Mazda Reaches Out to Bloggers for the Mazda 2

So our group -- comprised of bloggers, car enthusiasts and Mazda car owners -- met at the Mazda exhibit in the L.A. Convention Center where we were given a presentation by David Harris, group manager digital and alternative marketing, Mazda North American Operations followed by another presentation by Mazda group manager R&D Ruben Archilla and even Mazda celebrity racer Patrick Dempsey who's going to race the Mazda MX-5 Miata at this weekend's 25 Hours of Thunderhill. And naturally, in every presentation they saw fit to insert "Zoom Zoom" somewhere in there.

No details were given, however, about whether the car will be used to race, what its price point will be or even what sort of features it will have. The presenters were all very secretive about it. Apparently all this information will be disclosed at future auto shows. For example, in Montreal, the interior features will be shown. But they did say that Mazda is looking at a sale date in late 2010.

Since there was some time to kill before the reveal and press conference, we gathered around a vending machine that was dispensing "Mazda 2 Zoom-Zoom Concentrated" in a can. Essentially a Red-Bull-esque energy drink. Some of us even wandered off to check out the nearby exhibits for Chevrolet, Audi and Hyundai. Mmm, red Audi R8.

Finally the press conference began. Talking, videos with quick jumpcuts, loud music. And then whoosh! The curtain dropped down around two Mazda 2s on platforms. The crowd oohed and camera flashes went off.

We were only given a look of the car's exterior and video crews climbing up on the platform to shoot the car's interior were shooed away.

After the conference there was another presentation. This time by Director of Design Derek Jenkins who took us through the design process of the Mazda 2 from concept sketches to clay models to the car we saw on the stand. Unfortunately, none of us could really hear what he was saying as Hyundai was loudly revealing its Sonata at the exhibit space next door.

Afterward, we were taken to ESPN Zone down the street for lunch. There I chatted with Jihaad Shaw of marketing agency Rebel Industries who went into detail about why they decided to reach out to lifestyle bloggers in addition to Mazda owners and auto enthusiasts.

Essentially since Mazda 2 is meant to appeal to Generation Y and active singles, they wanted to approach more than car enthusiasts and car bloggers and hit a wide spectrum of people. So they did some research and came up with a list of 35 bloggers, paring it down to 22 to keep in theme with "Mazda 2." "Two bloggers wouldn't have been enough and 12 isn't as sexy and as catchy," Shaw joked.

This event at the auto show was essentially a launch of the Mazda 22 Program and how much positive feedback it receives from the client and the bloggers will determine whether they have another event.