Pontiac Pairs with Last.fm for Musical Vibe Site
CBS-owned music service creates multimedia integration for car maker.
A new deal between the CBS-owned Last.fm social networking music site and Pontiac will enable prospective Pontiac Vibe customers to groove on their favorite tunes while learning all about the sporty cars.
The interactive site is accessible at a special Last.fm/Pontiac Vibe page that Last.fm is calling a “virtual Pontiac dashboard.” When visitors click on the Last.fm logo on the site, a Last.fm player opens and music begins. A series of seven radio-style buttons on the site allow the visitor to switch between different types of music.
While the music plays, visitors will be able to obtain other Pontiac-related information including dealership locations and comparisons of Vibe models. A video player featuring Pontiac-related clips is also displayed. The site is part of the “Pontiac Vibe Community” on Last.fm.
In announcing the deal, Last.fm noted Pontiac has, since 2005, used music and new artists as a means of engaging its young-driver potential customer base. According to Last.fm, about 21 million people regularly go to the site and they can be targeted “according to their music taste.”
Last.fm Public Relations Manager Christian Ward said Last.fm’s “obvious challenge” is to engage with its community “in a way that makes sense in the context of their Last.fm experience: through the music that drives everything we do on the site.”
He said Pontiac, which he called “innovators in the digital music space for years,” staged its own music events and other music-related programs. “So they got immediately that a virtual car radio experience was a great way to connect.”
Also on the site, people can win Apple iPods by leaving messages in the “shoutbox” about the longest distance they’ve ever driven to get to a concert.
Word of the deal with Pontiac comes a week after CBS announced it was working on a new cross-platform promotionlinking Last.fm with the new TV series “Swingtown.” Viewers of the show will be prodded to visit Last.fm to buy songs from the show after the broadcasts.
