I’m not a true fan of Porsche cars, mostly because I cannot imagine ever being able to afford one. But I am now a fan of their marketing thanks to a very clever bit of social media marketing that brilliantly pushes many of the psychological buttons that today’s consumers respond to.
It all started with Porsche becoming the first car brand to get a million fans on Facebook. The conventional marketing plan would have been to issue a press release from the PR department, with a quote from the Chairman, celebrating this milestone and talking up the many benefits of owning a Porsche car. Porsche, however, didn’t follow this well-worn path. Instead they opted to give a very tangible and inimitable demonstration of just how popular their brand is by putting the names of their one million Facebook fans on a specially customised Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid (which, I’m told, goes like s**t off a shovel).
The results? Huge global press interest in this quirky idea, maximum free publicity, an utterly unique and priceless new exhibit for the Porsche Museum, and a very special and unexpected thank you to everyone who’s put on a public display of their fondness for the brand.
And here’s the magical social web bit. What will all of those people do when they receive their personalised message telling them that they’re now part of Porsche history? That’s right, they’ll tell all of their friends, and a new generation of Porsche admirers will be born.
Genius! They’ve pressed all the right psychological buttons by acknowledging their followers, thanking them directly, and feeding their egos by making them feel extra special to the point that they cannot resist telling everyone they know. Plus, everyone who shares this story (like me with this blog post) creates healthy inbound links to the Porsche brand online, boosting their search engine ranking and reducing their search advertising costs.
Like many of the fans whose names appear on this very special car, I may never make it to the ranks of a Porsche owner. But you’ve got to admit, celebrating their social media success this way was a marketing masterstroke for Porsche. Pure social web brilliance!