Just thought I'd give my impressions of the MIXX Toronto Event, Sept. 29, 2008, now that I've got a few minutes to think.

Can Social Media Save The Automobile?
I think the audience really enjoyed hearing from Natalie Johnson, Mgr. Social Media, General Motors (Global) and Monik Sanghvi , Senior Vice President, Digitas as they gave a visual presentation of the sort of work GM is doing in the Social Media Space.

I was impresssed by the over all numbers that they tallied up for the GMNext.com program, through Social media strategies employed for campaigns for the Camaro, Corvette ZRI and Volt -- a whopping 4.2 milion downloads of GM videos (some interviews, some from live events, some from record-breaking loops around the track in GM cars, etc.); 12,000 comments on articles, and over 850 million total media impressions generated -- for a total of just 2 cents per impression! Wow!

I'm impressed as well, by the continued senior mgmt. support for GM's move into this space, with Bob Lutz and Rick Wagoner leading the charge. When asked if GM might be in danger of losing support if Lutz or Wagoner moved elsewhere, both Natalie and Monik said that there are already a good number of senior mangers involved in other areas, and that as the Social Media marketing results percolate through the GM organization, both expect there to be no shortage of senior people participating and spreading the responsibilities across the board. But, both acknowledged that both Bob Lutz and Rick Wagoner bring a huge amount of cachet with them.

Check out the GMNext Video, then let me know if you think GM is leading in the Social Media space related to auto manufacturers, or who you think goes even further?

And what about senior mgmt. support for Social Media and Interactive advertising in general? Are Canadian corporate execs as bold as those from the US?

Finally, do you think GM's "impression" based success measure is a good one?

Let me know.

Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada