GM's "Once and Done" Advertising

[Ming]

GM's "Once and Done" Debut Advertising - Is it Effective?
And what of the vehicles that never seem to get airtime?
Commentary by Ming
12/22/2006
www.gminsidenews.com

I'd like to propose this question and see what fellow GMI members have to say about it.

Is GM's Advertising blitz-and-be-done strategy for redesigned or refreshed cars enough to sustain interest in the cars over the lifetime of their design cycle?

And are there any GM cars or trucks that you rarely if ever see advertised?

When the Colorado was introduced, we got "Feel like a Woman" from Shanaia Twain. When the 2006 Impala debuted, we heard the Peter Gunn theme thumping along with a jazz singer. I remember well the Bonneville SSEi spy-themed commerical that prompted me to buy my 2000 model.

But after that initial push, much of the time the advertising for these models drops off to almost nothing. It sort of fizzles out. And 3 years later, do people still remember the nameplate? Does GM want them to, or is the company more concerned with bombarding us with the debut of the newer model year - just redesigned - cars?

Granted, this is not a practice unique to GM. It might even be safe to say that most automakers advertise like this. But just because the other guys are doing it this way, does that make it right - or the most effective choice?

To be fair, the Silverado and Suburban seem to be advertised almost daily here in the Southeast where I live, particularly in Texas. And that was going on long before they got redesigned. And HUMMER and Cadillac seem to always be there at the Super Bowl or other major sporting events, even while Toyota is touting its Prius during the same commercial breaks. Despite sharing next to nothing with its NASCAR counterpart, the Monte Carlo also gets attention every time a race is run on TV.

Local dealers can also advertise whatever they choose to. While you might have never seen a Buick LeSabre ad on the national level a year or two after its redesign, I remember seeing many local ads from a Buick dealer who used some stock GM PR footage for the car.

What I'm getting at, however, is that I think all of GM's cars and trucks deserve to be advertised on television and in print ads beyond their initial launch period. And the competition doesn't always follow the pattern of "once and done", either.

Scion's xA, to cite one example, seems to have near constant advertising on cable/sat channels like MTV or G4TV long after its debut.

It's also disappointing when GM decides a certain model is not popular enough to warrant advertising. It seems to me that's a circular argument. When few or no advertisements for the Chevrolet Malibu Maxx hit the airwaves, how are people expected to be attracted to it? It's not as if Chevy has offered a car like it in the recent past -- so how would buyers know to go to a Chevy dealership for anything in a car beyond a sedan or coupe? To get further into trim levels, one could say the same thing about the "unpopular" manual transmission option for the G6 GTP Coupe, even at lauch. GM hadn't offered something like that (FWD with manual & V6) for years, so how were people to know that option existed?

As another example, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans get so little advertising that people I know don't even recognize the names. "Oh, you mean the Astro," they'll say. I don't think I've ever seen a television ad for the Express or Savana passenger vans marketing them as a family van purchase. Sure, you'll see that aspect in the brochures, or maybe in the conversion model at the dealership. But the name recognition is just about nil. I used to get a kick out of answering surveys and looking up replacement parts for my Chevy Express and the only option was "Chevy Van". The most advertising I've seen for these vans is targeted print ads for contractors and small businesses. So much for my idea that the Express might replace the Astro as a family van in Chevy's lineup. My local Chevy dealer never even orders them in Passenger trim unless they're the extended-length, stripped-down generic white ones for shuttle service!

The Bonneville is another example of a car that the public "lost interest" in. And I think it was partially due to a lack of advertising. The last few ads that the Bonneville appeared in were combined with other Pontiac cars like the GTO, and they didn't even call it by its name - rather, they called it "The GXP". Aside from the cool commercials when it launched in 2000, the Bonneville got almost no advertising budget from what I could tell after that.

Would more consistent advertising over the life-cycle of GM vehicles help in maintaining interest beyond the first 2 years? Or is there some Marketing Guru's tome of knowledge that advises against spending more than a token amount of money on anything but major vehicle launches, and nearly nothing at all for some vehicles in the lineup?

Perhaps GM prefers blowing its limited advertising budget on the initial launches. And beyond that focusing only on advertising for particularly profitable models (Suburban, etc.). I for one, think ads spaced out over a longer time - and with some attention given to all of the cars in a brand's lineup - might help sell some GM cars that otherwise get overlooked.

