In 2006, GM wanted to "do a better job of

In 2006, GM wanted to “do a better job of differentiating our eight brands in the marketplace,” said a company rep, adding this meant better matching the model with the media. For example, Pontiac has embraced both the Second Life digital world and online video games to highlight its youth-targeted “performance” image. This helped fuel a 36 percent jump in Web spending ($101 million) through September of this year over the same period in 2005, when the medium accounted for only 3 percent of the automaker’s total budget.