My suggestions to GM on how the new Camaro should be advertised.
04-01-2008, 07:09 PM
#1
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My suggestions to GM on how the new Camaro should be advertised.
I wrote this on another board in response to some marketing/advertising suggestions I thought were stupid. I've edited it to make a little more sense as a topic starter.
Read it all before responding. You have to "get into it" to understand where I'm coming from... I'm not a writer, so please ignore its structure and worry about its content.
The advertising for the new Camaro needs to be different from the past, and GM needs to take advantage of having a brand new Camaro and make a brand new start to prevent product and advertising failure. The advertising for this car needs to get new people who aren't already gung-ho about it coming out, to go online to chevy.com or go to a dealership and get more information. GM doesn't need to focus on the Mustang market. Focus on the bigger picture! See how many other car companies you can steal customers from with your superior product! Heck, even if the product isn't superior, give it inherent value so people think it is!
GM needs to do certain things right, because this is their only shot. It's the product intro, and as everybody knows, first impressions last a lifetime. The following are my suggestions to GM, and I wrote it as if I was talking to GM.
Your advertising for your products in the past, and even currently isn't as effective as it could be. There's only so much "more standard towing capacity" BS the buying public can stand to hear out of automakers. The Camaro is NOT a car without appeal that you have to advertise the features of in order to get buyers. You should be advertising the BENEFIT of owning a Camaro, and you SHOULD have done this with the 4th generation Camaros back in the 90s. The 4th generation Camaro commercials were awful, and you know this. “The Camaro’s as American as Rock N’ Roll”… well whoop-tee-doo... fat lot of good that is!
“Stop singing Jimi Hendrix! Let’s hear what this car sounds like!”
Don’t try to be hip and put a bunch of 2008 stereotypical “hip” looking people in it like many automakers are doing now. You know darn good and well that most of us are driving alone with the radio off listening to the exhaust burble as we drive 30 mph from stop sign to stop sign.
Don’t pay some guy to research for hours the perfect song to “hit the demographic.” Don’t use any music at all! Just tell it how it is!
Make it speak to that guy inside all of us who feels more confident after every drive in his Camaro; the guy who walks into the office everyday with a smile on his face and the confidence to do a good job, the guy who has the confidence to pick up his date after work in the same car he drives to work in because it’s NOT a bland, generic Toyota. Let people know the Camaro can be your everyday car. It’s not just some uncomfortable sports car that is designed to steal the Mustang’s business.
Don’t say it’s like a baby Corvette. It’s the car that you can use everyday because it’s NOT a Corvette. You can drive it fast, you can drive it to the grocery store, you can pick up the kids/your friends, and you can drive it to your business meeting and not be embarrassed of what you drive. Your target market isn’t the “drag racer,” the “college graduate, homeowner, in his mid to late 30s,” or the “sports fan who likes to get his hands dirty.” Your target market is the “guy who doesn’t have to make excuses.” His car’s reliable, it holds 4 people if it has to, it gets better gas mileage than just about any other V8 car in the world, and he can drive it anywhere and everywhere he needs to go. He doesn’t have to own a commuter car, a race car, and a family hauler. He has all he needs right here.
DO NOT screw up and do a wordless commercial where all you do is show off the power of the car like you did with the GTO. As cool as that burnout smoke commercial was, it’s the wrong approach. A lot of people online have been egging you on to do some BS commercials like this. A lot of them kids, but even more of them are the "used 4th gen market" who bought their 4th gens solely for play things. These are not necessarily your target market, because many of these guys are going to wait to buy one used that was "woman driven only on bright sunny days" (as if!).
The main problem with most automotive advertising is that the ad agencies just can’t pick a strong selling point that is a BIG IDEA. Remember the current Eclipse? When it was new, they advertised the 600 watt stereo in a lot of their ads. Ok. Neat. 600 watts. It’s a boombox car, I get it. If that’s what I want, I’ll buy the car, now please, don’t ever tell me about that again, because I’m not an idiot and understood you the first time.
I’m worried GM will do this to death with the Camaro. They’ll do a “more horsepower than any other car in its class” commercial and we’ll all vomit after awhile. Then they’ll do a history commercial with the new Camaro leading the pack of ’69 wolves; or even worse, one where the ghost of ‘69 separates from the 5th gen and they go their separate ways. Or maybe they'll start this whole awful advertising campaign off with one about how “it’s back!” Which is completely unnecessary and doesn’t make people who aren’t already gaga about the car buy the car. That type of commercial has only two results. 1) The people who were already sold on the idea of buying one place their orders, and 2) these people will gripe about their order taking so long. You won't get any new buyers at all. Half of the people you want buying the new Camaro don't even know you stopped making them!
You reinvented the car, now reinvent the way you get people interested in it. People who buy cars care about how the car is going to benefit them. Not that it’s “back,” a historic name, or that is has “more horsepower than any other car in its class” or any of that garbage that people can read in the brochure. The purpose of the commercial is to get people interested and ultimately in the dealerships to pick up that brochure and then purchase the car. The people want it to be everything they need, and the Camaro IS everything they need. So stop advertising numbers and awards as the plot of your advertisements and start getting people asking questions. Make them want to see what the big deal is and succeed in getting them on your websites and in your dealerships. Volkswagen and Mini were both successful in doing this; without doing a “see how this commercial ends on www.____.com/thissucks” like some automaker I can’t remember did in the past. The buying public overall doesn't care how the Camaro smokes tires. They want to be told what the Camaro can do for them the other 99% of the time they aren’t doing burnouts.
