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INTEGRATE CASE STUDIES

Houston Honda Dealership

Goal: A local car dealership wanted to be positioned as the most innovative and web savvy car dealership in Texas. The dealership was also looking to increase their online presence and provide an added benefit to consumers throughout the car buying process.

Strategy: Using a traditional word-of-mouth approach paired with strategic social media tools, Integrate public relations was able to successfully execute several campaigns to generate buzz and continually engage with dealership customers. Integrate increased the company’s social media activity online buzz by developing strategic social media content, including an offline scavenger hunt, weekly chats, dealership news, Q & A sessions with auto experts and promotional giveaways through the company’s social media accounts. Additionally, Integrate engaged traditional media outlets in a public relations campaign to enhance reach and attract potential customers.

@DrivingAHonda Campaign:
For four months, Integrate public relations president, Allie Herzog, drove around Houston in a Honda Insight with a decal on the back that read, “Follow me on Twitter @DrivingAHonda.” She communicated with eco-friendly activists, social media enthusiasts and local companies for assistance in her campaign. The dealership hosted a scavenger hunt where Allie drove to 13 locations around Houston, over 450 miles, in 12 hours on one tank of gas (only 9 gallons!) to show off the hybrid’s capabilities. This garnered significant media attention including a write up in the Houston Business Journal, radio mentions, blog pickup and over 250 re-tweets on Twitter.

Honda Love is Bigger in Texas Campaign:
In order to keep the dealership’s buzz after the @DrivingAHonda campaign, Integrate launched a campaign to play off of the national Honda slogan “Everyone Knows Someone Who Loves a Honda.” The new Facebook campaign set out to prove that “Honda Love is bigger in Texas.” Through a series of Facebook contests—including a free t-shirt for liking the Facebook page, daily engaging content, weekly giveaways, and polls, Integrate was able to engage with Houstonians and provide an added benefit to online audiences.

Results: The Facebook page has a 26% growth rate each month and has over 60 interactions per week, on average. More cars were sold in December 2009 at the dealership than any other Honda dealership nationwide, following the “Driving a Honda” story that ran in the Houston Business Journal.  The dealership also was the recipient of the 2009 Presidents Award, recognizing the dealership’s excellent customer service, sales and training.