questionnaire, including their e-mail address and name. They also can opt in to receive more information about Mazda and the new Tribute.
Mazda and ABC are jointly supporting the promotion through TV spots and banner and print ads. Two different spots are running during the television show’s commercial breaks, and a 10-second spot is run during the show itself, sending people to the site to enter the promotion.
The first commercial is a 15-second Mazda teaser ad, explaining that the only place viewers can see the new SUV is on Mazda’s site. The second spot promotes the enhanced “Millionaire” site and highlights the contest.
“We want people to go to the Web site and be ready to buy when these cars hit the dealerships,” Simmons said. “On the one hand, we get great promotion during a very highly rated show, and at the same time, this is a direct response effort driving people directly to the Web site. Once there, we get them right into the buying experience.”
The promotion is supported through print ads in Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, People and US Weekly magazines.
Online viewers will see a series of 10-second interstitials that pay tribute to past “Millionaire” winners and offer a link to the Mazda site.
Eric Handler, director of communications at Disney Internet Group, which manages ABC.com, said the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” enhanced version has driven more than 7 million people to the site since it debuted March 28, and visitors are staying an average of 40 minutes.