Your competitor isn’t the Mustang. The Mustang is garbage. It’s a car for people who want what all their buddies have: garbage. Take this viewpoint and keep it in your mind.
Your competition all depends on how you position yourself. If you say the Camaro is like the Mustang, then that’s what it is. You’ve now limited yourself to a 50/50 chance that somebody will choose your car over a Mustang.
If you say the Mustang’s inferior and the Camaro is a fighter for territory the G35 has, for example, then that’s what it is. The enthusiasts who already know the history of the Camaro and Mustang will still know that battle rages on from magazine comparisons. But what you want to do is make up more ground with these new people who are potential customers. You want them to say “hey honey, check this out, this Camaro comes with everything I wanted in the G35, but is a better looking package and so much more!”
I haven’t been following the engine discussions, but last I heard, the Camaro would be coming with a V6, midlevel V8, and upperlevel V8.
The midlevel $30k V8 Camaro’s competitors include cheaper BMWs like the new 1 series coming out soon, Infiniti G35, Challenger, Mazda RX-8, Nissan 350Z (to an extent despite it being a 2-seater), Nissan Skyline, and even some of the Lexus sedans. Dare I say some of the Cadillac market? Could the upperlevel V8 Camaro be positioned as a poor man’s Cadillac? I think so, even though the CTS starts at $32K. Give it a magnetic ride suspension as an option and something cool like launch control (a system that takes the guess work out of launching the car for a 0-60 blast for people who don’t have drag racing experience) and fight into new territory in the $40 to $50k range. Show some of the other manufacturers that you think your product is better than their luxury product.
The V6 Camaro probably competes price-wise with the Mustang, that ugly RWD Hyundai that’s coming out, and a bunch of other cars that shouldn’t be in it’s class like the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Lancer Evo, etc. Position it as the car that is so good, it’s almost above its class. I.e. My base model, no options, V6 Camaro is better than your top of the line, fully optioned ______.
GM/Chevy, you’re making a good Camaro, so sell it as a good product! Your advertising/marketing has never compared to just how good your product is, and that’s part of the reason the 4th generation Camaro failed. You chose to put it up against the Mustang. Why didn’t you open up the market and say it was better than this, this, and this? There were a LOT of people who just simply didn’t know they could have a Camaro for the price of their Toyota Camry, and they just bought the Toyota because they heard it was good and went with it.
Don’t sell yourself short by telling the buying public 1) what they already know and have already thought of, 2) what they could learn if you just managed to get them into your dealerships or on your website, or 3) that your Camaro is just some car that guys want to waste their money on and hotrod (that’s your USED, off-warranty Camaro market). It’s so much more than that. Again, your target market is the “guy who doesn’t have to make excuses.” Remember that.
Thanks.
Read it all before responding. You have to "get into it" to understand where I'm coming from... I'm not a writer, so please ignore its structure and worry about its content.
The advertising for the new Camaro needs to be different from the past, and GM needs to take advantage of having a brand new Camaro and make a brand new start to prevent product and advertising failure. The advertising for this car needs to get new people who aren't already gung-ho about it coming out, to go online to chevy.com or go to a dealership and get more information. GM doesn't need to focus on the Mustang market. Focus on the bigger picture! See how many other car companies you can steal customers from with your superior product! Heck, even if the product isn't superior, give it inherent value so people think it is!
GM needs to do certain things right, because this is their only shot. It's the product intro, and as everybody knows, first impressions last a lifetime. The following are my suggestions to GM, and I wrote it as if I was talking to GM.
Your advertising for your products in the past, and even currently isn't as effective as it could be. There's only so much "more standard towing capacity" BS the buying public can stand to hear out of automakers. The Camaro is NOT a car without appeal that you have to advertise the features of in order to get buyers. You should be advertising the BENEFIT of owning a Camaro, and you SHOULD have done this with the 4th generation Camaros back in the 90s. The 4th generation Camaro commercials were awful, and you know this. “The Camaro’s as American as Rock N’ Roll”… well whoop-tee-doo... fat lot of good that is!
“Stop singing Jimi Hendrix! Let’s hear what this car sounds like!”
Don’t try to be hip and put a bunch of 2008 stereotypical “hip” looking people in it like many automakers are doing now. You know darn good and well that most of us are driving alone with the radio off listening to the exhaust burble as we drive 30 mph from stop sign to stop sign.
Don’t pay some guy to research for hours the perfect song to “hit the demographic.” Don’t use any music at all! Just tell it how it is!
Make it speak to that guy inside all of us who feels more confident after every drive in his Camaro; the guy who walks into the office everyday with a smile on his face and the confidence to do a good job, the guy who has the confidence to pick up his date after work in the same car he drives to work in because it’s NOT a bland, generic Toyota. Let people know the Camaro can be your everyday car. It’s not just some uncomfortable sports car that is designed to steal the Mustang’s business.
