The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV isn’t yet available in all states, but it’s been on sale in California for six months now.
While Chevy has said all along it will market the 238-mile electric car in a very targeted way, specifically trying to reach people similar to existing owners, it may have expanded its reach somewhat.
This past Friday, a full-page ad for the Chevy Bolt EV appeared in at least two major national newspapers.
DON’T MISS: Chevy Bolt EV: nationwide sales moved up to August for electric car
Those were The Washington Post and The New York Times; the ad ran in the front section of each, on the preferred right-hand page.
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV newspaper ad, The Washington Post, June 16, 2017
It’s possible the ad also ran in other outlets as well. We’ve reached out to Chevrolet with that question, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.
More than a year ago, in March 2016, we interviewed Darin Gesse, who’s responsible for marketing both the Volt plug-in hybrid and the Bolt EV electric car.
He told us that Chevrolet plans to use very targeted marketing methods, messages, and channels to find buyers for both cars who are similar to those it knows have already purchased the Volt.
READ THIS: How GM plans to market Chevy Bolt EV electric car (Mar 2016)
“These are not typical Chevy customers,” he noted, and they come in with questions only about relatively minor details about the car after learning about it and researching the basics elsewhere.
Although it had aired a couple of TV ads for the Volt, Gesse said, “our customers don’t really watch television.”
Instead, he said, Bolt EV and Volt buyers are expected to focus more on digital and technology coverage.
First 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car [photo: Patrick Reid]
Some 2016 media buys for the 2016 Volt included ads on the Wired website, billboards where California tech-industry drivers are likely to be stuck in traffic, and a back cover of Scientific American.
Bolt EV ads, Gesse said then, would focus on the groundbreaking electric car’s range (its 238-mile EPA rating) and price ($37,500 before incentives).
CHECK OUT: Driving a Chevy Bolt EV electric car halfway across the U.S.: what it takes
Chevy also focused heavily on its franchised dealerships, over whose day-to-day operations it has only limited control.
Measures include identifying best practices, videotaping salespeople who sell high volumes of Volts, and distributing the interactions to help other dealers understand that selling a plug-in car is “a discussion, not a sales process.”
[hat tip: Jay Lucas]
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