MAM
GM India upgrades services with the launch of ‘Free After 3’ service
MUMBAI: General Motors India has announced the launch of unique customer service programme – the GM Service Plus – a cluster of services that are designed to service the family of GM car owners, be it a Chevrolet or an Opel.
To kick-start this venture, the company has introduced ‘Free After 3’ programme, an exclusive service initiative, where customers can have their car serviced in 3 hours. The idea being that the customer could have his or her car serviced as he or she shops at a mall or watch a Bollywood potboiler. Starting with the National Capital Region (NCR), it will be extend to other cities in the coming days.
These new services would help GM customers keep their vehicles in shape, provide help at hand and help take servicing to the next level.
“This shows we care for our customer and are responsive to his needs,” said GM India vice president marketing, sales and aftersales Amit Dutta.
It is worth noting here that the initiative has come within weeks of the company ramping up production capacity at its Halol facility to 60,000 units to meet the growing demand for its cars.
Besides the ‘Free After 3’ service, the ‘GM Service Plus’ range of services encompass the following:
24-hour workshops: An all-day service centre where customers can get their car serviced when they use it the least.
Genuine parts and accessories: A host of affordable parts and accessories guaranteed by General Motors.
Optional Warranty: Ensures continued protection beyond the standard warranty of the car.
Preferred insurance: A comprehensive insurance cover that comes with a range of value-added services from our insurance partners.
GM reach: With 80 service centres in 65 cities, a customer is assured of services all across India.
General Motors has also planned a multi-media publicity blitz of print, outdoor and direct marketing campaigns to ensure visibility for the ‘Free After 3’ service.
Print and outdoor campaigns will target movie theatres, shopping malls, airports and restaurants to show how one can squeeze out more time for fun and work by doing two things at once – as the car gets serviced.
Direct mailers are also being sent to customers with complimentary movie tickets or dinner vouchers as added incentives to try out the new service, while GM service teams in their new ‘Service Plus’ apparels, caps and badges will be seen at different outlets creating the buzz and excitement around the campaign.
The new service initiatives also have a dedicated helpline with a unique number – 30308080 – across the country.
To make use of the ‘Free after three challenge’, the customer has to book his car in advance at a GM ’Quick Service’ workshops. As you drive in at the appointed hour, the clock will start ticking as soon as the job card is opened. A special team including two skilled and specially trained technicians and two washer men will then get on the job quickly procuring the necessary spares and consumables and working at special ‘Quick Service’ bays with separate infrastructure and facilities. If the workshop fails to deliver on time, customers need not pay any labour charges.
GM Service has worked out floor management techniques to ensure that cars taken in for ‘Quick Service’ do not interfere with the regular workshop traffic. Visual identification of all cars taken in for ‘Quick Service’, at all levels in the workshop will hold the key. This will be achieved by using ‘Danglers’ and ‘Priority Caps’, specially designed for the activity.
MAM
India wins big at the 2025 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards
The Womb and McCann India take home Global Grand Effies, putting Indian advertising on the world map
MUMBAI: Indian advertising just had its moment. At the 2025 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards, the most rigorous test of marketing effectiveness on the planet, two Indian agencies beat out campaigns from over 130 markets to claim Global Grand Effies, the sport’s equivalent of a world championship medal.
The Womb won for Piramal Finance with a campaign called “NEEYAT: India’s Real Credit Score,” a purpose-led push that took direct aim at systemic bias in the credit sector and reframed how creditworthiness is measured. McCann India won for ESAF Small Finance Bank with “Saving Her Savings,” a campaign centred on financial inclusion for marginalised women. Both wins came from a shortlist of 47 contenders, all of whom had already won gold or grand prizes in their home markets. Only 11 Global Grand Effies were handed out across seven markets. India got two.
The highest honour of the night, the Iridium Effie, awarded to the single most effective marketing campaign in the world, went to eos Products and Mischief @ No Fixed Address for “Women’s Shave.” Remarkably, it was their second consecutive year taking the top prize.
Other global winners included Oreo and Mondelez International for “Oreo Codes” in commerce and shopper marketing, Flamin’ Hot and PepsiCo for “Poker Face” in experiential marketing, and ALDI Australia for “Shop ALDI First” in retail.
The Best of the Best is no ordinary awards show. Entry is restricted to campaigns that have already won a gold or grand Effie at a national level, making it, in effect, a champions’ league of marketing effectiveness. Indian agencies are no longer just brilliant at cracking local markets. They are now setting the global standard.
The world’s best advertisers had better start paying attention.