Don’t say it’s like a baby Corvette. It’s the car that you can use everyday because it’s NOT a Corvette. You can drive it fast, you can drive it to the grocery store, you can pick up the kids/your friends, and you can drive it to your business meeting and not be embarrassed of what you drive. Your target market isn’t the “drag racer,” the “college graduate, homeowner, in his mid to late 30s,” or the “sports fan who likes to get his hands dirty.” Your target market is the “guy who doesn’t have to make excuses.” His car’s reliable, it holds 4 people if it has to, it gets better gas mileage than just about any other V8 car in the world, and he can drive it anywhere and everywhere he needs to go. He doesn’t have to own a commuter car, a race car, and a family hauler. He has all he needs right here.
DO NOT screw up and do a wordless commercial where all you do is show off the power of the car like you did with the GTO. As cool as that burnout smoke commercial was, it’s the wrong approach. A lot of people online have been egging you on to do some BS commercials like this. A lot of them kids, but even more of them are the "used 4th gen market" who bought their 4th gens solely for play things. These are not necessarily your target market, because many of these guys are going to wait to buy one used that was "woman driven only on bright sunny days" (as if!).
The main problem with most automotive advertising is that the ad agencies just can’t pick a strong selling point that is a BIG IDEA. Remember the current Eclipse? When it was new, they advertised the 600 watt stereo in a lot of their ads. Ok. Neat. 600 watts. It’s a boombox car, I get it. If that’s what I want, I’ll buy the car, now please, don’t ever tell me about that again, because I’m not an idiot and understood you the first time.
I’m worried GM will do this to death with the Camaro. They’ll do a “more horsepower than any other car in its class” commercial and we’ll all vomit after awhile. Then they’ll do a history commercial with the new Camaro leading the pack of ’69 wolves; or even worse, one where the ghost of ‘69 separates from the 5th gen and they go their separate ways. Or maybe they'll start this whole awful advertising campaign off with one about how “it’s back!” Which is completely unnecessary and doesn’t make people who aren’t already gaga about the car buy the car. That type of commercial has only two results. 1) The people who were already sold on the idea of buying one place their orders, and 2) these people will gripe about their order taking so long. You won't get any new buyers at all. Half of the people you want buying the new Camaro don't even know you stopped making them!
You reinvented the car, now reinvent the way you get people interested in it. People who buy cars care about how the car is going to benefit them. Not that it’s “back,” a historic name, or that is has “more horsepower than any other car in its class” or any of that garbage that people can read in the brochure. The purpose of the commercial is to get people interested and ultimately in the dealerships to pick up that brochure and then purchase the car. The people want it to be everything they need, and the Camaro IS everything they need. So stop advertising numbers and awards as the plot of your advertisements and start getting people asking questions. Make them want to see what the big deal is and succeed in getting them on your websites and in your dealerships. Volkswagen and Mini were both successful in doing this; without doing a “see how this commercial ends on www.____.com/thissucks” like some automaker I can’t remember did in the past. The buying public overall doesn't care how the Camaro smokes tires. They want to be told what the Camaro can do for them the other 99% of the time they aren’t doing burnouts.
Your competitor isn’t the Mustang. The Mustang is garbage. It’s a car for people who want what all their buddies have: garbage. Take this viewpoint and keep it in your mind.
Your competition all depends on how you position yourself. If you say the Camaro is like the Mustang, then that’s what it is. You’ve now limited yourself to a 50/50 chance that somebody will choose your car over a Mustang.
If you say the Mustang’s inferior and the Camaro is a fighter for territory the G35 has, for example, then that’s what it is. The enthusiasts who already know the history of the Camaro and Mustang will still know that battle rages on from magazine comparisons. But what you want to do is make up more ground with these new people who are potential customers. You want them to say “hey honey, check this out, this Camaro comes with everything I wanted in the G35, but is a better looking package and so much more!”
I haven’t been following the engine discussions, but last I heard, the Camaro would be coming with a V6, midlevel V8, and upperlevel V8.
The midlevel $30k V8 Camaro’s competitors include cheaper BMWs like the new 1 series coming out soon, Infiniti G35, Challenger, Mazda RX-8, Nissan 350Z (to an extent despite it being a 2-seater), Nissan Skyline, and even some of the Lexus sedans. Dare I say some of the Cadillac market? Could the upperlevel V8 Camaro be positioned as a poor man’s Cadillac? I think so, even though the CTS starts at $32K. Give it a magnetic ride suspension as an option and something cool like launch control (a system that takes the guess work out of launching the car for a 0-60 blast for people who don’t have drag racing experience) and fight into new territory in the $40 to $50k range. Show some of the other manufacturers that you think your product is better than their luxury product.
The V6 Camaro probably competes price-wise with the Mustang, that ugly RWD Hyundai that’s coming out, and a bunch of other cars that shouldn’t be in it’s class like the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Lancer Evo, etc. Position it as the car that is so good, it’s almost above its class. I.e. My base model, no options, V6 Camaro is better than your top of the line, fully optioned ______.
