Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, Convertibles, Sports/GTs
Mazda unapologetically Googley-eyed over Pontiac
Yesterday morning, Autoblog told you about Mazda's controversial competitive AdWords campaign, which has seen the Japanese automaker purchasing search terms like "Pontiac" and "Solstice" in order to do an end-around on General Motors' new Google-based p.r. initiative.
Since our story broke to the wider Web, it has spawned articles in everything from major dailies to countless tech websites. According to a USA Today article, GM marketing director Mark-Hans Richter proclaimed that the General finds it "flattering that they'd like to take the market-share leader for the last 18 years and compare it to a newcomer."
But who's (Zoom) zoomin' who? Mazda marketing veep Don Romano expressed little remorse at the flak his company's marketing tactics have been generating, adding that the company will continue bidding on brand name keywords and examining other "alternative modes of advertising."
Apparently the nascent roadster war has turned into a cyberbrawl, but for now the two parties are sparring with their gloves on-- at least in public.
[Source: USAToday via AZCentral.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mike G 9:07PM (1/31/2006)
I'd like to know how many Mazda Miatas sell each year, many more than the 20,000 or so Solstices that GM is limiting production to, I think.
So the Miata is still the volume roadster by far, not much of a rivalry here until GM allows more Solstices to be built - but will that ever happen? With GM CEO Rick Wagoner's knack for always making the wrong move at the right time, I doubt it.
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woodie 9:12PM (1/31/2006)
What do you expect from the poeple who brought us Pearl Harbor the first 9/11. Never forget 12/7/41
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Sam 9:32PM (1/31/2006)
Wow, woodie, are you crazy? Sorry but welcome to the 21st century. It's kinda sad you are comparing an American conrtolled Japanese automaker being ahead of the game in marketing to two events that actually had meaning. Spare us please.
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GM Lover 9:38PM (1/31/2006)
Actually Mazda sold around 9800 Miatas last year...their best year was the year it was introduced (1990) with abour 52,000...I think the only other year to come close to that was '91 with 38,000. The rest of the years were in the low 20's to high teens and sales have been declining since it's intro.
This makes Pontiac's sales goals pretty lofty in comparison...
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Mike G 10:10PM (1/31/2006)
In reply to GM Lover, I sort of see your point regarding declining Miata sales, but the fact that Pontiac has to try so hard with a new product just to compete with a car that's been on the market for 15 years is not a good sign...
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equiraptor 10:24PM (1/31/2006)
As of early 2005, Mazda had sold 700,000 Miatas/MX-5/whatever you want to call them. If you call that 16 years (production started in early 1989), that's over 45,000 Miatas per year. They certainly didn't sell that many Miatas every year, that's just an average.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Miata
http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=93307&x=articles&s=wheels
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JGN 10:26PM (1/31/2006)
The Solstice is a good product, not a great product. It is also a product that competes in a niche market. While it is a good product in a category that has many excellent products, it is not going to save GM overall. Especially with products like the G6 failing.
GM needs to make 'good' the standard and needs to start making great products in key areas.
The Canyon and its siblings are not worthy of the Tacoma and Frontier. Before the Tundra and Titan are perfected, GM needs to make their full size trucks even better than Fords. Ford is striving to make the F150 better than the Tundra and Titan.
GM still has its back against the wall. They have to stop the bleeding before they can claim that they are coming back.
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Craig 10:30PM (1/31/2006)
I don't know how you can knock Mazda for savvy marketing. Pontiac opened themselves up for fire once they affiliated themselves with a search engine.
If GM's advertising execs had planned this out, they would've bought out the keywords before Mazda had a shot, or they would've negotiated the keywords as part of their media buy.
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JGN 10:40PM (1/31/2006)
Let's look at this reasonably.
The Mazda is a better vehicle, in technical regards. Though it has been around a long time. The product is somewhat staid and the styling is boring.
The Solstice is a better looking product but does not beat the Mazda overall. In fact, in a lot of ways, it is just a better looking product.
Mazda has a lot of great looking products on the market right now, especially in areas where there is competition.
Within two or three years, it is not inconceivable that Mazda will revamp the image of the Miata and make it technically even more competitive.
Where is the Solstice going to be then?
More is needed from the Solstice. It needs to be at least as good on every level as the Mazda, and then some, since it is the new kid on the block.
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Jay 10:59PM (1/31/2006)
>but the fact that Pontiac has to try so hard with a
>new product just to compete with a car that's been on
>the market for 15 years is not a good sign...
Why is it not a good sign? If a car has been on the market for 15 years, that's usually because it's a good car. Any company trying to enter a market it hasn't been in before or never did well in against a long-entrenched well-known competitor is going to have struggles at first, whether it's Toyota or Nissan trying to break into the full-size truck market, or Ford and Chevy trying to rebuild their image against the Camry and Accord. So a struggle in the case of the Solstice is to be expected at first...it has to find its way.
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PJ 11:16PM (1/31/2006)
Hey Woodie (#2, which is appropriate): you're absolutely right, they're "the same people!" In fact, I heard that it was Mazda's chief designer that took out the U.S.S. Arizona!
