GM dealers will need to bear heavy advertising burden
General Motors has slashed its advertising budget by 20% for 2009, according to Ed Peper, VP at Chevrolet. Still, there are at least two new products that are coming from Chevrolet this year, and both of them will need a big head start if they're going to make headway in this luke-warm market. After all, a botched or mistimed launch is something that could easily bring GM to its knees. For this reason, most of the available resources will be spent on the new 2009 Camaro and the upcoming Equinox, which sees a completely refreshed design for the new year. What of Chevy's other models? GM can't really afford successful products like the Malibu to fall out of the public eye. So Peper says the automaker will rely heavily on its local dealerships to continue an advertising blitz on the mid-size sedan along with the rest of the Bow Tie's product line.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
216 7:54AM (1/16/2009)
all GM needs to do is push the whole "Equinox with 30mpg" thing and they'll have a hit
Reply
BigWill 9:28AM (1/16/2009)
If my local dealers are an example, we'll be seeing Camaros with "40 MPG!!!!!" greasepainted all over the windshield.
Blackbird 8:14AM (1/16/2009)
Why spend ad money on the Camaro, it will sell itself. I can't recall seeing a Corvette ad on TV?
Reply
zamafir 9:53AM (1/16/2009)
I dont think the corvette and camaro are an issue, we're talking bread and butter models here, not halo cars.
Epyx 10:02AM (1/16/2009)
I dont think the Camaro is supposed to be a low volume car. I don't consider the Mustang a low volume seller and they both draw people to the showroom. Granted Mustangs and Camaro wont outsell Fusion and Malibu but they do intend to move lots of these IMO.
Mike 8:37AM (1/16/2009)
If the dealers need some ads....go see Cal!
If they've been cut back from Detroit...go see Cal!
Go see Cal, Go see Cal, Go see Cal!
Reply
the vegas style guy 11:49AM (1/16/2009)
I think that monkey must be dead by now. Since we own Wagoner can't we put him in the suit and send him out?
Dude 8:54AM (1/16/2009)
Let's be honest. Ads don't really sell cars anyway.
This is a smart move.
Reply
Johnny P 9:10AM (1/16/2009)
Saaaaved by zeeeerooo
Reply
Judy Zik 9:33AM (1/16/2009)
Personally I think the television ad is almost dead. Who watches commercials anyway. I think a fairly large portion of young and youngish adults like me watch little TV and what little we do is all on a PVR so that we don't have to watch ads. The only place I see live TV with ads is on my cellphone if I am stuck in a waiting room and even then half the time I go for the commercial free sat radio instead. We even fast forward shows like The Biggest Loser everytime they do one of those in show ads. I probably watch more You Tube than boob tube. But then I also have a web browser that blocks ads,sponsored links in google and pop ups. The advertising industry did it to themselves by making me sit through more and more stupid commercials.
Reply
geo.stewart 9:42AM (1/16/2009)
there is a lot more auto product placement in the TV shows now anyway. I think the automakers realize the impact of the DVR.
Watching the Mentalist last night (on my DVR), you can see the camera zoom in on the front end of the Traverse and Suburbans in the show. Not as subtle as other shows but not distracting from the show.
Chris 10:14AM (1/16/2009)
my roomate who sells TV ad space for a large national company that continues to increase the number of contracts they have probably would disagree with you, the reason... prime-time network programs are doing very well. the reality is we're just exposing ourselves to increasingly more coporate ads...
Shadow32 10:22AM (1/16/2009)
I agree with Judy Zik... and I'll add that I'm sick of being over commercialized! TV has definitely lost its luster. Entertainment is not what it used to be and I simply blame the commercials.
I'm confused... In this HUGE world of the internet, why do they need spend gazillions of dollars to advertise new products? Surely, creating a website about the new vehicle/product in addition to sending out a MEMO inviting AUTOBLOG personnel to try out / critique and post photos of their product would be more than adequate promotion to 'get the word out.'
Reply
TigerMil 10:29AM (1/16/2009)
Fine. I only wanted to do that cougar Kate Walsh anyway...the car, not so much.
Reply
JJKeds 12:18PM (1/16/2009)
thanks to a shipping error, i am now currently overstocked on wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men, and i am passing the savings on to you!!!
Reply
Jeff Parris 7:22PM (1/16/2009)
This is just so typical of how out of touch GM is. Quick aside: I worked for them for 13 years and since 1984 there has always been one in my driveway.
The dealers ads for GM products are among some of the worst. Do you really expect the local doofus car salesman in my area to put together a better ad campaign than GM can with what is available to them? Please folks....... Do you ever see a tv commercial for Mercedes Benz put together by your local dealership? If you do you can bet it's low key and classy without some guy in a clown suit with balloons and banners screaming, "Come on down! Come on down! Don't you leave before you see me!"........ which is exactly what your typical "car lot" commercial looks like.
GM, you're out of touch. I hate it for you. You have no appologies to make for how you've done business for years and the success you've enjoyed. But times have changed and you have really missed the boat. Do your own ad campaign. Only you can tastefully and accurately represent what you produce.
Reply
Nightcrawler 1:30PM (1/16/2009)
Are the dealers doing well enough to be able to afford taking over more of the advertising expenses? It seems likely that neither GM nor the dealers have any excess money, so the end result will be fewer ads.
Incidentally, everyone is assuming advertising means television commercials, but not necessarily so. It could be print, radio, internet, anything. With newspaper circulation dropping, the number of big newspaper ad will likely also decrease in favor of something more effective.
Currently, two of the local Kia dealers have full page ads in the paper every single day. That must be expensive. One of them is advertising brand new 2008 Optimas with PW, PL, CD, cruise, and tilt wheel for $12,888. That sounds pretty cheap to me.
Reply
JohnAngelo 8:04AM (1/17/2009)
TV ads are expensive, although they do work at establishing the brand image on a large scale. It is a big leap from watching the ad to buying the product, but you gotta start somewhere.
If you are watching TV, and a commercial comes on for a product you will never buy, you are probably watching the wrong show. How many tampon ads do you think will run during the NFL Conference Championships?
Advertising affects purchasing decisions, whether you want to admit it or not. Image is more important than features in the US…Lexus is an example.
And for the “techies” who believe user generated content on the web is more valuable than traditional advertising, why would you take the opinion of an anonymous jack-ass in making any buying decision? There seems to be no shortage of them on Autoblog, and I can’t imagine buying even a soda based on some of these postings….
Reply