If you have been reading this blog lately, you'll know I've been doling out some tough love to GM on its Reinvention. Well, today I'm in the Chronicle Herald's Marketing Monitor saying that GM's reinvention needs someone to stage an intervention . Sure, it's what I've been saying all along, only this time it is in a convenient, easy-to-carry format.
My opinion differs from some of my colleagues, so let me know your thoughts - am I right or wrong?
Showing posts with label GM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GM. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Social Media - you're doing it wrong, GM
I read a guru yesterday (sorry, can't remember who) claiming that Facebook's days are numbered in part because corporations now 'get' social media. If GM is to be taken as a textbook example, I'd say Facebook has many hale and hearty days ahead.
As you'll know from a previous post, I am following GMreinvention on twitter, which touts itself as my window into the reinvention of GM. Basically, the stream of tweets is little more than GM pushing out news about the sale of SAAB, poll results that the Chevrolet Corvette is the car people couldn't live without, etc. Essentially, nothing earth shattering, and nothing you couldn't find reported in one of many other objective outlets. Oh, and no attempts to engage with or comment on tweets posted by Twitter users. As I've said before, so much for a 'new' GM.
Which brings me to a message I received from GMreinvention yesterday in my Twitter mailbox: 'Please enjoy the following video, which explains what the new GM is going to be like.' Excited that I was going to see something of substance - an actual behind-the-scenes look at the new company - I clicked on the link thoughtfully included in the email, only to see the one-minute commercial the company has been running on TV since it declared bankruptcy.
That's right. Instead of a real video with substance and insight, a video that sets the stage for a series chronicling GM's evolution from larvae to butterfly, the company serves up a self-serving ad I've seen several times. An ad that is built around a lot of big promises, but no evidence, of change. I certainly didn't enjoy the ad when I encountered it previously. I enjoyed it less when it was presented to me as an explanation of the new GM. It was misleading and I feel burned. Thus, this post.
I really don't mean to keep harping on GM. I know they have some cash flow issues. I know that sort of thing can occupy your time. So much so that the decisions you make in other areas are, well, compromised. Decisions like how to use social media. So far, to judge by GM's efforts on Twitter, they just don't get it or its potential to connect with consumers. In other words, when it comes to being a new company, GM's approach is simple: Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. So choose to see all that sun in the commercial as a sign the company has seen the light. I think it symbolizes the fact that they're headed toward the light. Godspeed you, GM.
As you'll know from a previous post, I am following GMreinvention on twitter, which touts itself as my window into the reinvention of GM. Basically, the stream of tweets is little more than GM pushing out news about the sale of SAAB, poll results that the Chevrolet Corvette is the car people couldn't live without, etc. Essentially, nothing earth shattering, and nothing you couldn't find reported in one of many other objective outlets. Oh, and no attempts to engage with or comment on tweets posted by Twitter users. As I've said before, so much for a 'new' GM.
Which brings me to a message I received from GMreinvention yesterday in my Twitter mailbox: 'Please enjoy the following video, which explains what the new GM is going to be like.' Excited that I was going to see something of substance - an actual behind-the-scenes look at the new company - I clicked on the link thoughtfully included in the email, only to see the one-minute commercial the company has been running on TV since it declared bankruptcy.
That's right. Instead of a real video with substance and insight, a video that sets the stage for a series chronicling GM's evolution from larvae to butterfly, the company serves up a self-serving ad I've seen several times. An ad that is built around a lot of big promises, but no evidence, of change. I certainly didn't enjoy the ad when I encountered it previously. I enjoyed it less when it was presented to me as an explanation of the new GM. It was misleading and I feel burned. Thus, this post.
I really don't mean to keep harping on GM. I know they have some cash flow issues. I know that sort of thing can occupy your time. So much so that the decisions you make in other areas are, well, compromised. Decisions like how to use social media. So far, to judge by GM's efforts on Twitter, they just don't get it or its potential to connect with consumers. In other words, when it comes to being a new company, GM's approach is simple: Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. So choose to see all that sun in the commercial as a sign the company has seen the light. I think it symbolizes the fact that they're headed toward the light. Godspeed you, GM.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme GM
I've been wondering where GMs social media campaign is as it tries to reboot itself and its image in the eyes of consumers. Today, I get a notice on Twitter that GMintervention is following me (I'm @MrWordsWorth).
The stream, which started on June 4, is promoted as a window into the car company's reinvention. There are 40+ updates and they aren't terribly insightful. The company is basically pushing info that it must hope will drive people to GMs website for more details.
Not one of the 40+ updates is a response to or reflects an attempt to engage with users online. I know, it's only about a week and a half, but you'd think that GM would be using social media in, well, a social way.
