GM is working hard to ensure that its newest automotive division, Saturn, is considered cool, hip and edgy. In this day and age, that means the interwebs, specifically a blog and social networking site. According to a post by Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak on GM's FastLane blog, www.ImSaturn.com will feature news about Saturn along with photos and videos you haven't seen anywhere else. Like other social networking sites, you can join in on the fun by starting or joining groups where people with like-interests gather together and talk. The first 400 members get a free t-shirt, but if you want one you'd better hurry 'cause there are already 300-plus members. What uber-hip marketing strategy would be complete without internet speak? Saturn's got that covered too. I M Saturn and U R 2!
[Source: I M Saturn]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dude @ Apr 17th 2008 4:55PM
OMG!
Steve Fox @ Apr 17th 2008 5:08PM
If I drove a Saturn, I would be wearing a paper bag over my head, not joining a social networking site.
Duders @ Apr 17th 2008 9:51PM
Dude don't even start. I've got a 97 SC1 and I love the thing to death. Not the fastest in the world but its a nice little reliable (chicks) car. Does that matter to me? Not really, girls love the thing. It gets about 37-40 mpg on the highway and low 30s city driving. It's a wonderful little car and the SOHC engine will last forever if you take care of it and pay attention.
BOB @ Apr 17th 2008 5:16PM
EITHER
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
OR
SAD SAD SAD SAD SAD
GM hasn't given up on thinking that its bunch of myopic thinkheaded geniuses know how to be hip, but they have spent billions on it -- and billions on Saturn which might have gone better into the other brands.
Remember when they used to write corny descriptions of imiataion European engine features on the deck lid of Cadillacs?
The original Saturns were something like 2nd rate copies of Birkenstock hippie sandals made in New Jersey. Now we have the Opels (with no personality) under the Saturn label, and we are supposed to think they are VWs, Volvos, or Scions.
GM does "musclecar(or truck) Chevy" and "glitzy Cadillac" well. Maybe they should notice that Elvis did not try to sing Joni Mitchell folk songs, but left that to someone who knew how.
BOB @ Apr 17th 2008 5:18PM
Steve -- if you drove a Saturn, you would not be reading this, because you would not be someone who liked cars.
(and i meant to write THICKheaded in my post)
Pete @ Apr 17th 2008 5:27PM
I think you guys are being too harsh on Saturn. Their latest products have all been winners with the press. Why all the hate?
UH2L @ Apr 17th 2008 5:38PM
All the hate is a byproduct of their low self-esteem. Saturns are nice cars, nicely designed and competitive in terms of price/content. I'm considering buying an Astra.
epp_b @ Apr 17th 2008 5:41PM
I guess "the press" is too dumb to realize that GM is just taking their European cars, scratching out "Vauxhall" and writing in "Saturn".
If you new the reputation and of Vauxhall, you'd understand "the hate".
BOB @ Apr 17th 2008 8:48PM
NO HATE FOR THE PRESENT CARS-- read better, please.
Just distaining GM's continuing attempt to copy marketing techniques from other vendors, trying to be cool. The first Saturns were valuable only for the buying experience (no haggling, etc.) Now that they have good cars to go with it, I am very glad.
However, the hip thing has to come from a genuine history (VW) and/or non-mainstream (Scion) character of the cars --- you can't apply it like paint, and you can't create it with words that don't fit.
Good marketing sells a REAL customer experience --- and I DO HATE SEEING GM BE COPYCATS RATHER THAN LEADERS.
Joshua @ Apr 17th 2008 6:30PM
Don't give Saturn too much credit for having their own social networking site - it's just ning.com. Anyone can do it...
SPG @ Apr 17th 2008 6:32PM
Good luck pushing Auras with this silliness.
I M laughing, UR2.
Razor1973 @ Apr 18th 2008 10:17AM
*LOL*
ImAlsoHostedOnASlowAssServer
RU?
Disgruntled Goat @ Apr 17th 2008 6:40PM
Gag me with a spoon.
lalaland @ Apr 18th 2008 2:38AM
I'm feeling a lot of pushback from the parking lot. We better stay in our swim lanes for now.
And if you don't read this and laugh ironically, there's a job for you at GM writing big checks to black-turtleneck-wearing dorks who make you feel like even more clueless than you already are.
JustJoe @ Apr 18th 2008 3:09AM
Consider this:
Some time ago, I sent virtually identical marketing ideas to Buick, GMC and Saturn regarding their then-upcoming Lambda platform CUVs. In all cases I availed myself of the comment areas of each brand's respective website.
The results:
- Buick responded with an automated error message (even after several tries). The comment never went through.
- GMC responded with a terse, unsigned e-mail to the effect that they weren't interested in consumer input.
- Saturn's e-mail response was effusive and had an actual name on it. They asked me to write back with an address where they could send me some stuff. I did, and not too long after I received a small box of Saturn swag. (Which I re-shipped to a friend who owns a Saturn.)
Now granted, I've owned nothing but GM vehicles so I'm probably a bit biased. I may be accustomed to the treatment I got from Buick and GMC (and yet am ever hopeful they'll evolve to a higher life form). But Saturn? If they treat total strangers the way they treated me, then I can only dream of how they treat their paying customers. That's why the Vue Hybrid is on my list (somewhere down the road).
Saturn's new social networking site is a natural for them. I wish their sister GM divisions would learn a thing or two.
terraFocus @ Apr 18th 2008 10:55AM
I bought a Saturn SL2 in '93, loved the car, but the paint kept peeling. They would send someone out with a touch-up bottle, and after 9 months I gave up and traded it for a Pathfinder. I really miss both vehicles now, but I wanted a white Saturn not a gray one.
I am glad they treated you nicely, they were always friendly to me, just not helpful.
Michael @ Apr 18th 2008 7:31PM
lolz
Tom O'Brien @ Jun 5th 2008 4:23PM
This is misguided. Saturn already has huge, vibrant brand communities - why not feed those??
More here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/685e3x
TO'B