12-Volt Web Promo Begins

Viral Video Hits Web

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 11/20/2009

Los Angeles - After two years of research and planning, the car electronics industry cooperatively launched a viral video Internet campaign Friday afternoon, based on a "car dance mob" theme, to raise awareness of the category.

A scene from the viral video that kicked off the industry’s 12-Volt campaign FridayThe 60-second video, showing a spontaneous dance mob in a car, will be supported by an aggressive social-media campaign that will target sites including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and up to 15 video-sharing sites, such as Break, Buzznet and Kontraband.

The video will be seeded in enthusiast Web sites related to car audio's target audience of 16- to 34-year-old, tech-driven music fans, including CarTuningCentral.com and Wired.com/autopia.

"This is all about expanding the reach of the category beyond the enthusiast," said chairman of the 12-Volt Initiative's governing board Steve Witt. The concept is based on a "flash mob": a cultural phenomenon where a crowd meets in a public place to perform some unusual action for a brief time and then disperses. "The strategy is to put an outrageous video out on the Internet to simply break through the clutter and attract attention. The video then leads people to the campaign Web site, which is called WhatURmissin.com. The whole idea is people hopefully watch the video and see this flash mob happening inside cars," noted Witt, who said the video should be the first of many, depending on funding.

The 12-Volt Initiative has raised half of its target of $300,000 from industry members to support the campaign but is in the process of receiving additional funds.  "However, we are still seeking industry support," said Witt.

The new WhatURmissin Web portal is designed to quickly show the value of car electronics for "connectivity, sound, navigation and convenience."  It will show music streamed from an iPod and from phones and HD Radio and then direct consumers to a dealer locator by ZIP code (powered by InstallerNet).

In late January/early February the 12-Volt Initiative board will review various metrics to gauge the success of the campaign. It will then "determine a go/no go for a second campaign in late spring," Witt said.

The Consumer Electronics Association will support the campaign as one of its key goals for the automotive electronics division, Witt added.