Honda Announces CR-Z Affiliate Program

[scottm]

It seems that Honda has created an affiliate program for the CR-Z hybrid coupe. Last evening Marketing Week published a story about Honda creating the program, taking on additional marketing agencies, etc. all with a mind to push the CR-Z.

Now, I happen to know some things about the automotive industry and how dealers and dealerships work (Thank you Molle Chevrolet). This is a pretty radical move for an automotive company. The spiderweb of agreements between an automobile manufacturer, it's dealer networks, etc. can get quite complicated. Instituting an affiliate program for an automotive manufacturer would be extremely difficult.

This is perhaps why Honda has chosen a single vehicle. A new hybrid at that. Instituting an affiliate program for the launch of a single new vehicle would be much easier than a blanket program. Particularily for Honda.

You see, Honda is way more than an automobile company. They have some experience with affiliate marketing in their other channels (lawnmowers, outboard motors, etc.). Many of the merchants in non-auto Honda products operate affiliate programs. And I'm sure that Honda's agencies have paid careful attention to what affiliate marketing does for them in those channels.

So although very large ticket... This is a logical move for Honda. Now, exactly how to get into the program, how it's going to work, etc. isn't exactly "out there" yet. I couldn't find any other news items about it (yet). Well, this is breaking news. But given that affiliate marketing is being given a chance by a major automotive company I wonder just how long it will be before GM, Ford, and Toyota decide it will be in their best interest to engage with affiliate marketers as well?

Here's the link to the story in Marketing Week... http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/honda...011031.article