Buick's quest to find different customers: 'Think differently, act differently'

From partnerships with social media influencers to sponsorships of HBO aftershows, Buick is trying to disband its legacy old-cars-for-old-people reputation by catering to a younger, affluent audience in platforms that already appeal to them.

"The whole world's changing around technology and media and how people entertain themselves," said Phil Brook, vice president of Buick and GMC marketing. "We have to think differently, act differently to attract customers."

The 116-year-old brand has long tried to attract a younger customer base. Today, it's taking unique measures to do so, tapping the platforms where one of its target demographics already spends time. It recently began advertising on Pinterest, working with HBO's "Big Little Lies" and partnering with Instagram influencers who own Buicks. And, it has sponsored TheSkimm, a popular daily news roundup for millennial women. The broader campaign began in 2014, and since then, consumers' opinion of Buick has risen 56 percent and consideration has grown 50 percent, both all-time highs, according to Buick.

"A big challenge that we face from a communications perspective is all around brand perception," said Kate Hrabovsky, Buick's advertising and media operations manager.

"Our job is to disrupt that legacy thinking and cause people to question what they know about Buick," she said. "Demonstrating the modern and progressive brand that we are today is really the goal behind everything we do."

The brand has developed the change with employees who fit the demographic and pyschographic of its core audience. Engineers, designers and advertising and marketing professionals 25 to 35 years old have been part of Buick's unconventional strategies.

Many are young parents or young, single professionals and think about Buick's engineering and marketing, for example, in terms of their own lifestyles.

With social media, along with services such as HBO and streaming providers that don't have traditional commercials, "automakers need to be really clever about reaching who they need to reach. Automakers are getting better about understanding how to do that," said Stephanie Brinley, IHS Markit's principal automotive analyst.

Some dealers who weren't privy to Buick's efforts are seeing them pay off.

Paul Jordan, former general sales manager at LaFontaine Buick-GMC in Highland Township, Mich., said he wasn't aware of Buick's unique partnerships and sponsorships, but the age range of his customers has expanded in the past two years. (Jordan is now general manager at a LaFontaine Buick-GMC store in Lansing, Mich.)

The Highland store's Buick customers used to be 48 or older. Now, it has a Buick customer base that stretches from college students to retirees.

The customers are all on the Internet, he said. "They might see your television campaigns. They might hear your radio campaigns. But they're all on the Internet — every single one of them. Even the older generation is on the Internet."

In 2017, a Buick Enclave was featured in the HBO series "Big Little Lies," starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. The show follows five moms and is centered on uncovering the impetus behind the mysterious death of one of their husbands.

"The show itself turned into a cultural phenomenon," said Hrabovsky. Madeline, played by Witherspoon, drives the Enclave.

When Buick provided the Enclave, there was no guarantee that "Big Little Lies" would give it such prominence.

But "the Enclave placement in that season was so prominent, we like to selfishly say it was almost like [it was] just another character in the show," Hrabovsky said.

For Season 2, which aired in June and July, Buick provided an Enclave Avenir, and Buick wanted to capitalize on the success of the first season. HBO doesn't support advertisements, so Buick began sponsoring "Big Little Live," an aftershow on Twitter in which panelists recap and analyze the episode that just aired. Buick also tweeted video content of the Enclave.

"Stylistically, our content mirrored the aesthetic of the series and featured that same smart, witty tone that the program of 'Big Little Lies' and our brand share," said Hra-bovsky. "So as you're scrolling through your feed, you couldn't help but do a double take because it was very much visually aligned with how 'Big Little Lies' was shot."

The second-season strategy put Buick 20 percent higher than its engagement benchmarks, she said.

Buick began working with Pinterest in 2018 and ramped up its efforts this year.

Pinterest allows users to search for photos or videos and pin them on virtual boards showing their interests. The company says it reaches 83 percent of women ages 25-54 in the U.S.

The social media platform, Brook said, is "good at understanding their customers, identifying their customers and being able to match it up."

Buick was the first automotive brand to have tiles that allow customers to scroll through multiple images and the first to execute maximum width videos, which are larger videos that go across multiple columns on the board, Hrabovsky said.

"Across all levels of the funnel we were seeing higher engagement and click-through rates," she said.

This year, Buick expanded a 2018 pilot that's driven by Buick owners advocating for the brand.

A group of 25 women, who are also social media influencers, share how they use their Buicks and what they like about them. The women are different ages and have diverse backgrounds and lifestyles.

"It's a way that we use to combat a challenge that's really unique for our brand. We hear time and time again from consumers and just people on the street, 'No one I know drives Buick,' " said Hrabovsky. "We want to show people that young, progressive people are out there driving Buicks. And who better to communicate our message than our owners?"

The influencers have produced more than 100 pieces of Buick content and have gained nearly 5 million incremental impressions.

But the "real success can be seen in the community engagement," said Hrabovsky.

The responses and comments from followers have been overwhelmingly positive and focused on the vehicle's features, she said.

TheSkimm, a media company geared toward millennial women, is known for its Daily Skimm newsletter — a smart, quick morning news recap in a distinctive voice. After launching the newsletter, TheSkimm expanded to podcasts, videos and more.

In 2016, Buick sponsored The-Skimm and was featured in visual integrations of the Skimm logo, a female silhouette, using a Buick.

In 2018, Buick expanded the sponsorship to a podcast by TheSkimm founders called "Skimm'd from the Couch," a reference to the company's start from the founders' couch. The founders, Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, interviewed female leaders about career successes and advice.

Zakin and Weisberg "are almost brands in and of themselves," Hrabovsky said. "Having an opportunity for Carly and Danielle to deliver a Buick message in their trusted voice was really appealing for us."

Through the podcast, they highlighted the Encore and Buick Regal TourX.

"We were looking to expand our brand awareness with this affluent millennial female, and this program certainly hit the mark," Hrabovsky said.

Buick is trying to shake its old image, using HBO, social media, streaming and other devices to attract younger audience.