Pontiac and Virgin Megastores Team Up for Co-Branded Promotion

Auto and Music Retail Leaders Join Forces to Reach Joint Consumers

December 05, 2006: 08:00 AM EST

DETROIT, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Pontiac is expanding its strong relationship with music and entertainment retail leader, Virgin Megastores, by teaming up on a co-branded marketing strategy. As part of the promotion, Pontiac is launching its first ever in-store merchandise towers in all of the North American Virgin Megastores. In exchange, Virgin Megastores will become Pontiac's musical experts by licensing at least 30 songs a year to the auto giant for use in Pontiac commercials and online promotions.

The rollout of the Pontiac Towers in all of the U.S. Virgin Megastores will begin in early December, which will include key markets such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. The 8-feet tall Pontiac Towers, created by Leo Burnett Detroit and Virgin Megastores, will feature items such as the Pontiac sponsored Virgin Recommends CDs, CDs from emerging artists previously featured in Pontiac advertising, Pontiac branded merchandise and interactive LCD TV screens where customers can view Pontiac Garage concert performances.

In addition to the Virgin Megastore retail presence, Pontiac will also continue utilizing Virgin's deep and diverse knowledge of emerging new artists and music search capabilities to find the best music for future Pontiac marketing venues including TV spots, Pontiac Garage performances and more. To date, Virgin Megastores have licensed music for Pontiac by several key musicians including: Kinky, Robi Draco Rosa, OK Go, POD, Wolfmother, Kasabian, Jet, Dandy Warhols, Hawthorne Heights, All American Rejects, M83, Deus, Viva Voce, Ringside, The Hives, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Razorlight, Eagles of Death Metal, Muse, Citizen Cope, Mercury Rev, Larocca, Alias and The Teddy Bears.

"Music plays an incredibly important role in getting consumers excited about the Pontiac brand," said Mark-Hans Richer, marketing director at Pontiac. "I think brands and bands can make each others' products better, so the goal is to find opportunities that benefit everybody involved. Pontiac's in-store Virgin presence is just one more way we're providing a tangible brand experience that consumers can enjoy."

"This marketing strategy is a great way for both of our brands to reach out to the same group of consumers," explains Dee McLaughlin, senior director of marketing, Virgin Entertainment Group, North America. "We've had great success working with Pontiac for the past two years on our outside venue opportunities such as the Virgin Mega College Tour and the Pontiac Garage concerts. We're excited to expand the relationship to include Pontiac merchandise in our stores and Virgin's voice making a stronger impact in Pontiac's advertising campaigns."

In addition to extending the music into LMG advertising, the Virgin Megastore-Pontiac relationship also includes concerts that can be held in the Virgin Megastores. Last June 21, in celebration of the one year anniversary of the Pontiac Solstice, five Pontiac Garage stages were established at five Virgin Megastores featuring Virgin emerging artists. These stages are now being utilized by local Pontiac dealers to market direct to consumers in an effort to sell more Pontiac vehicles.

Well great. We can look forward to Pontiac commercials with crappy music, and crappy music attaching itself to Pontiac.

Edited December 8, 200619 yr by Captainbooyah