Pontiac Channels March Madness into Enthusiasm for G8
April 07, 2008

By Dale Buss

When the last of the No. 1 seeds take the floor for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game in San Antonio on Monday night, the contest will represent the zenith of one of the most successfully symbiotic sponsorships in television sports.

Pontiac has been the exclusive domestic-brand automotive sponsor of the final weekend of March Madness for four years now. It is one of only three “corporate championship partners” with the tournament, along with AT&T and Coca-Cola. Last year, the televised tournament attracted more than 132 million people to CBS, roughly 46% of all American viewers. That includes not only youthful potential car buyers but millions of college alumni.

So, according to both brand executives and Edmunds.com analysis, the relationship is boosting consumer consideration of Pontiac and its vehicles – especially the new G8 – making rival other strong TV-marketing properties for automakers.

And the NCAA? Notwithstanding the advertising dollars, the symbolic climax of Pontiac’s sponsorship will come just before the game when CBS announcers reveal fans’ choice in online voting for the “Pontiac Game-Changing Performance” of the tournament – the most outstanding play  since the beginning of the tournament. The company will award the winning school $100,000 for its general scholarship fund.

NCAA Viewers Like Pontiac

“We have a great relationship with the NCAA, and their viewers are Pontiac consumers,” said Chris Hornberger, Pontiac’s advertising manager. March Madness watchers – who skew young and male -- demonstrate purchase consideration of Pontiac vehicles at almost a 30% higher rate than non-viewers of the basketball classic that annually stretches for three weeks from March into April. “People who view the NCAA tournament are more receptive to the Pontiac message” in any context than non-viewers,” he said.

Edmunds.com analysis echoes Pontiac’s self-evaluation. Overall consideration of Pontiac vehicles rose 25% during the first week of March Madness, as measured by visits to the brand’s New Vehicle Detail Pages (NVDPs) on Edmunds.com.

“Pontiac as a whole is getting as much of a boost as any make or vehicle got from the Chicago Auto Show,” said David Tompkins, Edmunds.com’s executive director of business solutions. “No one even got a 25% increase in [NVDP] consideration for a featured vehicle from that show, and Pontiac is getting 25% for the whole make.”

Dr. Tompkins was especially impressed given that Edmunds.com data available so far measures only NVDP consideration from the first week of the tournament. He expected final figures for March Madness to show even stronger overall consideration for Pontiac.

G8 the Big Winner

Pontiac’s new G8 is an even bigger winner than the brand overall from the 2008 season of March Madness: G8 consideration climbed 80% during the first week of the tournament, as measured by NDVPs on Edmunds.com. “It’s a launch vehicle that already was ramping up,” Dr. Tompkins said, “and on top of that it got this big boost from March Madness.”

Source: Edmunds.com

Pontiac is just rolling out the powerful and well-balanced rear-wheel-drive sedans through its 2,700 dealers but already has sold more than 800 of them, according to spokesman Jim Hopson. G8s are staying on dealer lots for an average of fewer than 10 days. Most reviewers are giving a thumbs up to the stylish replacement for Pontiac’s old, mid-size Grand Prix sedans. G8 prices begin at a $26,910 sticker.

One of the domestic brands that is most at home online, Pontiac has played to that strength during March Madness by introducing an ad solely on YouTube.com called “8 vs. 5” – meaning a comparison between G8 and, of all things, a BMW 5-Series. “Oh, ha ha!” the fast-talking narrator says on the spot. “Pontiac’s got no chance. You’ve got to be kidding me, silly story-teller – right? Sure the BMW 550i costs nearly twice as much, and the driver has tassled Topsiders and a higher collar.”

But then the commercial goes on to point out that G8 is faster than a 5 series zero-to-60-mph and has more interior room. G8 is “not picking a fight,” the ad concludes, “but finishing it.”

Strong on TV and Online

Pontiac has used March Madness to hatch two G8 TV commercials. One, which the brand has called “Spy Hunter,” features G8 as part of a video-game race against competing models in which it, naturally, comes out the winner. The other spot, dubbed “Mine,” invokes youthful passion for automobiles starting with Matchbox cars.

The brand’s sponsorship also extends to advertising on CBSSportsline.com’s March Madness on demand, where fans can go and view every game in the tournament – many of which, in the initial phases, aren’t on television everywhere. Viewership has been up about 140% this year compared with 2007, Hornberger said. And Pontiac’s 8 for the Road Contest includes a trip and tickets to the Final Four for eight people and a 2009 G8.

Pontiac has been an overwhelming presence in San Antonio, as well, including its sponsorship of a Saturday concert by Kid Rock and the group Puddle of Mudd. And, of course, Pontiac’s Game Changing Performance promotions have become a staple of college-sports viewing across the seasons.

Not to be forgotten: Pontiac also is heavily sponsoring the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship on ESPN, including a focus on its Vibe compact.

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