The Camaro concept car unveiled at last year’s Detroit auto show captured the imagination of Pontiac fan Kevin Morgan. He created a rendering of an ’09 Trans Am from the Camaro concept shape and his illustrations have created quite a buzz among hobbyists and on the Internet. His drawings have even appeared in national car magazines.
It is Pontiac owners and enthusiasts like Morgan that the Pontiac Division of General Motors and Yahoo, Inc! had in mind when they launched an online destination called Pontiac Underground last week. Pontiacunderground.com combines social media content from Yahoo! including Flickr photos, Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo!Video and Yahoo! Groups with consumer-created Pontiac content from hundreds of Pontiac fan communities throughout the Web.
Designed in partnership with Boston-based interactive agency Digitas, the site features “Pontiac Informer,” where users can see the latest articles, links and information from other sites about Pontiac, submit their own directly and rate them up or down. Morgan was one of the first to contribute to the online conversation, asking others to help him generate interest in bringing back the Trans Am. He invites people to visit his MySpace page, e-mail him or buy the T-shirt he designed featuring his concept car.
Also on the site, users can view and add to galleries of Pontiac videos and photos of cars. There’s also a place for knowledge sharing. Leveraging the knowledge base of Yahoo! Answers, Pontiac Underground provides a place for users to get the answers they are looking for, as well as share their knowledge with the community.
Pontiac will use the “Inside Track” blog as its primary means of communication with its enthusiast audience. The blog features exclusive news and images directly from Pontiac.
Among the other features on the site is an aggregated list of Pontiac clubs and events, allowing users to connect offline as well.
The site is a key component of Pontiac’s broad community-marketing initiatives for 2007. According to a recent Yahoo! Autos study conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, consumer-generated content is in high demand among car buyers. The vast majority–94 percent–of car buyers who use the web believe consumer-generated content is an important source of information to use when deciding between vehicles. The study’s findings highlight the importance of delivering social media offerings for consumers and automakers alike.
That being said, the new site is poised to be a win-win for Pontiac and consumers. “With Yahoo!’s leading social media platform, it’s exciting to finally be able to bring our GTO fans, G6 fans, Solstice fans, old Firebird or Chief fans, Vibe fans–all Pontiac online communities together,” said Pontiac marketing director Mark-Hans Richer in a statement. “Pontiac Underground is almost all consumer-generated–it’s their community, we’re just trying to add to it.”
Matthew Forrest Launches Commercial/Branded Content Production Company Cloud Forest
Producer Matthew Forrest has officially launched Cloud Forest, a Los Angeles-based video production company specializing in commercials and branded content, with additional capabilities in emerging formats like AI and VR.
With the mantra “Where your vision meets our production precision,” Cloud Forest aims to serve brands, agencies and networks with a blend of creativity and operational efficiency.
Forrest brings over 20 years of experience to Cloud Forest. His portfolio includes producing commercial content for Square, Aveeno, and Lyft, branded content series for KitchenAid, Pizza Hut, and Verizon, and projects like Mariah Carey’s “Keys of Christmas.” Forrest’s career highlight came at Endemol Shine, where he earned a Sports Emmy in 2018 for producing Life VR’s “Capturing Everest.”
“Leveraging my varied experiences in both traditional and digital formats, I’m excited to create content across a wide array of platforms with the partners I admire,” said Forrest. “Our focus is on delivering excellence in commercials and branded content, while also offering cutting-edge solutions in AI and VR when appropriate for our clients’ needs.”
Cloud Forest’s talent roster currently features long-time Forrest collaborators such as commercial directors Ben Pluimer, Michael Belcher, Clyde Bessey, Christopher Louie and Kevin K. Shah; director/photographer Shawn Corrigan; photographers Gabriela Oltean and Will Deleon; and creative directors Natalie Perry and Drew Grossman. The studio’s strength lies in curating the right team and accurately defining the necessary resources--budget, roles, and technology--allowing every project to meet its creative and business goals.
This approach has earned praise from industry... Read More