Promoting connected car devices, concepts, programs and education is not easy. Public relation companies have to get the word out about technology that has never existed before. On top of that, there are very few publications that cater to automotive connected car news (except for AUTO Connected Car News). This year, we saw some amazing fetes of publicity that were nominated for the Tech CARS Awards. The
amount of work behind such accomplishments is daunting. All nominees were asked to send a few paragraphs about their accomplishments. Nominees that did not send information, are described from our own research.*
Kahn Media for Petersen Museum and Cars Mechanical Institute
To any journalist attending the media day at the Petersen Museum it seemed amazing. Over 500 journalists attended the event and were given access to endless reporting opportunities. There were diverse programs every hour. It is easy to get news release coverage, however, getting journalists to show-up required a full army of specialists.
The media kit included 19 news releases on different galleries, 19 fact sheets/bios, floor plans, over seventy photographs, a time lapse video, a book and a Hot Wheels car. Most importantly, the Petersen hopes to inspire new design techniques by having students from Art Design College of Design design future automobiles and also encouraging kids to learn about car technology through interactive displays and an Augmented Reality app.
Kahn Media was responsible for planning, organizing, and executing the Petersen Automotive Museum’s Grand Reopening Media Day on December 3rd, 2015. As part of the media day event, the Kahn team pitched and organized media coverage of Pixar’s Mechanical Institute Gallery which is an exhibit designed to teach generations young and old about the way cars work in an interactive, exciting way. Using the supplied CARSpad tablets, guests are able to interact with characters like Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater through an augmented-reality app, all the while building their own personal race car and learning about vehicle production and mechanics in the museum.
During the event, journalists and broadcasters from around the world were given the opportunity to interview Jay Ward, Pixar’s Creative Director for the Cars movie franchise. Ward was personally involved in the development of the exhibit and was excited to speak with the press about the project, demonstrating how the technology will provide a unique new museum experience to patrons young and old. Also available for interview were museum curators and the creative team behind the museum’s new interactive interior.
Kahn Media, Inc., based in Ventura County, California, specializes in all things driven. With over a dozen journalists, writers, videographers, editors, designers and publicists, Kahn is the only Brand Journalism Agency in the automotive space that handles all public relations, story creation, event promotion, video production, studio photography, social media management and product launches in-house.
Hyundai Virtual Assistant
Hyundai and Ketchum promoted the Hyundai Virtual Assistant augmented reality users guide through traditional means including a company news release. The most buzz was generated at the LA Auto Show and Connected Car Expo where there were smartphone available and staff who demonstrated the app. Many media mentions, videos and stories were generated from their efforts.
Steve Johansson for Spireon’s Kahu
Johansson was nominated through social media with the nominating statement, “Spireon keeps popping up wherever I go and the new Kahu app from Spireon looks great.”
Kahu is a new connected car service that is uses a installed device to add smart features to any car. Kahu is only sold and installed by car dealers.
Jessica Swain for AT&T Connected Car
We contacted Jessica Swain and received an email stating that she is on vacation over the holidays. The PR company representing AT&T has also been notified of the nomination.
In Q3 2015, AT&T added 1 million connected cars. AT&T has 5.8 million connected cars on the AT&T network as of the third quarter, and expects to connect more than 50 percent of all new connected U.S. passenger vehicles by year-end. AT&T is working with nine top automakers.
Cast your votes for the Tech CARS awards.
* If you are a nominee and have more information please send it to editor[at]autoconnecedcar.com