[JonathanRohr]

I whole-heartedly agree. Cars should be blitzed at the start, but still need continuous exposure. A good idea would be to have a steady stream of brand-oriented commercials that run all the time on channels that said brand appeals to.

These commercials need to try and establish a reputation for the brand, showing all it has to offer. For example, Pontiac commercials should show all cars with manual transmissions. In a sporty brand, a manual is something to be desired, not something to be shoved into the econobox model. Heck, you could even show so people racing their cars at the drag strip, mention the G5 or G6 by saying something like "beat em down the strip, and still get 34mpg on the way home". Or you could tout the manny-tranny and some other features at the same time, playing both to the belief that a stick is cooler and that gadgets are cool "thanks to built-in bluetooth, youll have your hands free to control the 6 speed manual" or something to that extent. They could show pros drifting in Solstices and GTO's, then have the race Solstice or GTO fade into a real one on the street.

Just some thoughts..

[igor]

look at what this strategy did for the Ford Five Hundred .. various sources agree that the car should/would sell about another 2k units am onth if Ford continued to advertise it after the initial launch - the FH was launched properly but after the first MY that ad budgets went to practically nothing.

Once-and-done is a flawed strategy - Ford learned it, and starting with Fusion does continuous advertising ... GM needs to learn that as well.

Igor

[nascarnate326]

Well said. Cobalt SS/SC is a pretty fun little car, though I dont know if there has ever been a commercial for it. Granted the vans sucked, were there commericials for it? Only commercials I ever see are Caddy, GMT900, and Hummer. It would be nice to see more Pontaic stuff on tv. G5?

[cfch3399]

I agree. But GM's marketing is so messed up already. Their strategy is similar to movie adverstising. Get everyone to see it the first weekend in order to break even and then marketing moves on the the next new thing.
I always thought that marketing was a way to raise awareness. Well, what products are more deserved of advertising than slow-selling ones? For example, why not advertise the LaCrosse? The way it seems to work in the US is that it it's all about creating these subsequent waves of hysteria. Release the GMT-900s put millions in advertising them, the more people buy, the more you pour in. Once it tapers off you move on to the next new thing. Perhaps the problem is that few products are profitable for GM. In their mind, why waste more money on a car that generates a loss with each sale.
I would like to see more emphasis on brand advertising, which I think GM said they would do, but as you say, they need to keep going at it throughout the life cycle of products. That's why brand advertising is the way to go, you always advertise regardless of what's coming out or not. Toyoduh is so much more effective at this, they have a perennial brand marketing strategy plus emphasis on select models occasionally. Around here they were heavily advertising the Yaris a couple months ago. Then it completely went away. Now it's back- and with the same ads, instead of wasting money on creating new ones. This is another thing that strikes me as dumb and wasteful: constantly creating new and different ads for the same car. In my opinion, if you have a good ad, you can reuse it after months or even years.

[Perian]

Originally Posted by Ming

To get further into trim levels, one could say the same thing about the "unpopular" manual transmission option for the G6 GTP Coupe, even at lauch. GM hadn't offered something like that (FWD with manual & V6) for years, so how were people to know that option existed?

Not to mention that the manual transmission was (up until MY07) a "no charge" option.

That meant if you took the manual transmission, you in effect donated $900 to GM and took a bath on resale value.

I just don't understand this company sometimes.

Look at Toyota - they do a wonderful job advertising TOYOTA, the brand. When is the last time you saw an ad for the Corolla? Yaris? etc?

GM nailed it with Then & Now; showed it at the awards programs, and dropped it.

Great post. You get it.

[GM-10]

I think it really comes down to GM not having enough money. They could spread themselves thin and create a dribble of advertising for each car or give one memorable bang to each launch. They must think they get more for there scarcely available money by doing big intro advertising.

[01cavalier]

Exactly right. GM doesn't advertise beyond the launch, unless it's the full size trucks. It's irritating, because people forget the cars a while after the ads stop, and the sales typically slow down. The Colorado is a perfect example. I haven't seen an HHR ad in a while, sure hope the same thing doesn't happen with it. I'm tempted to say they should spread the money out for advertising when they launch a vehicle, but then again they tend to not even allocate enough for that.

