Car industry's million dollar anti-FBT changes blitz

Car industry's million dollar anti-FBT changes blitz
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



The local car industry hopes to “create an up swell of unrest” with a $10 million marketing blitz targeting the government’s changes to the fringe benefits tax.

President of the Australian Salary Packing Industry Association (ASPIA), Leigh Penberthy, told B&T the campaign is bi-partisan and will include television, print, online and social media.

"It’s a grassroots campaign, so a lot of our work will also go out in to regional locations it won’t just be splash media everywhere,” Penberthy said.

“It will be a lot of work on the ground working with affected groups and their employees to mobilise and create an up swell of unrest that this is just not right.”

The campaign – which Penberthy has likened to the multi-million move against the mining tax – was due to launch this weekend but will now launch within the week.

The delay comes after a summit yesterday which saw charities speak out against the FBT changes.

The summit has changed how the industry plans to pitch the issue to Australians, with the campaign to focus on the wide-reaching implications.

“It’s about communicating to the everyday people what this means, the impact it has, the impact it has on their neighbour, the friend that works for a charity down the road, the friend that runs his own small business and he has five cars and all the additional paper work and hassle they’ve got to deal with this, the local dealer that is in Wangaratta for example, his sales have just dropped off a cliff.”

Another challenge facing the campaign is the cost of available ad space.

“You could seneeze and spend $2m without going very far,” Penberthy said.

“We will hold our gunpowder very dry until we are comfortable that we have got a number of things, one is the message right and the other things is the weighting in TV and print that we want so that we can get access to the people.”

The campaign is due to go live within the week. 




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