GM/Chevy, you’re making a good Camaro, so sell it as a good product! Your advertising/marketing has never compared to just how good your product is, and that’s part of the reason the 4th generation Camaro failed. You chose to put it up against the Mustang. Why didn’t you open up the market and say it was better than this, this, and this? There were a LOT of people who just simply didn’t know they could have a Camaro for the price of their Toyota Camry, and they just bought the Toyota because they heard it was good and went with it.
Don’t sell yourself short by telling the buying public 1) what they already know and have already thought of, 2) what they could learn if you just managed to get them into your dealerships or on your website, or 3) that your Camaro is just some car that guys want to waste their money on and hotrod (that’s your USED, off-warranty Camaro market). It’s so much more than that. Again, your target market is the “guy who doesn’t have to make excuses.” Remember that.
Thanks.
04-02-2008, 05:58 AM
#2
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 515
Look for most advertising to center on the V6 and fuel economy.
Why spend mony on the V8 as they will sell themselves.
Also look for features like Bluetooth, On Star and MP3 ports to be promoted with people under 30 in mind.
Other features like 5 Star crash ratings, and features that make this a practical car will also be expected. These features will be promoted to capture the Female buyers so prized this time around.
This is a car that needs to appeal to everyone this time as a car that is practical but sporty. The 4 seater Vette concept limits the buyers.
Why spend mony on the V8 as they will sell themselves.
Also look for features like Bluetooth, On Star and MP3 ports to be promoted with people under 30 in mind.
Other features like 5 Star crash ratings, and features that make this a practical car will also be expected. These features will be promoted to capture the Female buyers so prized this time around.
This is a car that needs to appeal to everyone this time as a car that is practical but sporty. The 4 seater Vette concept limits the buyers.
04-02-2008, 01:39 PM
#3
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Join Date: May 2002
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I understand what you're saying hyperv6, but in my opinion, that's what we expect them to do. Which, to be blunt, is make crappy commercials like the majority of automakers have been making for decades.
Sell people on the benefits of owning a Camaro, not the features. This is a quick and dirty example of what I'm saying:
Show some guy hopping in his Camaro to go to work, and plugging his ipod in. Then show him hopping in his Camaro after work to meet his date and show him talking to her via bluetooth. Then show him driving up to pick her up and her saying "This is your car?! It must cost a fortune to drive it" and he remarks, "nope, it gets 32 mpg on the highway" and the commercial ends. Or does it? Hell, have the guy get in a wreck at the end unexpectedly and show how the airbags protected him and his date, and how the car didn't kill them.
That's how you sell benefits. Not features. Don't tell people it has "standard ipod connectivity" and "a 5 star crash rating;" people can read that in a brochure when you get them hooked on the idea of owning one. They don't want to be told that stuff, they want to be entertained. Show them the benefit, don't try to convince them it's there!
Sell people on the benefits of owning a Camaro, not the features. This is a quick and dirty example of what I'm saying:
Show some guy hopping in his Camaro to go to work, and plugging his ipod in. Then show him hopping in his Camaro after work to meet his date and show him talking to her via bluetooth. Then show him driving up to pick her up and her saying "This is your car?! It must cost a fortune to drive it" and he remarks, "nope, it gets 32 mpg on the highway" and the commercial ends. Or does it? Hell, have the guy get in a wreck at the end unexpectedly and show how the airbags protected him and his date, and how the car didn't kill them.
That's how you sell benefits. Not features. Don't tell people it has "standard ipod connectivity" and "a 5 star crash rating;" people can read that in a brochure when you get them hooked on the idea of owning one. They don't want to be told that stuff, they want to be entertained. Show them the benefit, don't try to convince them it's there!
Last edited by Brangeta; 04-02-2008 at 01:41 PM.
04-02-2008, 04:32 PM
#4
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3
Hey Brangeta, I agree with you about their marketing strategy. Their marketing sucks. What GM needs to do is fire their marketing department and hire the Ford Mustang marketing department. Here's why.
Look at how many versions or editions of the Mustang there is; V6, GT, Bullit, Cobra, GT500, Saleen, Stalker, Roush, and quite a few more that I cant remember at this time. Its ridiculous how many versions they have, BUT Ford markets that car to anyone and everyone. They have so many options for the Mustang. Throw stripes on it and its a different car, or different rims, or whatever. All I know is that the Mustang seems to be more marketable than the Camaro. I see so many different Mustangs out there on the road and I must say, most of the time its always a different one. Other than the V6 or rent-a-car versions, majority of the time Im always seeing a different mustang on the road. Whether its different color stripes or different wheels or body kits, spoilers, or hoods, all I know is this: The Mustang is marketed to appeal to everyone.
Open up a Mustang magazine and look at the thousands of aftermarket parts there are for the mustangs. Open up the Camaro magazines and look at how many aftermarket parts are in there for the Camaros, its pathetic. Not to mention the ridiculous prices that it costs for aftermarket parts on our Camaros. Why does it cost an average of $150-$300 for headers for Mustangs and $400-$1000+ for headers for our Camaros? Isnt it just twisted metal? LOL! Ok, I can hear people saying that its because our Camaros are the better cars so parts for them cost more. But that BS. If thats so then why did GM have to kill the Camaro after 2002?
