How do you launch a car? They don’t just turn up in a showroom unannounced. The key to driving successful sales is all about a carefully prepared marketing and, above all, PR plan.
That’s the challenge we tackled on behalf of MG with its new compact SUV. It takes a huge amount of planning and a vast amount of liaising around press packs, logistics and materials, to ensure the successful roll-out of a new car.
You need the right venue. It needs to be easy for journalists to get to, provide the right logistics (plenty of car parking space, a range of roads for the journalists to test the car on and a place to host interviews), and reflect well on the brand and car.
Timings must be right too. With over 30 manufacturers all putting on international and national launches throughout the year, you don’t want to clash on dates. Publications these days tend to run fewer journalists and they often have to cover more than one publication, so providing a launch that doesnt clash with others certainly helps.
A successful car launch is one that lands a lot of positive coverage about the car across the plethora of media outlets. In this case, more than 160 pieces of coverage in the last 10 days. This earned coverage should reach the target customer and provide an unbiased view of what the car is like to drive and own. Combine that with a striking marketing plan and you are putting the key building blocks in place for sales success.
To find out how we can help your product launch or brand event, contact Tim Gearey – Director, Automotive at Prova PR.