Source: www.adweek.com

NEW YORK Like many advertisers, Mazda is waking up to the power of broadband video.

The carmaker is readying a series of video initiatives to complement ones it already has under way on its site and across the Web. Next month, it plans to launch a virtual museum, which will showcase Mazda's automotive history to users. In addition to photography of classic and concept cars, the museum features several video vignettes of Mazda designers.

Rudy Privitelli, Mazda's group manager of relationship marketing, said the company is still heavily focused on using the Web as a lead generator, devoting significant budget to search engine ads and marketing programs with auto-comparison sites. But with 80 percent of visitors to Mazda's Web site arriving through broadband connections, initiatives like the online museum have proven successful in drawing Mazda's younger customer base into brand experiences.

"We wanted give people a better idea of who we are and how we build our products," Privitelli said.

New York independent shop Sarkissian Mason built the virtual museum, using Web video to re-create the carmaker's home base in Hiroshima, Japan.

It is the latest in a series of broadband initiatives the shop has undertaken for Mazda. For the Mazda Speed3, Sarkissian Mason created an interactive virtual test drive that lets users click to see video of car features. It also filmed a movie trailer-like promo, called "The Awesome Adventures of Wild Child," showing a slot-car racetrack. It relied on viral distribution, through blogs and YouTube, generating more than 3,100 sites referring back to Mazda USA's Web site, according to the company.

"I always find there's a limited effectiveness of online banners especially when you're talking to an audience this skeptical," said Patrick Sarkissian, president of the agency bearing his name "They're as resistant to mainstream advertising as you get."

Next up for Mazda: A series of Web videos shot of their nine different car models, designed to give users a better idea of the vehicle during their pre-purchase research. "We know that even before they set foot in the dealership they go online," Privitelli said.