GM's "Once and Done" Advertising

[MaxLegroom]

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.

If you'd like an effective idea about how much good advertising such models gets, one might ask Ford, which often shows ads of a man driving his significant other's Mercury Milan 5 speed. In the ad, it seems to be her car but he won't let her drive it.

The downside of such ads is what happens when one goes to the showroom to look at/drive/buy such a car. Just go and try to find the car he's driving at your Mercury dealer. Go to a Ford dealer for a similar Fusion and just try to find a five speed sitck that isn't a S. Often the dealers don't stock them, so you have to special order or DX the car, which is somewhat discouraged. To be fair, 6 speed Accord coupes aren't all that common, ditto the sedan. If you make such ads, make sure the dealers stock the product.

[desmo9]

I suspect GM's ads do little for sales anyway, regardless of whether the campaigns are good or not. The tried-and-true GM faithful are pretty much what's left in GM's market share, and they're gonna figure out what's out there before long. Give them a little initial buzz to say, "it's available now," and let the cars parked in front of the dealerships do the rest.

Ads likely don't put much of a dent in conquest sales (typically import shoppers), and that's the real issue here. Is a Camry owner any more likely to trade for an Impala three years after launch versus at launch? I doubt it. Buzz on the street is what'll twist their arm, if anything will.

[Elk]

The way to fix GM's "Once and Done" problem is to kill Saturn.

I watch TV and I watch music videos on Yahoo Launch and I see Saturn ION and ION redline ads. It’s been over a year since I saw a TV ad just for the Cobalt and I’ve never see an ad for the SS Cobalt.

It’s clear to me GM believes there own marketing and that as long as Saturn is around GM will continue spend advertising money on it like it’s the only GM brand that competes with the imports while letting the brands that really compete with the imports lose sales do to lack of advertising.

Also where are you people getting this “Toyota advertises the brand not the cars” and “Toyota has better ads” stuff? Do you people not own a televison?

Almost all of Toyota’s advertising is for individual vehicles. And the Buick heated windshield washer fluid ads weren’t any worse then the Toyota Avalon ads that were all about the rain sensing windshield wipers.

Originally Posted by desmo9

I suspect GM's ads do little for sales anyway, regardless of whether the campaigns are good or not. The tried-and-true GM faithful are pretty much what's left in GM's market share, and they're gonna figure out what's out there before long. Give them a little initial buzz to say, "it's available now," and let the cars parked in front of the dealerships do the rest.

The GM faithful are not going to always be looking for a car. Someone might be in the market for a car like the LaCrosse, but that doesn’t mean they are going to be able to remember the ad blitz from 3 years ago.

And then there is the case of upgrades. There are a lot of “GM faithful” on this site that I have had to inform that the Colorado and Canyon got an engine upgrade for 2007. If it’s that bad here think how bad it must be in the general public. And that drives me nuts because the Colorado and Canyon are far more important to GM then the Saturn Aura which GM is promoting the crap out of.

Originally Posted by desmo9

Ads likely don't put much of a dent in conquest sales (typically import shoppers), and that's the real issue here.

No it’s not. GM's problem is they are losing market share. If GM could get everyone that owns a GM car now to buy a GM car as there next vehicle they would be problem free.

[desmo9]

Originally Posted by Elk

No it’s not. GM's problem is they are losing market share. If GM could get everyone that owns a GM car now to buy a GM car as there next vehicle they would be problem free.

I guess that depends on whether or not you feel GM's current product portfolio, and the one to come, is sufficient to stop the sales slide. The way most folks on this site talk, one might conclude that the product problems are all gone. I don't believe this, though, so I'm inclined to agree with your comment.

That said, I don't think advertising will do much to slow down that slide if the products themselves can't slow it down. Just change where I said "conquest sales" to "sales to anyone considering an import" ... which includes everything from current import owners to those about to buy their first one.

It's sad how much of GM's ad budget goes toward advertising the latest incentive deal, versus advertising the actual products.

[gmlifer]

Rather than spending a huge chunk of cash for one model GM should do more corporate GM ads, for example an ad showing the many sizes and styles of SUV's available from GM or a corporate GM ad showing the improved quality, awards, 100k warranty, ect.
More bang for the buck that helps all divisions.

[knightfan26917]

Originally Posted by gmlifer

Rather than spending a huge chunk of cash for one model GM should do more corporate GM ads, for example an ad showing the many sizes and styles of SUV's available from GM or a corporate GM ad showing the improved quality, awards, 100k warranty, ect.
More bang for the buck that helps all divisions.

