GM launches UsedCarAmbush.com to pump CPOVs
Used car sales as a profession has a rather sullied reputation. Some establishments deserve the distaste, while others work hard to take care of customers and stock their lots with good merchandise. Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are often a good bet, because they're automaker-sanctioned and undergo an extensive checklist before hitting the lot. GM is making a frontal assault on non-CPO used cars by launching UsedCarAmbush.com, expending lots of hidden camera effort and Mission: Impossible trappings to put home the point that GM's Certified Used vehicles come with a multitude of benefits.
Unfortunately, it's an epic fail, mainly because private sellers were targeted instead of shady operators. Who ever heard of a private sale offering financing, roadside assistance, or warranty? Does GM (or its agency, Mullen) really think that the guy with 8 cars on his front lawn is their sales arm's competition? It's a case of a very slick website, lots of time and money invested, but totally wrong aim. If a fuzzy-haired guy in a ratty sportcoat starts asking you about financing on that Aztek you've always regretted, punch him. That would be more compelling video than what they've got now, which is basically just private sellers getting confused with this dude's out of place questions. Press release after the jump.
[Source: GM]
GM's New Interactive Site Goes "Undercover" to Educate Consumers
Ambush Video Reveals Risks of Purchasing Used Vehicles Without Manufacturer Certification
DETROIT – What would happen if you turned more than 20 undercover film and surveillance professionals with eight cameras loose to show the potential drawbacks of buying a used vehicle that is not manufacturer certified? That's what GM's Certified Used Vehicles team did and the results were not at all surprising.
GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling manufacturer-certified pre-owned brand*, today launched www.usedcarambush.com, an interactive web site developed to educate and entertain consumers by depicting the risks associated with purchasing a vehicle from a private seller. In contrast, the site also informs consumers in an engaging manner about the guarantees and peace of mind assurances that shoppers receive when purchasing a manufacturer certified used vehicle.
"There's great confusion among consumers about what constitutes a certified used vehicle," said Mark Mathews, director, GM Used-Vehicle Activities. "Manufacturer certified vehicles offer new-vehicle-like benefits and financing options where others do not; private sellers being the most risky option."
The GM Certified Used Vehicle's manufacturer-certified program offers such assurances as:
- 5-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty
- 3-Month/3,000-Mile New Vehicle Warranty Extension
- 24/7 Roadside Assistance & Courtesy Transportation
- CARFAX Vehicle History Report
- 3-Day/150-Mile "No Questions Asked" Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
- GMAC New Car-like Financing
- Extensive 117-point inspection by factory-trained technicians
These assurances are not offered through dealer-certified programs, independent used-vehicle dealers or private parties as illustrated in the video vignettes.
The GM Certified Used Vehicles Ambush site displays surveillance style footage of the ambushes as they happen. Actual used vehicle sellers are intercepted by an MTV-Punk'd-styled actor who asks the questions that private party used-vehicle sellers often don't want to hear and interjects humor with off-the-wall requests. During one "Ambush," the actor brings out a big red house phone and asks if he can install it in the seller's home to call for roadside assistance any time, day or night.
All Ambush participants were fully informed of the intended use of the footage and were compensated for their time.
GM Certified Used Vehicle's agency, Mullen, worked closely with the GM team to conceptualize, develop and produce the video vignettes and web site. Mullen manages the account from its offices in Detroit and Wenham, MA.
"Using the hidden cameras, we were able to film our buyer attempting, in fairly bizarre fashion, to get things like financing and courtesy transportation from a private seller," said Mullen group creative director and copywriter Jim Hagar.
"We even bought one of the cars and then tried to return it a few days later with a three-day, 150-mile guarantee, claiming the seller's girlfriend was not impressed by the vehicle," said Hagar. "The goal was to do something really different and breakthrough for the category, and I'd say this is pretty different."
