Marketing Cars to Kids Edit
GM 'Passport to Knowledge' Shows Students How Plug-In Tech Works

At the Business of Plugging In conference on electric vehicles in Detroit, GM took an innovative marketing approach by targeting kids in the GM ‘Passport to Knowledge’ event. About 300 area students were given “passports” with information and challenge questions on 8 different sectors of the electric vehicle industry and instructed to cycle through 8 corresponding stations—each staffed with a high-level GM rep.

The GM ‘Passport to Knowledge’ event is a clever take on marketing the potentially intimidating technology associated with electric vehicles. Upcoming plug-in vehicles like the Chevy Volt must attract and win the favor of early adopters.

Much in the same way I taught my parents how to use the Internet, make a call on a cell phone and text message, the next generation is perhaps the best equipped to usher their parents into this new automotive era. As one of the younger students I followed matter-of-factly explained to a fellow student in his group during the GM ‘Passport to Knowledge’ event, “[The Chevy Volt] is like a hybrid, only you have to plug it in at night like your [Nintendo] DS.” (You can see him in the second image, raising his hand.)