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Subaru recruits social media influencers for Impreza campaign

Subaru is promoting the launch of the new Impreza line with a Snapchat campaign that puts the spotlight on the customers in addition to the car itself.

The new campaign will tap into influencers from across the most influential social media platforms, who will create exclusive content related to Subaru to incentivize purchases from customers. This campaign is an attempt to tap into the growing influence of social media luminaries to be brand ambassadors as well as content creators.

"The all-new Impreza advertising campaign focuses on the intimate experiences that unite us all," said Alan Bethke, senior vice president of marketing at Subaru of America. 

Common factors
Subaru?s latest campaign focuses on the universal aspects that unite car drivers, rather than on the discrete groups they might belong to or divisions between them.

The brand is running a video campaign that will launch on TV as well as targeted mobile and social media spots to appeal to social media users.

The campaign comes with three videos titled ?More,? ?Moving Out? and ?Rewind.?

The Subaru video campaign

Each of the three videos focuses on the everyday, inner life of a different Subaru owner, focusing on the universal experiences that unite people, going for the earnest heartwarming style of ad that has become popular in recent years.

Along with this video series, Subaru is launching a social media campaign that continues that humanistic element by diving into the real lives of Subaru owners.

The campaign, promoted with the hashtag #MeetAnOwner, sees Subaru recruiting social media influencers who are also Subaru owners.

These influencers, crowd-sourced from across the social media universe, create content relating to their Subarus and how it informs their daily lives.

Customers are encouraged to submit questions to the owners and engage with them on social media.

Everyday influencers
The way that Subaru?s campaign is set up mirrors the content of the videos by placing the brand ambassadors on the same level as the consumers, emphasizing the video series? message of the unifying factors inherent in all drivers? lives.

Rather than being preached to about the merits of a new Subaru line, the company is asking consumers to use social media to engage directly with the brand ambassadors on an equal playing field, engaging one another in a equitable way.

Customers can see testimonies from real life owners at MeetAnOwner.com

This campaign is similar to some recent campaigns that rely on user-generated content to break away from traditional marketing models and blur the line between brand and customer.

Both Jack Link?s (see story) and Folgers (see story) have recently unveiled campaigns that put the focus on the customer as a way of engaging them more directly with the brand?s message. 

As is becoming more and more clear, mobile acts as the equalizer in these types of campaign by putting consumers directly in touch with the brands in an immediate, intimate way.

"With major gains in handling performance, crash safety and ride comfort, the 2017 Impreza offers customers a smooth and trusted ride, ready for wherever the road takes them," Mr. Bethke said.