More than 400 hours of video footage was shot over a four-day period during March, 2008 in the Las Vegas area, with almost 20 people being "Ambushed." The Used Car Ambush site will launch with six vignettes that are arranged in an interactive way to replicate the perspective from inside a surveillance van, providing the user with the ability to control the camera motion and move between scenes. Additional vignettes will be released throughout the remainder of the year.
"The site is designed to be fun and entertaining," said Larry Pryg, national advertising and marketing manager, GM Certified Used Vehicles. "More importantly, it will engage consumers and make them well-informed shoppers. "
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TwinTurboVR4 9:12AM (7/26/2008)
yea, that is pretty rediculous. kind of makes you think that they're insulting consumer intellegence a little...
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Mi key 9:17AM (7/26/2008)
I can't believe somebody got paid for this Epic Failure.
Great Job GM! Get those private seller that eat into your profit margins. That'll teach'm to miss with the GEN.
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tankd0g 9:21AM (7/26/2008)
What's with all the "static" in the video. Are we to believe this takes place in a post nuclear winter future or that GM uses old recycled tapes?
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Brendan 9:51AM (7/26/2008)
LOL-FAIL
pretty slick site though
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Atomicbri 9:54AM (7/26/2008)
Wow what a dud! That was awful. I mean if they went to the seedy "Buy Here, Pay Here" places that lie to customers and put them in substandard cars that break down 3 weeks after purchase and have like 300% interest then it would have been at least a little more interesting. To go to private sellers... I mean come on.... does GM think we as consumers are so stupid that we don't know when we buy from a private seller we won't get these things? DUH!
That was money wasted. I want to know which ad agency fed them this kind of bull and GM bought it! I want to offer GM my advertising services! Maybe I should go bid on a job if they fall for crap like this, because mine would be a million times better and I would charge them less!
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tankd0g 10:12AM (7/26/2008)
Who knows, maybe the plan was to go after such places, and then GMs legal team said, "You mean dealerships, the kind that have lawyers?". And that was the end of that.
psipwrd 10:30AM (7/26/2008)
The site's well put together but the footage is just stupid. I barely made it through the first one. He "assumed" and you know what that means...
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BobinCobb 10:42AM (7/26/2008)
What a load of carp, GM thinks private sellers are a threat? No wonder that they are going under.
I traveled on business for forty years, I used rental cars as "auditions" on cars I might buy. While owning 16-18 cars, no GM or Chrysler car ever made the "buy" list. A Mini, a Mustang 2+2, a Probe, a Ford Wagon and a Volvo were hits and well worth having.
I can't believe GM would waste money to produce junk like this video. I bet they can't wait for a Congressional bailout.
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John 11:13AM (7/26/2008)
W...T...F?! Ummm, yeah, you buy private, its as is. There are extreme exceptions, but 99.99% of the time, you buy it off of Bob down the street, once you hand the cash over, its all yours. GM/Mullen, pull your heads out of your sitting appliance and realize that private sellers are never going to be competition, nor are they ever going to tarnish your "name". You seem to be doing well enough at that yourselves.
How about next time, go after the little corner lots that have 10 cars, all salvage titled and 9 out of 10 won't even pass a visual inspection by a mechanic. Those guys don't have any money, screw thousands over, and are genuinely dangerous to the consumer.
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rogan 11:36AM (7/26/2008)
Hrmmm.... why don't those cars come with a warranty, etc... Because they are THOUSANDS cheaper! Yes, it's more of a gamble, but having some guy walk around and pretend he brought private party cars that were GM certified is not making me want to buy a certified car at all.
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AcuraMan 11:49AM (7/26/2008)
What a way to treat people who bought a GM product. I am absolutley stunned. Shame on GM. This is sad.
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:15PM (7/26/2008)
The website seems to put a sun logo next to the URL in my browser. They spent a lot of time setting it up and forgot to change that?
As to the rest of it, the pile of hate is amazing here. Apparently a bad web campaign makes the difference between a government bailout and being #1. Sheesh. It's a freaking ad campaign! You think the content is unconvincing? Car companies air ads every day showing cars on Hot Wheels tracks. Dodge airs ones stating their cars are so hot they might explode. Yes, none of this is true!
