AND THE OSCAR GOES TO....GM?

This year I will be doing a 2008 Oscar Ad Recap similar to my coverage of the  2008 Super Bowl Ad Recap by the brand. The Annual Academy Awards are one of the few remaining mass audience events for advertisers second only to the Super Bowl.  The Oscar ads are not as highly anticipated as the Super Bowl but they do get more red-carpet attention than ads throughout the rest of the year. The 2008 Super Bowl Ads cost an average $2.7 million for each 30-second spot for an estimated audience of 90 million plus.  The 2008 Oscar ads cost an average $1.8 million for each ad for an estimated audience of 40 million plus.  Will you be paying more attention to the Oscar Ads this year?  Who will be the biggest winners and losers?      

Before I do my Oscar Ad Recap I need to first confess that I love cars and trucks. My grandfather retired from Ford, my uncle worked for Chrysler and my dad used to restore American muscle cars as a hobby. I may have my roots in Michigan and with American autos but I have not been too brand loyal. Over the years I have owned Japanese brands including Honda, Subaru, Nissan, and Acura.  I have owned two German Volkswagens.  I have also owned Fords, Dodges, and GMC models.

I have never been motivated to buy a vehicle out of pity for the manufacturer. I do enjoy reliable cars and trucks that are well designed and fun to drive. I have paid close attention to auto design and marketing almost as long as I can remember. Therefore I am looking forward to seeing what General Motor Corporation will do with their Oscar ads during the show.  I felt that GM's :60 second "Why Push" spot featuring their Yukon Hybrid that ran during the Super Bowl was too abstract but I did like their Malibu campaign for the Grammies.  Several GM brands will be featured in ads during the show and green friendly GM vehicles will chauffeur celebrities to the red carpet.  Will GM's Oscar Ads step up and deliver on the promise of their recent design and quality honors or will their marketing dollars be squandered? 

In an interview in the New York Times in August I pointed out Chrysler's desperate need for new models and marketing and the overall failure of U.S. automakers to differentiate.  As a marketing expert and car lover I have been pleased to see GM gets its swagger back and giving consumers a reason to choose their brand.  GMC has been racking up the honors for the past two years:  The Chevrolet Malibu - 2008 North American Car of the Year  , The Cadillac CTS - 2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year  ,The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid - 2008 Green Car of the Year  The Saturn Aura - 2007 North American Car of the Year and the Chevrolet Silverado - 2007 North American Truck of the Year. 

I still feel that most of the recent advertising from Ford, Chrysler, and GM has failed to tell their story and suffers from apologetic, me-too marketing. Part of the declining market share is due to economic factors and increased global competition from Japanese, Korean and soon Chinese auto manufacturers. However, much of the decline is also due to failed marketing.

Most U.S. auto marketing has been spent trying to convince consumers that U.S. cars are as good as the Japanese or German auto brands.  I was pleased to see the Chevy Malibu ad campaign during the Grammies stand on its own. Many of the foreign success stories and market share increases are based on models that cost the same as the U.S. equivalent models so the purchase decision is not entirely an economic one. 

As Toyota and Honda and other new Asian manufacturers gain market share GM and other U.S. auto brands will not be able to rebuild all of the lost market share.  However, I believe that U.S. Auto marketing needs to reflect the confidence of market leaders, not followers, to maintain and potentially grow their current positions. 

If U.S. autos are equal or better quality than foreign brands what do you think automakers need to do with their integrated marketing communications to help change the mind of consumers who are still buying foreign brands without seeming desperate? 

I look 4WARD to your feedback.

Keep Digging For Worms! 

Comments

[Yvonne DiVita]

Automakers, schmautomakers... damned if I care. I only buy the car to get where I need to go. If you ask me what kind of car I drive, I'll tell you a gold one. In this, I think I'm split 50-50 with other women.

Now, back to the Oscars. JCPenney got my attention. THIS is an event women are paying attention to with an eye on all things girly: clothes, shoes, make-up, family issues (who was pregnant and who's dating whom?), kids, pets, etc. With more women on the net these days, and more women opening new businesses, and more women... you get the drift... THIS event was where advertisers should have put their money.

The car commercial where the sketchy guy is pushing a big rock uphill... not effective. The new mastercard commercial... not effective. (I remember there was one, can't recall it, though).

JCPenney kicked butt by doing the whole people, family, events, kids thing. IMHO