Instead, it's like going to a party and running into someone who dominates the conversation with this and that of import to him, never stopping to consider that you might like to join in the conversation. He's too busy telling you what he's doing, he never takes a moment to listen to you to see how he can help you, or benefit from what you have to say. And if there were ever a time when GM needed engaged, supportive customers, it's now.
I'll be keeping an eye on the stream to see if GM reps do decide to actually turn their solipsistic chatter into a dialogue. But for now, GM, when it comes to social media, you're doing it wrong. A marketing expert needs to stage an intervention in this reinvention to actually prompt the company to be, you know, different.
The stream, which started on June 4, is promoted as a window into the car company's reinvention. There are 40+ updates and they aren't terribly insightful. The company is basically pushing info that it must hope will drive people to GMs website for more details.
Not one of the 40+ updates is a response to or reflects an attempt to engage with users online. I know, it's only about a week and a half, but you'd think that GM would be using social media in, well, a social way.
Instead, it's like going to a party and running into someone who dominates the conversation with this and that of import to him, never stopping to consider that you might like to join in the conversation. He's too busy telling you what he's doing, he never takes a moment to listen to you to see how he can help you, or benefit from what you have to say. And if there were ever a time when GM needed engaged, supportive customers, it's now.
I'll be keeping an eye on the stream to see if GM reps do decide to actually turn their solipsistic chatter into a dialogue. But for now, GM, when it comes to social media, you're doing it wrong. A marketing expert needs to stage an intervention in this reinvention to actually prompt the company to be, you know, different.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Additional thoughts on GM's bankruptcy ad
The GM bankruptcy ad, which I blogged about last week, continues to be a source of annoyance for me.
Sure, I've dismissed it as simplistic, obvious, uninspired. But there's something else that has been sticking in my craw. It's the fact that the ad is a very self-centered, unengaging piece of work. The company is talking about itself, to itself. It's all 'we'. There is no 'you.' In other words, it's business as usual, and this from a company that wants us to believe it has seen the proverbial light.
At the very least, GM could have taken a different approach to its self-promotion: it could have enlisted brand ambassadors. You know, the the consumers who have faithfully purchased GM for years and actually have something good to say about the company. It could have even solicited long-time employees, or happy GM dealer to sing its praises. Okay, the latter two are a bit far fetched. They would not be so easy to source, given recent circumstances, and their effectiveness is mitigated by the fact that there are likely many dealers and employees with an ax to grind. Anyway, you get the drift.
Here's why using faithful customers would have been the best approach. When you say something good about yourself, that's just self promotion. When someone else says it, that has some weight or credibility because it is an independent endorsement. So a happy GM consumer talking about why he or she has chosen and stuck by that brand is likely to be more influential than a slick GM ad with an anonymous voiceover talent singing the company's praises.
So, why not have GM consumer acolytes sing the company's praises in a commercial? Why not feature people talking about why they consistently purchase GM vehicles? Even better, why not have these customers speak to their reasons for remaining confident in and continuing to choose GM despite its dire straits? Such an approach would have provided the company with a novel way to acknowledge its status. Moreover, the sight of loyal customers pledging fealty to the company might have helped to rehabilitate the brand and boost the confidence or interest of undecided or negatively predisposed consumers.
GM could have rolled such an approach into a social media campaign, one where consumers go online, share their unsolicited brand experiences and enlisted friends and family to do the same. The company could have encouraged consumers to sign on as GM True Believers, create viral content and spread the word. But it apparently didn't. I haven't done the legwork, but the sources I read on a daily basis haven't reported on any much, if any, innovative social media initiatives being deployed in support of the bankruptcy ad.
Sure this is all off-the-cuff spit-balling, but I'd wager that a campaign built around brand ambassadors would have more relevance and more impact than the ad GM is currently running. And I maintain that unless GM does more to engage consumers, to converse with them, to be a different company than it has been, it will run out of gas.
Sure, I've dismissed it as simplistic, obvious, uninspired. But there's something else that has been sticking in my craw. It's the fact that the ad is a very self-centered, unengaging piece of work. The company is talking about itself, to itself. It's all 'we'. There is no 'you.' In other words, it's business as usual, and this from a company that wants us to believe it has seen the proverbial light.
At the very least, GM could have taken a different approach to its self-promotion: it could have enlisted brand ambassadors. You know, the the consumers who have faithfully purchased GM for years and actually have something good to say about the company. It could have even solicited long-time employees, or happy GM dealer to sing its praises. Okay, the latter two are a bit far fetched. They would not be so easy to source, given recent circumstances, and their effectiveness is mitigated by the fact that there are likely many dealers and employees with an ax to grind. Anyway, you get the drift.
