Saturn and Google have teamed up with an ambitious partnership that combines elements of IP-based geotargeting, Google Earth, and Google Video to promote the Aura, Saturn’s new bread-and-butter sedan. 

Saturn is running  ads for the Aura on a variety of websites that are capable of segmenting by browser location.  When a consumer in one of 22 test markets clicks on the banner, they see a flying animation of the Earth that zooms in on the Saturn dealership in their area.  Once "at the dealership", they are greeted by a video featuring the local general manager, who introduces a  commercial, then returns to show off the car.  The final twist is that the GM will bring the car to you for a test drive.

It’s hard to know whether the target audience will fully appreciate the complexity of the campaign, and more importantly, whether they will be swayed by the local angle.  After all, buyers are used to seeing ads from their local dealers on TV, and may assume that, say, Saturn of Irving Texas was the party responsible, rather than the national brand.  Still, it’s a very interesting experiment that nicely knits together several under-utilized pieces of Google’s marketing empire, which now extend well beyond text ads.  The New York Times takes this view.  The work was done by our friends at Goodby Silverstein.

Misha Cornes