Olds Revs Women's Web Site

Brandweek,  July 3, 2000  by Jeff Green

Tags: General Motors Corp., Web, Web site, women

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General Motors' Oldsmobile division is expected to launch a new Web site, possibly this week, to tie together its efforts on women's issues.

The Women's Initiative section will include female-focused information about Olds' performance, safety warranty and maintenance. It will also include updates and promotion of the automotive division's partnerships such as the Oxygen Tank Tour, Athena Foundation, Concept Cure and 2000 Women's Golf Scramble.

The initiative comes at a time that women compose 43% of car shoppers online, in an automotive environment that is increasingly women-friendly.

The site will be promoted on all Olds pages and in select women's content areas with portals such as AOL, NetZero and eTour.

Olds made much of Karen Francis' gender as head of the division, which also serves as test-bed for GM initiatives in minority targeting and new media, and when Francis left for a dot-corn replaced her with Debra KellyEnnis, a brand manager for the Chevy S-10 pickup.

Ford Motor also has made an aggressive push toward women via its estimated $2-5 million commitment to iVillage.com, and its strong promotion of the team of women who helped design the features in its Windstar minivan and the use of motorized pedal adjustment technology in several new vehicles.

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