Ford just knows how to market that damn mustang better than GM knows how with the Camaros. GM needs to get out there and make partnerships with companies to produce the mass amount of aftermarket parts like the Mustang has. Give them incentives for lowering prices or whatever they can do. Ford markets the mustang to everyone. They make the Mustang so affordable and "mod-friendly" that the Mustang appeals to everyone. GM needs to do more than just build this new camaro.
GM needs to offer the new camaro with just as many versions and options as the Mustang has. Not just the V6, SS, and Z28. They need to do the RS, RS/SS, ZL1's, Yenko's, SLP's, or other companies like how the Mustang has (Saleen, Roush, Steeda, etc.)
Bottom line is, GM needs to keep people interested. They need to offer a lot of different options to make it marketable and appealing to EVERYONE, and most of all make it affordable. Make it so that people will want to buy it and mod it and (not to be cliche) but make it their own.
Brangeta, I hope you read this and I hope you can in someway re-write if you want but hopefully get this to GM as well.
Thanks for reading.
Look at how many versions or editions of the Mustang there is; V6, GT, Bullit, Cobra, GT500, Saleen, Stalker, Roush, and quite a few more that I cant remember at this time. Its ridiculous how many versions they have, BUT Ford markets that car to anyone and everyone. They have so many options for the Mustang. Throw stripes on it and its a different car, or different rims, or whatever. All I know is that the Mustang seems to be more marketable than the Camaro. I see so many different Mustangs out there on the road and I must say, most of the time its always a different one. Other than the V6 or rent-a-car versions, majority of the time Im always seeing a different mustang on the road. Whether its different color stripes or different wheels or body kits, spoilers, or hoods, all I know is this: The Mustang is marketed to appeal to everyone.
Open up a Mustang magazine and look at the thousands of aftermarket parts there are for the mustangs. Open up the Camaro magazines and look at how many aftermarket parts are in there for the Camaros, its pathetic. Not to mention the ridiculous prices that it costs for aftermarket parts on our Camaros. Why does it cost an average of $150-$300 for headers for Mustangs and $400-$1000+ for headers for our Camaros? Isnt it just twisted metal? LOL! Ok, I can hear people saying that its because our Camaros are the better cars so parts for them cost more. But that BS. If thats so then why did GM have to kill the Camaro after 2002?
Ford just knows how to market that damn mustang better than GM knows how with the Camaros. GM needs to get out there and make partnerships with companies to produce the mass amount of aftermarket parts like the Mustang has. Give them incentives for lowering prices or whatever they can do. Ford markets the mustang to everyone. They make the Mustang so affordable and "mod-friendly" that the Mustang appeals to everyone. GM needs to do more than just build this new camaro.
GM needs to offer the new camaro with just as many versions and options as the Mustang has. Not just the V6, SS, and Z28. They need to do the RS, RS/SS, ZL1's, Yenko's, SLP's, or other companies like how the Mustang has (Saleen, Roush, Steeda, etc.)
Bottom line is, GM needs to keep people interested. They need to offer a lot of different options to make it marketable and appealing to EVERYONE, and most of all make it affordable. Make it so that people will want to buy it and mod it and (not to be cliche) but make it their own.
Brangeta, I hope you read this and I hope you can in someway re-write if you want but hopefully get this to GM as well.
Thanks for reading.
Last edited by sspddmn; 04-02-2008 at 04:35 PM.
04-02-2008, 06:15 PM
#6
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 515
I understand and agree I would like to see advertising to be more than what it is today.
They my want to look to the firm that did the VW crash spots as they were some of the most effective for benifits. I could see it now "The 2010 Camaro a Friend with Benifits".
The worst spots of late are the Duh spots I think for Hyundia and Sync for Ford.
They my want to look to the firm that did the VW crash spots as they were some of the most effective for benifits. I could see it now "The 2010 Camaro a Friend with Benifits".
The worst spots of late are the Duh spots I think for Hyundia and Sync for Ford.
04-02-2008, 07:31 PM
#7
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 5,556
sspddmn-- I agree with a few things you said, but a few of the other things are just out of GM's hands I think.
What I agree with:
There should be more versions: GM is limiting their market by not appealing to all parts of their potential market. Many of Ford's versions of the Mustang are for "keeping it fresh." These aren't necessarily real versions of the car in my opinion; just made up packages to please their current market. In other words, they aren't really branching out too much, except with their incredibly powerful GT500 which breaks into the Corvette and other sports car market. They haven't made a luxury Mustang or anything yet.
What is stopping GM from having a luxury model of Camaro? From my perspective, there are a lot of younger people these days making a lot of money, and they are stifled by the cars available on the market. My best friend is 24 years old, and is making $60,000 a year! These are the type of people who buy Lexuses, cheaper models of Mercedes, and especially BMWs in their late 20s and early 30s. GM needs to offer a version of the Camaro with luxury amenities like a fully leather covered interior that can be had in one of five different colors similar to the upgraded interior package on the 2008 Corvette. They should delegate SLP or some other company to install it. Throw in a heads up display, parking proximity sensors, tire pressure sensors, that new "fancy" adaptive cruise control or whatever, rain sensing windshield wipers, and don't offer this version with a V6. Give it some classier exterior "bling" that steals customers from Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes. Essentially, throw some Cadillac options on it. Not everybody wants a Cadillac, and if I could afford it, I'd definitely buy this version of the Camaro for myself.
