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Range Rover measures social media connectivity with Evoque push

October 28, 2011

Range Rover ads on the New York Times site

Automaker Jaguar Land Rover chose The New York Times Web site as a vehicle to market its Range Rover Evoque models with above-the-fold banner ads that ran a real-time count of tweets about the car.

Range Rover rewarded consumers who tweeted about the Evoque by including them in the ad on the New York Times site at http://www.nytimes.com. Clicking through the ads brought consumers to the Evoque Web site where they could interact with the car and schedule a test drive.

“The New York Times tends to be a go-to for luxury advertisers as of late,” said Vic Drabicky, a New York-based digital luxury marketing consultant. ”[The New York Times] tends to have an affluent userbase and tends to allow advertisers to use banners that go far beyond the normal, boring banners.

“In this case, Land Rover has the standard tiles on the homepage, but also has an expandable banner that is integrating social media as well,” he said. “This type of rich media tends to improve interaction rates, so mixing the strong creative with the Times’ demographic makes this a great fit for Land Rover to advertise their new line.”

The Evoque is a five-door SUV automatic with four-wheel-drive. It has a 2L gas engine and a six-speed transmission.

Jaguar Land Rover was not able to comment before press deadline.

Mr. Drabicky is not affiliated with the automaker, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

Evoke interest
Visitors to the New York Times site were met with two panel ads on either side of and a dropdown banner below the masthead.

Range Rover ads on NYTimes.com

Clicking on the ads takes consumers to the Evoque site at http://www.landrover.com/us/en/rr/range-rover-evoque/.

“The goal of this campaign appears to be driving awareness to the Evoque model, so the most relevant and appropriate landing page is the Evoque detail page,” said Andrea Wilson, Fort Worth, TX-based director of digital strategy and luxury practice lead at iProspect.

“It showcases the car visually, as well as walks the viewer through the vehicle’s features and pricing to encourage further information gathering and desire to buy,” she said.

Ms. Wilson is not affiliated with the automaker, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

There is an opportunity to click on other vehicle options via the top navigation, which expands the viewer’s choices for additional Land Rover and Range Rover models at various price points.

The page allows the viewer to learn more about the Evoque model in various ways — from videos to detailed history of the brand and model, to how to trade in a car and build a personalized Evoque – as well as looking at other brand options if the Evoque is not a match.

Users’ tweets that included the hashtag #RangeRoverEvoque were included in the New York Times site ad.

In addition, the brand interacted with consumers and contacted them via Twitter to tell them about their inclusion.

Range Rover tweeted to consumers who tweeted about the Evoque

This tactic likely increased brand awareness and helped to form relationships with consumers, especially those whose tweets were included in the ad.

Broad range
Many luxury labels choose to advertise on the highly-trafficked New York Times site. Because it is populated with branded ads, it is likely that advertisers could get drowned out by others.

Therefore, it is a good strategy to make the ads stand out, as well as to use other vehicles such as social media channels to draw attention to the ads.

A tweet drawing attention to the ad on NYTimes.com

Quite a few luxury brands have been taking their ad placement on New York Times to the next level.

For example, lifestyle brand Ralph Lauren Corp. stood out with a click-through video leading to its founder talking about his inspiration, process and styling techniques for the Fall 2011 collection (see story).

Additionally, international hotel, river cruise and rail company Orient-Express launched a digital awareness campaign called A Journey Like No Other and started the process with a full-screen takeover ad on the New York Times Web site (see story).

“I think one of the biggest things advertisers need to focus on when advertising on major publications is to make sure they stand out from the clutter,” Mr. Drabicky said. “Two ways to do this are to focus on creative and share of voice.

“Using the Land Rover example, they seemed to accomplish both — they have really interesting creative and secured a huge share of voice for the homepage,” he said. “But for advertisers that might not have the budget to do a homepage takeover, try to focus on at least one of the two.”

Final Take
Rachel Lamb, associate reporter on Luxury Daily, New York

Rachel Lamb is an associate reporter on Luxury Daily. Her beats are apparel and accessories, arts and entertainment, education, food and beverage, fragrance and personal care, government, healthcare, home furnishings, jewelry, legal/privacy and nonprofits. Reach her at rachel@napean.com.