Same reason I'll never buy a Jaguar... you know, Battle of Lexington and all.
(snort, laugh)
- P.J.
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Dave Newman 12:02AM (2/01/2006)
I could be wrong, but it looks like a lot of people are missing the point here. This isn't a vehicle comparison, this is dirty play with internet marketing and it's sad. Why doesn't Mazda spend money on their own marketing campaign instead of squatting on Pontiac's? Also, doesn't Google have safeguards in place to prevent people and companies from buying AdWords that contain trademarked names? Google better get its ad reviewers on the ball or GM will sic its attorneys.
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Veteran 12:42AM (2/01/2006)
WOODIE
The Germans and Japanese are stil the aggressive elitist they were back in the 40's. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. What they used to try and do with their guns, now they do with their money. Those who don't see it are blinded by the media that supports a globalization trend and tries erase/rewrite the past.
THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO ALL JAPANESE OR GERMANS.
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ronnie schreiber 2:47AM (2/01/2006)
I noticed this while editing Pontiac Solstice News and passed the information along to the Pontiac marketing folks while working the NAIAS in Detroit this year. The fact that Mazda is targeting Google advertising at potential Solstice buyers means that they are net savvy marketers but also that they recognize the Solstice as a strong contender in the two seat roadster niche.
While the stock Solstice may not be blazingly fast, it is quick and it a supple and nimble handling car. The GXP variant is certainly fast: 5.7 seconds to 60 mph.
Current production for the year on the Solstice is pretty much sold out. The Wilmington plant currently has a capacity of about 35,000 units. Initial plans called for 15,000 Solstices but that figure has been increased to 20,000. That's about the current ceiling on Solstice production because GM needs capacity for the sibling Saturn Sky and an as yet unannounced Opel two seater. On the other hand, when I asked a GM executive whether they could build the Solstice at another plant if they needed the capacity he smiled and said, "That plant currently has a lot of empty floor space." Let's face it, two seat roadsters will never sell the way family sedans and pickup truck do, but if the Solstice and Sky do well, GM can build more.
A couple notes on the Mazda. The company is indeed Japanese and headquatered in Hiroshima. The original Miata, however, was not designed in Japan but rather in Mazda's California design studio by Tom Matano, an American of Japanese ancestry. I had the opportunity to ask him how it felt to be the most successful sports car designer in history. He smiled and modestly said that he preferred the last RX-7 which he did, because it was a clean sheet design. The Miata was intended to be a modern take on the classic Lotus Elan. Matano teaches auto design at the Art Center College in San Francisco I think .
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Steve B. 5:58AM (2/01/2006)
"The Germans and Japanese are still the aggressive elitist they were back in the 40's." However thanks to wise investments and support from the United States, they have applied that energy to producing top notch products while staying in peaceful relations with, oh, basically EVERYONE! Chalk it up to the stunning success of the Marshall Plan there Veteran. I'm sure you've heard of that. Those who don't see it are blinded by the propoganda of the far right racists and nationalists.
THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO ALL CONSERVATIVES.
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Corey W. 6:13AM (2/01/2006)
#14 Ronnie, I agree...
Guys, stop comparing the cars, that's not the point of the article. It's about Marketing tactics, if GM had pulled this crap, they would get a negative response.
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Rael 6:19AM (2/01/2006)
How many paychecks do I need to save to buy one of these?
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Doogs 7:39AM (2/01/2006)
For the love of God, people, this is advertising. Comparing it to Pearl Harbor is an insult to everyone involved, particularly those whose lives were lost on Dec. 7, 1941.
Craig (#8) is right on this one. GM should have expected this and covered their bases.
Hell, if I were faced with a similar situation, of a competitor saying "Google us!", and making a big P.R. to-do about it, my intitial reaction would be to buy the Google AdWords, too.
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amp 9:09AM (2/01/2006)
This story reminds me of one I read in Wired last month. It was an article on click fraud, and how rivals of companies who advertised with Google were using it to drain their competitors marking budget and/or remove their AdSense ads.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.01/fraud.html
Although youd be hard-pressed to find anyone that can honestly say that these sort of tactics are ethical, the fact remains that this is still a problem with pay-per click advertising. I wonder what kinds of safe guards Mazda has taken to limit their risk. In the end it could end up costing them more than they first thought.
All in all, props for Mazda for using their creativity to steal some of the lime light.
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Jeff the Baptist 9:13AM (2/01/2006)
I agree that right now the Mazda is the technically superior product. As it is, the Miata is a technically superior jelly-bean. The solstice/sky are definitely better lookers.
The problem with the "the Miata is going to get even better" concept is that the Miata is a very mature product. I don't see it improving by leaps and bounds. They might give it a good facelift to compete in styling. Thats about it for a while.
The Solstice is still somewhat slipshod in comparison. It is no secret that they hurried the product to market. There is a lot of simple stuff they can do that will make a big difference in quality and performance. Just changing gear ratios, tuning the engine, and playing with the suspension a little could really improve performance. But the trunk will still suck. You can't fix that with this version of the Solstice.
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