What is stopping them from having one dedicated solely to racing? They could offer a stripper car like Dodge offers their Viper Competition Coupe. The reason many people wait to buy Camaros used is because it is too expensive to buy them new, just to take it apart, install a roll cage, and void the factory warranty. You lose a lot of money by having to undo and replace all of those suspension, engine, and comfort parts. Take the cars off the assembly line before A/C, radio, carpet, etc is installed and have the cars shipped to SLP with the option of shipping them to Callaway afterwards for a magnacharger supercharger install. Give them larger slotted brakes, a beefed up suspension, and basically the option of having parts for drag racing or parts for road racing.
I've recently read about the possibility of a turbo four-cylinder Camaro since I wrote my first post in this topic, and I'm having trouble figuring that one out. On the upside, it allows younger people to have a Camaro, which is cool. But on the downside, what is this going to do to your Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky? The Solstice GXP (the turbo-4 one) starts at a very high $28k, has a tiny engine, and a crappy interior. That's about the price I would "assume" the V6 Camaro would occupy. Just how cheap could you sell the turbo-4 Camaro to make people not skip over it and just get the V6???
How could you justify crappifying the interior qualities enough to get the turbo-4 Camaro to fall into a price range people would be willing to buy? The only way I can see you justifying it, is if you DO offer a racing/stripper version, so you can justify the cost of having crank windows, manual locks, and manual seats made.
But will the turbo-4 Camaro annoy Camaro enthusiasts who don't want the brand name cheapened as such? I think it would. And which slope would you rather be on? The slope that leads the Camaro's reputation to being "better cars, comparable to the best sports cars on the market?" Or the slope that leads the Camaro's reputation to being considered "inferior products--disposable cars--Chevy's version of the Honda CRX or Toyota Corolla." I for one, to this day, get pis sed off by people who think Camaros are inferior goods despite how nice the 4th gens actually were.
The downward slope does nothing but ruin your more expensive model in the eyes of the majority of your target market, and makes those buyers go away. Nobody wants to pay for a car that looks like a loser car. That'd be like Lamborghini offering a $30,000 2-cylinder car that looks just like their $250,000 LP640 Murceilago. Nobody's going to want the expensive one anymore, because all of a sudden anybody can have a Lamborghini that’s a piece of crap, inferior good.
As far as the aftermarket situation goes, I don't know the full story behind it. What I do know is that many companies have been told things the public doesn't know (engine measurements and such), and I've heard several even have near-production cars to start basing their parts off of. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if RKSport, Roush, or Saleen had a fiberglass bodied push-car version of the production Camaro in their product development facilities right now.
I do not believe GM has any effect on how much the parts cost though. I don't want to get into heavy details about how things work, but here's a short version:
When you buy a product, you're usually paying around two times the cost to get the product ready to sell. So what you're paying for is 1) development costs, 2) production costs, 3) packaging costs, 4) all the shipping back-and-forth costs, and 5) the companies' profit. For most items, companies come up with a price that is close to two times the cost of getting the product to market (so two times as much as 1+2+3+4+5). This applies to any product; Snickers candy bars all the way up to cars.
Bear with me on this example... but one of the reasons a Ferrari F430 costs more than a Corvette Z06 is because of how many they make. Imagine that in one year, Ferrari makes 1,000 F430s, and Chevy makes 20,000 Z06s. Let's imagine that both cars are nearly the exact same thing in materials and quality, and costs are just about the same to make. Let's say the development costs on both were each $4 million. The reason the Ferrari is more expensive than the Corvette isn't because "they're Ferrari and rich people want to be exclusive!" It's mostly due to (in this example) 1000 people are having to pay for approximately $4 million dollars of development. So each of the 1000 Ferrari buyers are each having to pay $4000 for development each time they buy a car, while the 20,000 Z06 buyers are only having to pay $200 each for development when they buy their car.
The same probably goes for the headers you mentioned. They likely just sell a lot more headers to Mustang guys because 1) there are more Mustangs out there and 2) because they can afford to divide the development (and other 4 costs) out to more people. ...Some of it is probably due to the fact that the 94+ Mustang GTs had pathetic power, and lots of people had to replace the headers to get more power. The headers on the 4th gen Z28s weren't too bad, and the 4th gens weren’t pathetically underpowered like the Mustangs were from ’94 til whenever. So there are still a lot of guys (like me) who still have the factory headers on their car, while maybe not so many Mustangs still have the stock ones. That’s part of why it is so important for GM to make the car everything a person could want; so they don’t have to turn to the aftermarket to get what they want. GM Accessories and GM Performance Parts just has to step up to the plate if GM won’t from the production line.
Mjolnir— Good thinking! It’s all about “value,” and value isn’t always something you can read. If someone tells me “this is the greatest donut you’ll ever have!” and it’s $2.50 instead of $0.25, I might be more likely to buy it than if somebody told me it was made of Swedish flour, sunflower oil, sugar from France, was recommend by 4 out of 5 dentists, and had bluetooth and ipod connectivity.
hyperv6— The agency that did the crash spots for VW was Crispin, Porter, + Bogusky as far as I know. Chevy has been using Campbell Ewald for over 20 years I think. Pontiac used somebody else for the Firebird commercials I can’t remember off the top of my head…
I agree with you about those Hyundai and Ford commercials. They’re all awful.
