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Kiosks drive easy and accurate leads to General Motors Canada

Since 2005, In-Touch has been providing electronic lead capture at events across Canada. Stemming from a pilot program of 5 kiosks with an English only survey, the program has evolved to include multiple data collection solutions including kiosks, mini kiosks and tablets that offer bilingual surveys with complex customized coupons that leverage other GMCL marketing initiatives such as Car Heaven, Drive to Dealer/Test Drive programs, onsite contests and instant win promotions.

With its instantly recognizable brand and its impressive products, General Motors has little difficulty attracting people to its enormously popular events, or encouraging them to complete lead forms. After all, who wouldn't want to win a new car? Thousands of leads flow into General Motors every day from different events.

General Motors biggest headache was the manual process involved in capturing those leads. Events at various locations across the country used different paper lead capture forms, and event managers were spending far too much time gathering the forms and mailing them in for processing. Too many individuals were involved in the data entry process, deciphering a wide range of handwriting styles and dealing with incomplete forms. The result was lost time and lost business opportunities.

The General Motors marketing group went in search of an electronic solution - with the following objectives:

1. Increase the speed and accuracy of lead capture at its events,
2. Promote its brand and associate it with innovative technology, and
3. Ensure all events used the same lead form, with the appropriate privacy policies and contest rules.

General Motors turned to In-Touch for a solution. The result was a kiosk marketing program that combined eye-opening graphics on stand-alone kiosks, an engaging and impressive user interface that makes form completion simple and fast, and a web-based back-end system that makes all leads instantly available to the right people at headquarters and in the field.

Key components of the program:

1. Graphics or "skins" that can be easily customized
   The In-Touch kiosks have removable branding panels, which can easily be customized for each client or each event at a reasonable cost. In-Touch created unique "skins" to match the theme of each event.
2. Lightweight and durable units, easily transportable from event to event
   Unlike kiosks designed for unattended use or commerce transactions, the graceful form and unique design of the In-Touch kiosks make them sturdy and portable. They collapse into carrying cases for ease of shipping from event to event, and can be set up in minutes by anyone, without training.
3. Engaging user interface design that is functional and encourages survey completion
   A lead capture form is a customer touch point and must reflect your brand. The General Motors electronic lead forms blend best practices for survey design with the company brand and graphics that appeal to the specific demographic of event goers. The look and feel of the lead form can easily be altered online, allowing them to customize each event's form to the target audience.
4. Rental options for flexibility
   General Motors preferred to try the kiosks before buying. The In-Touch rental option includes any number of kiosks, with the lead forms pre-installed and tested. This convenient option has been extended into over one hundred additional events over the years

Where General Motors used the In-Touch kiosks:

General Motors asked Toronto-based agency MacLaren Momentum to integrate In-Touch kiosks into its displays at the Canadian National Auto Show, and MacLaren eagerly accepted the challenge. The Auto Show runs in six cities over a period of 12 weeks and attracts over half a million visitors. MacLaren first created exciting "skins" for the kiosks to showcase a contest being used to encourage lead form completion. Each event featured between 8 and 20 kiosks, depending on the anticipated numbers of show visitors, and the units performed flawlessly. While visitors used the kiosk, exhibit staff had time to spare to talk to those who showed an avid interest in the General Motors vehicles on display. At one point during the event in Toronto, where there were 20 kiosks, people lined up to complete the lead forms. A quick-thinking MacLaren team grabbed the spare electronic tablets and started handing them out as mobile survey forms to people in the lineups.

Each night, leads were downloaded wirelessly and segmented by lead quality, then were immediately available for follow up by the sales department. In-Touch's web-based "InSight" reporting tool provided quick and easy access to event data.

In addition to meeting their goals of a higher volume of higher quality leads, General Motors is also enjoying some unanticipated benefits:

1. Market research
   General Motors has added several opinion questions to its lead capture form without affecting the percentage of users who complete the form, letting them learn more about their intended audience for more targeted follow up marketing.
2. Integrated campaigns
   General Motors extended its kiosk data collection forms to the Web for an integrated campaign that captures not only those who were on-site but also those who may have attended the event "virtually."
3. Contest administration
   For events with a contest as an incentive, an independent third party is often desired to ensure winners are selected according to contest rules. In-Touch offers this as a value-added service.

General Motors has continued to use In-Touch Survey Ltd kiosks for over one hundred events over the past four years and has generated hundreds of thousands of leads to date - a very impressive number by anyone's standards.

For more case study information or to discuss your kiosk marketing strategy, contact an In-Touch Survey Systems representative at 1.800.263.2980.