HOLDEN has taken a different approach to marketing its new hero Colorado Z71 Xtreme by tapping into social media to promote its highly-accessorised pick-up.

The company is hoping social media will provide exposure for the limited Z71 Xtreme because it is banking on the Colorado to retain the lion’s share of the brand’s volume.

Speaking to GoAutoNews Premium at the Australian launch of the Colorado Z71 Xtreme in Coober Pedy, Holden general manager of light-commercial vehicles (LCVs) Andre Scott said the idea to endorse the new flagship ute via social media came from a desire to use a broader range of advertising channels than conventional media.

The expectation is that social media will add a dimension to demand that would underwrite Holden’s “business aspiration” of holding the Colorado at 30 per cent of its volume.

“To support our 30 per cent business aspiration we obviously sit down and devise a plan and part of that plan … is ‘how do we present Colorado in different ways?’,” Mr Scott said.

“We started off with some media releases, and by all accounts they went extraordinarily well in reach and take-up. From there we did a few sneak peeks on Instagram and Facebook and social, and the feedback was awesome, the stats were awesome.

“We wanted our dealers to take the assets and content we’ve been developing over the past few months to utilise that to best suit their needs rather than taking a strong, above-line approach, especially given the opt in.”

Meanwhile, not all Holden dealerships will stock the new Colorado Z71 Xtreme. Only around 160 out of 190 outlets have put their hands up for the new variant.

However, more Holden dealers will stock the Z71 Xtreme than the Colorado-based HSV SportsCat. This will only be sold in HSV dealerships which number around 60.

Mr Scott said Holden was committed to its current advertising campaign that features the Colorado pick-up going up against a goat in a race to the top of a mountain.

“True to our ‘Not to be outdone’ campaign, you’ve got to make a ‘Not to be outdone’ hero vehicle, so it was just a common sense step for us,” Mr Scott said.

“We stick to our guns with the campaign we have in play, and consumers see that over a period of three-to-five years, not one year.”

However, Mr Scott said the long-gestating Colorado Z71 Xtreme project did not take into account other flagship utes released this year, such as the Toyota HiLux Rugged X and Ford Ranger Raptor.

“Eight months in the making, and at that time we were very unaware of what was going on around us and unaware of the right formula for that vehicle,” he said.

“I think what we did know and what we could believe in is that customers, especially in Australia, are expecting more capability out of their utes.

“We knew that was a safe space to play in, and from that, Z71 Xtreme was born, and again it was a collaborative process across the board from quality to vehicle engineering to accessories engineering to marketing, sales, coming together and making that happen.”

The new Colorado flagship is based on the Z71 grade, but adds a number of dealer-fit accessories developed in-house, including a slim-line winch bar and winch, reworked front springs to accommodate the extra weight on the front axle, all-terrain tyres, a 2.5mm-thick bash plate, tubular side skirts, bespoke decals and a cosmetic bonnet bulge.

Priced at $69,990 driveaway, the Colorado Z71 Xtreme is $12,800 pricier than its donor car.

By Tung Nguyen