Chevy should just let me do the concepting and art directing for their Camaro advertising… My degree’s in advertising if you can’t tell!
What I agree with:
There should be more versions: GM is limiting their market by not appealing to all parts of their potential market. Many of Ford's versions of the Mustang are for "keeping it fresh." These aren't necessarily real versions of the car in my opinion; just made up packages to please their current market. In other words, they aren't really branching out too much, except with their incredibly powerful GT500 which breaks into the Corvette and other sports car market. They haven't made a luxury Mustang or anything yet.
What is stopping GM from having a luxury model of Camaro? From my perspective, there are a lot of younger people these days making a lot of money, and they are stifled by the cars available on the market. My best friend is 24 years old, and is making $60,000 a year! These are the type of people who buy Lexuses, cheaper models of Mercedes, and especially BMWs in their late 20s and early 30s. GM needs to offer a version of the Camaro with luxury amenities like a fully leather covered interior that can be had in one of five different colors similar to the upgraded interior package on the 2008 Corvette. They should delegate SLP or some other company to install it. Throw in a heads up display, parking proximity sensors, tire pressure sensors, that new "fancy" adaptive cruise control or whatever, rain sensing windshield wipers, and don't offer this version with a V6. Give it some classier exterior "bling" that steals customers from Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes. Essentially, throw some Cadillac options on it. Not everybody wants a Cadillac, and if I could afford it, I'd definitely buy this version of the Camaro for myself.
What is stopping them from having one dedicated solely to racing? They could offer a stripper car like Dodge offers their Viper Competition Coupe. The reason many people wait to buy Camaros used is because it is too expensive to buy them new, just to take it apart, install a roll cage, and void the factory warranty. You lose a lot of money by having to undo and replace all of those suspension, engine, and comfort parts. Take the cars off the assembly line before A/C, radio, carpet, etc is installed and have the cars shipped to SLP with the option of shipping them to Callaway afterwards for a magnacharger supercharger install. Give them larger slotted brakes, a beefed up suspension, and basically the option of having parts for drag racing or parts for road racing.
I've recently read about the possibility of a turbo four-cylinder Camaro since I wrote my first post in this topic, and I'm having trouble figuring that one out. On the upside, it allows younger people to have a Camaro, which is cool. But on the downside, what is this going to do to your Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky? The Solstice GXP (the turbo-4 one) starts at a very high $28k, has a tiny engine, and a crappy interior. That's about the price I would "assume" the V6 Camaro would occupy. Just how cheap could you sell the turbo-4 Camaro to make people not skip over it and just get the V6???
How could you justify crappifying the interior qualities enough to get the turbo-4 Camaro to fall into a price range people would be willing to buy? The only way I can see you justifying it, is if you DO offer a racing/stripper version, so you can justify the cost of having crank windows, manual locks, and manual seats made.But will the turbo-4 Camaro annoy Camaro enthusiasts who don't want the brand name cheapened as such? I think it would. And which slope would you rather be on? The slope that leads the Camaro's reputation to being "better cars, comparable to the best sports cars on the market?" Or the slope that leads the Camaro's reputation to being considered "inferior products--disposable cars--Chevy's version of the Honda CRX or Toyota Corolla." I for one, to this day, get pis sed off by people who think Camaros are inferior goods despite how nice the 4th gens actually were.
The downward slope does nothing but ruin your more expensive model in the eyes of the majority of your target market, and makes those buyers go away. Nobody wants to pay for a car that looks like a loser car. That'd be like Lamborghini offering a $30,000 2-cylinder car that looks just like their $250,000 LP640 Murceilago. Nobody's going to want the expensive one anymore, because all of a sudden anybody can have a Lamborghini that’s a piece of crap, inferior good.
As far as the aftermarket situation goes, I don't know the full story behind it. What I do know is that many companies have been told things the public doesn't know (engine measurements and such), and I've heard several even have near-production cars to start basing their parts off of. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if RKSport, Roush, or Saleen had a fiberglass bodied push-car version of the production Camaro in their product development facilities right now.
I do not believe GM has any effect on how much the parts cost though. I don't want to get into heavy details about how things work, but here's a short version:
When you buy a product, you're usually paying around two times the cost to get the product ready to sell. So what you're paying for is 1) development costs, 2) production costs, 3) packaging costs, 4) all the shipping back-and-forth costs, and 5) the companies' profit. For most items, companies come up with a price that is close to two times the cost of getting the product to market (so two times as much as 1+2+3+4+5). This applies to any product; Snickers candy bars all the way up to cars.
Bear with me on this example... but one of the reasons a Ferrari F430 costs more than a Corvette Z06 is because of how many they make. Imagine that in one year, Ferrari makes 1,000 F430s, and Chevy makes 20,000 Z06s. Let's imagine that both cars are nearly the exact same thing in materials and quality, and costs are just about the same to make. Let's say the development costs on both were each $4 million. The reason the Ferrari is more expensive than the Corvette isn't because "they're Ferrari and rich people want to be exclusive!" It's mostly due to (in this example) 1000 people are having to pay for approximately $4 million dollars of development. So each of the 1000 Ferrari buyers are each having to pay $4000 for development each time they buy a car, while the 20,000 Z06 buyers are only having to pay $200 each for development when they buy their car.
