The UK-based auto glass repair brand Autoglass has released its latest commercial, where the winner of its Facebook contest can be seen sporting a frown as his windshield takes on a decidedly nasty crack after his car hits a bump on the highway. The man, Blackpool resident Ian Graham, was chosen out of over 130 participants in the auto glass repair brand’s social networking site contest, which involved calling for people to submit images or videos of them or someone in their family (or close social circle) with a vehicle (one with a windshield, of course).
The auto glass repair company started the competition in the latter half of last year, promoting it as an opportunity for vehicle owners to star in the next ad. Besides that, though the company was also offering an iPad 2 as well as no less than £3000—a pretty handsome windfall for the winner, all told. The contest’s mechanics involved the finalists being selected by vote, but the ultimate arbiter of the winner were people from the auto glass repair company’s own marketing team, which held auditions for the finalists chosen from the over 130 contest entries. Graham was apparently selected because he acted very naturally in front of the camera and fit the needs of the advert very well.
This is just another step in the company’s advertising plans for this year, which, taken with the next year, is being considered a very important time for the auto glass repair brand’s marketing department. Back in 2010, the company actually announced that it was planning to double its advertising expenses in order to stay competitive in a global market that was not only suffering from the recession but also shifting in its advertising interests, with people becoming more and more involved in social networks and being more likely to respond to adverts routed through those channels.
In the past year, Autoglass has actually had rather impressive representation in the media, what with its slew of marketing campaigns and gimmicks. These have ranged from the Facebook competition to the painting of street art, all of which has seen the company’s name on papers and news sites both dedicated to the industry and not. Customers seem to be responding positively too, according to company executives, who say most of the feedback from their marketing efforts has been positive.
The auto glass repair brand is part of the Belron family of companies, which also includes Safelite in the United States, another windshield repair and replacement giant. The company currently claims to have in excess of 100 branches or locations in the United Kingdom, and has served over 1.5 million customers at last official count.