Here's why using faithful customers would have been the best approach. When you say something good about yourself, that's just self promotion. When someone else says it, that has some weight or credibility because it is an independent endorsement. So a happy GM consumer talking about why he or she has chosen and stuck by that brand is likely to be more influential than a slick GM ad with an anonymous voiceover talent singing the company's praises.
So, why not have GM consumer acolytes sing the company's praises in a commercial? Why not feature people talking about why they consistently purchase GM vehicles? Even better, why not have these customers speak to their reasons for remaining confident in and continuing to choose GM despite its dire straits? Such an approach would have provided the company with a novel way to acknowledge its status. Moreover, the sight of loyal customers pledging fealty to the company might have helped to rehabilitate the brand and boost the confidence or interest of undecided or negatively predisposed consumers.
GM could have rolled such an approach into a social media campaign, one where consumers go online, share their unsolicited brand experiences and enlisted friends and family to do the same. The company could have encouraged consumers to sign on as GM True Believers, create viral content and spread the word. But it apparently didn't. I haven't done the legwork, but the sources I read on a daily basis haven't reported on any much, if any, innovative social media initiatives being deployed in support of the bankruptcy ad.
Sure this is all off-the-cuff spit-balling, but I'd wager that a campaign built around brand ambassadors would have more relevance and more impact than the ad GM is currently running. And I maintain that unless GM does more to engage consumers, to converse with them, to be a different company than it has been, it will run out of gas.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
GM sees the light
It’s a new day, and GM has seen the light. How so? Watch its new ad, released online in the wake of its bankruptcy filing, archived at Advertising Age.
See the sun? See how it drapes those glass edifices in its warm amber light? That’s how you know it’s a new day for the car manufacturer. Any more sunlight in those first fifteen seconds and the ad would be solar powered.
There are a lot of pledges that the company is stronger, faster, better. Enough that those of you my age and older might be reminded of the intro for the Six Million Dollar Man. Much like that fictional character, GM is rebuilding itself and has the technology to make it happen. Although the script takes great pains to emphasize that message, the details - the proof in the proverbial pudding - are lacking.
Certainly, the imagery is fairly standard, and somewhat trite. Most of the content serves to remind us of what GM has done in the past. Obviously, the company has a long legacy, and one it can’t - nor shouldn’t - ignore. Yet, if you are stressing the fact that it is a brand-new day for your company, you should probably rein in the nostalgia a bit more.
In between those images of GM vehicles carefully selected to boost confidence the company will survive - see how that truck stands up to that hefty payload - we get images of athletes. Again, nothing particularly new here. Athletes signify speed, performance, endurance, overcoming odds - all of which GM wants us to associate with its brand. Still, I couldn’t help notice the image of the hockey player face down on the ice as the voiceover artist talked about shortcomings in cost competitiveness. It was an ironic choice, given that hockey is something Detroit does well. Just look at the Stanley Cup finals this year, at least so far.
At the end, the voiceover artist says GM is focused on chapter one, a sly reference to Chapter 11. It’s meant to convey the company is starting over, but the images and script just don’t have that new car smell.
See the sun? See how it drapes those glass edifices in its warm amber light? That’s how you know it’s a new day for the car manufacturer. Any more sunlight in those first fifteen seconds and the ad would be solar powered.
There are a lot of pledges that the company is stronger, faster, better. Enough that those of you my age and older might be reminded of the intro for the Six Million Dollar Man. Much like that fictional character, GM is rebuilding itself and has the technology to make it happen. Although the script takes great pains to emphasize that message, the details - the proof in the proverbial pudding - are lacking.
Certainly, the imagery is fairly standard, and somewhat trite. Most of the content serves to remind us of what GM has done in the past. Obviously, the company has a long legacy, and one it can’t - nor shouldn’t - ignore. Yet, if you are stressing the fact that it is a brand-new day for your company, you should probably rein in the nostalgia a bit more.
In between those images of GM vehicles carefully selected to boost confidence the company will survive - see how that truck stands up to that hefty payload - we get images of athletes. Again, nothing particularly new here. Athletes signify speed, performance, endurance, overcoming odds - all of which GM wants us to associate with its brand. Still, I couldn’t help notice the image of the hockey player face down on the ice as the voiceover artist talked about shortcomings in cost competitiveness. It was an ironic choice, given that hockey is something Detroit does well. Just look at the Stanley Cup finals this year, at least so far.
At the end, the voiceover artist says GM is focused on chapter one, a sly reference to Chapter 11. It’s meant to convey the company is starting over, but the images and script just don’t have that new car smell.
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