Advertising left the art of making a convincing, truthful argument behind a long time ago. They never sell the steak, they rarely even sell the sizzle anymore. GM isn't trying to be 60 Minutes here, they aren't doing an expose, they're trying to show the merits of their product and win customers. Perhaps they think it's easier to win customers from the base of people who currently are considering private-party used than those who would buy used from other used car lots (many of which DO ofter inspections and warranties).
It is possible to get too excited about things like this, start with Dan Roth himself. Hauling out the tired 4chan memes to set up and rip down an ad campaign?
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XJ 1:53PM (7/26/2008)
No, it's that bad. It's a really bad ad campaign. We get the message they're trying to send us -- pay extra for some peace of mind because it's worth it. It's just done in a very bad, tasteless way.
People buy and sell via private party because it cuts out the middle man and typically both parties save/make more money. And GM takes offense to that, and starts an ad attack ("ambush") on its own customers? It makes us believe that GM is NOT looking out for us little guys but their dealers instead.
why not the LS2LS7? 2:22PM (7/26/2008)
The ambush in the ads is on the private-party sellers, not the buyers.
The ad presents reasons to buy from a reputable dealer instead of a private party. This makes sense if you want to drive sales to your reputable dealers. You don't want this stuff, you'd rather take a risk? That's great, do it. In these times of tighter economics, perhaps there will be people entering the used car market for the first time. They'd like to show these people that they can get new-car like peace of mind (hmm..) by buying from the dealer lots instead of going straight to the private party market.
Is that doing a public service? Probably not. Does that matter? No.
Do you see Honda ads saying "many of our cars are so reliable you probably don't even need a warranty in the first 100,000 miles, so you can probably get a hell of a deal through a private party sale"? I sure don't.
Is it telling the whole story about how you can save money buying private party? No. That's not their goal. Their goal is to convince people that you've already ruled out buying new, then buying certified pre-owned your best option.
If this ad makes people question sellers or question themselves, then it's doing its job.
As to GM "taking offense" to private party sales; GM makes no money off private party sales. So I'm reasonably sure that GM, like all other car companies, would prefer to replace as many private party car sales with certified pre-owned sales as possible.
3cubed (4squared plus 2squared) 8:26PM (7/26/2008)
Its probably the AOL cuts that are making them a little bit bitter. I hope no one from Autoblog loses their job.
XJ 12:09AM (7/28/2008)
I see from your reply you obviously don't get what we're saying. Excatly who are the private party sellers? People like you, me or your neighbor, right? How do you get to be a GM private party seller? You have to be a CURRENT GM CUSTOMER. Each of the people getting "ambushed" represents the thousands or millions of GM customers who would like to sell their car for more than a trade in value. This does a diservice to people like them and it's pretty insulting. Does GM really need to be treating their own customers like that when it's hard enough for them to get repeat buyers through the door? Again, GM really didn't think this through.
Martin 12:16PM (7/26/2008)
Its sad when you have GM driving down the prices of thier own used cars on the market.
Neat website but just sad.
They nead to fire whoever is head of hiring ad agencys, instead of regular blue color workers.
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Wildgoosechase73 12:37PM (7/26/2008)
Of course the add will show private sales. GM is not going to risk damaging the relationship with dealers selling their cars.
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Lx 1:22PM (7/26/2008)
GM has so many brands and sorts that I wonder why they never thought to attempt a chain brand for certified used GMs. We don't have AutoNation USA out here on the east coast (unless I'm really not paying attention), but this shop and CarMax would have been among my first stops. As America recovers from her big-motor bender, it would be good to have decent certified used cars until the company is ready to offer several smaller new ones.
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why not the LS2LS7? 3:31PM (7/26/2008)
Until about 4 years ago, with the exception of the EV1, GM never put any indication on GM cars that they were GM cars, instead emphasizing their separate brands.
Perhaps now, with their new emphasis, the time has come for your idea.