As the Barbie craze swept America, General Motors found an unlikely but highly successful way in. The automaker’s used car shopping brand CarBravo seized on the buzz by selling used Barbie Dream Cars at prices much cheaper than they were going for in the resale market.
Special Report: Global Automotive Marketing Awards
How GM's CarBravo used the Barbie craze to sell used cars
General Motors/CarBravo is a 2024 Global Automotive Marketing Awards winner for best national sales event campaign
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CarBravo resold toy Barbie cars at reasonable prices.
Credit:
Car Bravo
The effort from McCann’s MRM began when the agency secured a bunch of the toy cars at inflated prices. It then sold them at more honest prices—all less than $20 apiece—at a Shopify commerce store designed to mirror the real CarBravo.com.
When the toy cars were delivered to buyers, they included QR codes that connected each one to listings of the same or similar real-life vehicles on CarBravo.com. The effort reinforced CarBravo’s selling proposition of offering fair and honest prices for used cars. And, just like Barbie, it was wildly popular, with the Barbie Dream Car inventory selling out, while driving views of real cars on CarBravo.com—$2.3 million in real used vehicles were sold to Barbie email recipients (74 total), according to MRM.
“The fact that this project helped support our best sales month ever was icing on the cake. Pink icing, of course,” Steve Wineman, CarBravo’s marketing and advertising manager, said in a statement.
FINALISTS
Chevrolet, “Welcome to Casa Chevy”
Entrant: Jack Morton and Casanova/McCann
Chevrolet appealed to Hispanic buyers by bypassing run-of-the-mill showroom/test drive experiences in favor of “Abuela’s Kitchen,” part of an experiential sales activation inspired by kitchen table conversations common in Hispanic American cultures. Visitors were greeted by actors/product specialists who helped educate buyers on EVs, among other things. The Casa Chevy activations were established near events such as the Hispanic Heritage Celebration at Miami International Mall. Chevy hosted more than 45,000 total visitors, each spending an average of more than 13 minutes with the brand.
Credit:
Chevrolet
Mercedes-Benz USA, “Holidays With Love”
Entrant: Merkley+Partners
Instead of using its holiday campaign to push hard-hitting offers, Mercedes-Benz took a softer approach—and stood out from the crowd using a black-and-white style that connected its cars with holiday togetherness. Backed by the song “I’ll be Seeing You” by The Five Satins, the ad was accompanied by a giveback initiative that provided new shoes to thousands of children in need.
The 2024 Global Automotive Marketing Awards, a program created and run by Ad Age and Automotive News, is sponsored by TikTok and Experian. For more information about the program, please visit AdAge.com/AutoAwards.
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