[GM-Joe]

if they don't get a roledex schedule for advertisement, then you are stuck selling to fleets, you sell to fleets the margin goes down, the trade in value goes down, the perceived value goes down, then you offer silly payouts your UAW workers are silly enough to take.

a bad cycle to be in.

[cromagnum]

I bought an 06 Monte SS recently. I know it's going out of production soon, but there were alot of changes with the 06 model (v8 engine specifically), that I was not aware of until I happened to stop and look. I almost bought an Accord v6 coupe, but test driving the SS Monte sold me. Point is, I never saw ANY advertising on the car. Maybe helped to kill the car, don't know.

[likearock00]

Originally Posted by GM-10

I think it really comes down to GM not having enough money. They could spread themselves thin and create a dribble of advertising for each car or give one memorable bang to each launch. They must think they get more for there scarcely available money by doing big intro advertising.

I agree, but I think GM just doesn't put enough money into advertising. They have money, just not enough there. GM is a large company and would relly rule the television if they advertised every model they had. I think they should switch it up on a monthly basis. This month we really push the Aveo, next the G6 and so forth. They must always push the SUV's and trucks, even the Colordo. They are the money makers and need to sell all the time.

As long as something is moving off the lots, I would go with this tactic. They could always switch it up for slow movers.

[solman98]

I don't remember seeing a GM commercial for the HHR. A couple for the Cobalts when they first hit the market. Seems like most are truck and hummer.

[56 Starchief]

yes, this is one of my pet peeves with GM that hopefully, if I get the chance to work for them someday, I get to change. hopefully they do it themselves.


This is what GM does wrong: if you look at Toyota commercials, they are usually very effective in managing the commercial to showcase as many vehicles as possible.

example (paraphrase) "The Tacoma....(catchy fact and show the interior/exterior)....or the Camry...(catchy fact and show the interior/exterior)...or even the...."

get the point?

IMO, the American Revolution ads are the dumbest f'ing thing I have ever seen. It says nothing about the cars, shows nothing, and delivers nothing. they waste 3/4 of the ad with stupid trucks flying cars to the moon, or urban dance scenes, then for the last 5 seconds put one random car on a spinner and say the current lease deals. it makes me so angry. what does the average person know about these cars? besides, these ads look so ghetto it makes GM look horrible. Hyundai has more classy commercials.

Bring back Like A Rock, Heartbeat of America, See the USA in your Chevrolet, or invent something along those lines.

Bottom Line: Campbell-Ewald should be fired. All the other ones aside from Modernista from the other divisions should be fired. I highly doubt anyone has bought a GM vehicle even remotely because of these stupid ads that resemble ones for toilet paper and bagged vegetables on sale at Wal Mart more than automobiles.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by Ming

To get further into trim levels, one could say the same thing about the "unpopular" manual transmission option for the G6 GTP Coupe, even at lauch. GM hadn't offered something like that (FWD with manual & V6) for years, so how were people to know that option existed?

AMEN MING, AMEN!!!!

God knows this is the truth. If you weren't a car guy like every person on GMI, then you wouldn't even know that a manually equipped car existed or that Pontiac was offering a "sporty" combination like this.

Case in point --- Mazda advertised the fact that the Mazda6 offered a 3.0L DOHC V6 engine and a five-speed manual transmission. They figured, "Eh, we'll probably get only 10% of buyers to check off the stick/V6 boxes".

WRONG.

Low and Behold, Mazda COMPLETELY mis-understood the market and orders far outstripped production -- so much in fact that Mazda had to go and refigure their production numbers and logisitics to meet demand in that first year.

See what happens when you advertise? And to and figure how GM expects Pontiac (and to a lesser extent, Saturn) to get conquest sales from brands like Mazda, VW or others when they they don't even advertise the very things that their brand is supposed to stand for?

Fuel for the Soul, eh?

I'll get off my soap-box now -- but excellent point Ming!

[PontiacLvr]

You are so right ... i cant tell you how sick i am of seeing toyota/nissan/honda ads ..they are on all channels at all times of the day .. GM is wham and drop.. I may see one Saturn add a day maybe, and that is just one divison..I am trying to think of the other adds i may have seen in the past week but not one comes to mind. I would think that Saturn would be in your face out there as well as the hype around the lambdas...tell me have you seen a lambda ad....uuh no and this was suppose to be a major launch !!!