Rachel Levy: Social Media & Marketing

Last Saturday, I got a chance to ride around Brookline in a red hot Ferrari for a half an hour! It was part of a program called Ferrari4Charity, run  by Ray Chang. Ray, who coincidentally is also from Lexington, started Ferrari4Charity and FreeFerrariRides as a way to give companies a way to advertise on cars.  He recognized that when people ride around in a hot looking car, like a Ferrari or an Aston Martin, people look.  Look, really is an understatement. Gawk is more like it.  Well, the program charges $6,000 to advertise on the car for a 100 mile period.  Ray rents the car for $1,500/day, slaps the advertisers’ decals on the car and takes people around for free rides.  What a great concept.  People get a fun ride. And the advertisers get many “gawkers”.

I was actually confused as to if this was a non-profit or not, and sure enough, his website had already answered that question: “No we are a not.  We are a for profit business and where the charity component comes in is that we like to donate some of our time, resources and profits to charities during a campaign or after a campaign.”

I had a blast on my ride!  It was very low to the ground, had an amazing pickup (although I think we scared the Brookline locals a bit!), and had smooth leather seats. Ray told me the car would sell for $250,000, a number I can’t EVER imagine spending on a car, no matter how rich I get (thinking positive thoughts).  A surprise to me — not to car aficionados, I’m sure — was that the engine was in the back of the car, and we could see it while sitting in the car.  Very cool!

So, what do I think of this idea?  I think it’s very innovative, and for sure gets people to look.  I wish I had taken photos of a few people with their jaws hanging open, and heads turned.  But, are they looking at the car, the ads or the people?  I tend to think they’re first looking at the car, and then wondering who is driving such a nice car, and then finally look at the ads.  As with many things marketing related, measuring ROI is tough.  Estimating eyeballs on the car is probably an easy task, but measuring if they see the ad is another thing, not to mention if they actually take it in, or are just taking in the car.  Then there are all the side benefits… people writing posts like this, people posting photos that show the advertisers in them, the viral effect of social media, etc.

In my current job, I don’t think I could justify the spend.  But, if I were working back at Jim Beam or Kraft again, spending $6,000 on something that would get me a lot of talk value, on a budget of $10-25MM, I would definitely consider it.

What do you think of the idea?  Would you spend that kind of money for 100 miles?

Be Sociable, Share!

•