Ad Age Features Chevy "Positivity Pump"
Chevy and IBM Will Rate Your Social Media 'Positivity'
Ad Age | E.J. Schultz | September 14, 2016
Here's a reason to spread a little more sunshine on social media: Free gas.
That is the reward Chevrolet recently gave to select drivers in four cities to demonstrate the auto brand's new "global positivity system," which uses IBMWatson to evaluate how positive people are on social media.
The global campaign -- which is rolling out today -- allows participants to visit amobile or desktop site to obtain a positivity score based on their social media posts.
Users are asked to enter either their Twitter or Facebook account names at the site. Within seconds the program returns a positivity score. The output also identifies a user's least positive and most positive posts as well as their five most used positive words. Also provided is a detailed social personality summary. At the end, Chevy recommends an experience based on the output, such as "master a new language."
To promote the digital campaign, Chevy recently took over gas stations in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, New Orleans and Calgary. Drivers uncovered their positivity scores at the pump and were awarded free gas based on their scores.
The campaign was designed and executed by The Martin Agency in partnership with Commonwealth/McCann as the strategic lead agency. The effort marks the first time Chevy has used the IBM Watson technology for an ad campaign -- and could foreshadow future partnerships. "While we can't discuss future advertising strategies, the relationship has been great for both companies and we look forward to exploring future opportunities," Karen Toor, Chevy's global content marketing manager, said in an email.