They kinda sorta did that with the "AM Radio" ads, which I really liked. Not sure if they've furthered that idea, but it is too bad GM didn't do "sequals" of those ... switching to mostly new vehicles to do something more completely like you mention, gmlifer.

Heh ... sometimes, I wonder who is better at marketing ... the marketing execs or the consumers...he he he.



Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
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"The tide's gonna turn & it's all gonna roll your way" ... Dolly Parton ... '9 to 5'

[Elk]

Originally Posted by desmo9

I guess that depends on whether or not you feel GM's current product portfolio, and the one to come, is sufficient to stop the sales slide. The way most folks on this site talk, one might conclude that the product problems are all gone. I don't believe this, though, so I'm inclined to agree with your comment.

That said, I don't think advertising will do much to slow down that slide if the products themselves can't slow it down. Just change where I said "conquest sales" to "sales to anyone considering an import" ... which includes everything from current import owners to those about to buy their first one.

It's sad how much of GM's ad budget goes toward advertising the latest incentive deal, versus advertising the actual products.

I brought up the Colorado and Canyon so lets get into that some more to make my point.

Right now there are tons of S-10 and Sonoma owners out there looking for a new truck and the S-10 and Sonoma while a little dated are good reliable vehicles so the people that bought them are more then willing to look to GM for there next truck.

Now for S-10 owners if they remember the ads from 2 years ago they think the Colorado is still running the 220 hp 3.5L I5.

Most Sonoma owners probably aren’t even sure if GMC still makes a compact pickup.

And when those S-10 and Sonoma owners turn on the TV they see:
This:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJY9uTrW3I
And this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCe-1LYj_4o
And this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1L8qnaQiTc
And this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8rYNqe1-nI
And this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj822en3S2E

And there are more commercial those are just the ones that were ease for me to find. Normal truck buyers are not like us they don’t spend there time looking at websites to find out what’s new at GM. They need to be reminded and they need to be reminded over and over and over like what Toyota is doing.

[jzchev28]

if only the gm execs would check out this thread maybe they could get a clue about advertiseing.

[Ming]

Saw this discussed briefly last week on Autoline Detroit.

They called it "Launch and Abandon".

[guitarlix]

Originally Posted by LAMRONH
One reason is that people know what an Accord is. They know that 10 years ago there was an Accord and in 10 years there will be a 2017 Accord.

LeSabre. Lucerne. Century, Regal. LaCrosse. In 2012 it will be _______.
Pontiac 6000STE. Pontiac Bonneville. Pontiac G8.

Is there a problem here?

I agree with you 100% on this.

Also, remember that Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, and so forth have much fewer models than GM. So this month GM advertises the Aura, next month the new Malibu, then a refresh on the LaCrosse, then the G6, then the Impala, then the Aura... and Toyota just keeps banging away this month Camry, next month Camry, the following month Camry, Camry, Camry, Camry out the ears.

So not only does the Camry have a 20+ year name history, it also has 20+ years of constant advertising. The GM names come and go, and even the ones that stick around for a few generations only have a few months' worth of total advertisement time.

Both of you nailed it. GM has too many brands that all rely on a single advertising budget. Each of those brands needs totally different ads with specific brand positioning to avoid overlap while Toyota, Honda etc. simply hammer away on the same few models. This is a HUGE advantage. GM's present marketing model with all these brands under one roof is simply inefficient and will not work over the long run. Sooner or later, we're going to see more one or more brands dumped. I hope it is Saturn first and I hope those excellent products go to Chevy because pouring more money into that brand would be like trying to plug the black hole - pointless.

Also like LAMRONH mentioned - too many name changes. But that is a result of poor (or bad) product and hopefully that is changing.

[Elk]

Things are getting better I’ve been seeing some Cobalt ads and they weren’t the general GM ads, they were ads just for the Cobalt.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

The best product advertises itself.

[importedtuna]

Originally Posted by New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66

The best product advertises itself.

So I shouldn't see any of the slew of Silverado or Tahoe ads I see all the time since they are such stellar products, mmmm? GM can't hope for people to buy a type of car no one expects to be at the dealership. Everyone expects trucks and SUVs so you're right there. But cars that break the mold like a 6-speed manual in a front wheel drive mid sized car? If they don't advertise them no one will ever know to go to GM to get a car like that.

Your response is a nice reflex answer, but too simplistic.