The same probably goes for the headers you mentioned. They likely just sell a lot more headers to Mustang guys because 1) there are more Mustangs out there and 2) because they can afford to divide the development (and other 4 costs) out to more people. ...Some of it is probably due to the fact that the 94+ Mustang GTs had pathetic power, and lots of people had to replace the headers to get more power. The headers on the 4th gen Z28s weren't too bad, and the 4th gens weren’t pathetically underpowered like the Mustangs were from ’94 til whenever. So there are still a lot of guys (like me) who still have the factory headers on their car, while maybe not so many Mustangs still have the stock ones. That’s part of why it is so important for GM to make the car everything a person could want; so they don’t have to turn to the aftermarket to get what they want. GM Accessories and GM Performance Parts just has to step up to the plate if GM won’t from the production line.
Mjolnir— Good thinking! It’s all about “value,” and value isn’t always something you can read. If someone tells me “this is the greatest donut you’ll ever have!” and it’s $2.50 instead of $0.25, I might be more likely to buy it than if somebody told me it was made of Swedish flour, sunflower oil, sugar from France, was recommend by 4 out of 5 dentists, and had bluetooth and ipod connectivity.
hyperv6— The agency that did the crash spots for VW was Crispin, Porter, + Bogusky as far as I know. Chevy has been using Campbell Ewald for over 20 years I think. Pontiac used somebody else for the Firebird commercials I can’t remember off the top of my head…
I agree with you about those Hyundai and Ford commercials. They’re all awful.
Chevy should just let me do the concepting and art directing for their Camaro advertising… My degree’s in advertising if you can’t tell!
Last edited by Brangeta; 04-02-2008 at 07:47 PM.
04-04-2008, 12:49 PM
#9
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 554
How's this for a commercial? Just whipped it up this morning with clips from Transformers. All prices, specs, fuel economy numbers are all Estimates. I assume no ownership of the video clips, the chevy logo or Camaro brand name.
04-04-2008, 01:05 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 1,023
I think the Camaro needs to be heavily advertised, on its own, showing all of its new features.
The Camaro is a car with a lot of emotional backing. It needs a campaign that highlights its sexy features. Remember the 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial with the song "Days Go By"? Pure sex! I hated the car, but alas, a commercial that fit the good looking, sexy image of the vehicle being advertised.
The Camaro really deserves its own stage to show people that it truly is a NEW car, and not some parts bin fishing expedition wrapped in new sheet metal.
The Camaro is a car with a lot of emotional backing. It needs a campaign that highlights its sexy features. Remember the 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial with the song "Days Go By"? Pure sex! I hated the car, but alas, a commercial that fit the good looking, sexy image of the vehicle being advertised.
The Camaro really deserves its own stage to show people that it truly is a NEW car, and not some parts bin fishing expedition wrapped in new sheet metal.
04-04-2008, 01:32 PM
#11
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 181
Soo Seriously Intense.
hahahahaha... you are too serious about this Camaro. 
You should go after a business / Communication / Advertisement Degree and work for GM. It's nice to see someone with so much appeal to just a vehicle hahahaah!
You should go after a business / Communication / Advertisement Degree and work for GM. It's nice to see someone with so much appeal to just a vehicle hahahaah!
04-04-2008, 02:49 PM
#12
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 150
GM needs to conquer import coupe buyers, not Ford buyers.
If a 23 year old that was interested in plopping $25k on an Altima or $28k on an Accord finds himself dropping $23k on a base Camaro, you have a better chance of selling him a Malibu.
GM needs to retrieve import buyers, not cannibalize other domestic sales.
Rework your commercial to de-emphasize tire burning heritage and over emphasize reliability, fuel economy, and MSRP and you have (IMHO) a winner.
This gets the same/better fuel economy, makes more power, and (probably) costs less than an Altima or Accord coupe.
Make the consumer aware of that, convince them it's reliable, and cash the deposit checks.
04-04-2008, 03:46 PM
#13
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 181
04-04-2008, 07:29 PM
#14
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 5,556
Rob V--
As nice as seeing the footage is compared to many commercials on the air today... if you read my gigantic essay(s) you'll see that you basically just made what everybody expects to see: a brochure with music. We may have learned a few things, but we weren't entertained with seeing why we should choose a Camaro over anything else. Just a bunch of numbers and data like independent rear suspension. These are things that get you to buy a car once you're interested, but these are not (1) things that make you watch the commercial more than once (unless you are an enthusiast already hooked on the car), or (2) things that will make you want to look at the website or go to a dealership to learn more.
Although the VW crash commercials only advertise one thing, I could watch them everyday for weeks and not get sick of watching them, even though I hate VWs. You can't see how fast the airbags deploy or how the car fares in a crash when looking at a brochure, so they not only entertain people, but blow them away with a good reason to get online or get into a dealership to find out more about the car.
Cramming features and data down peoples' throats is just bad advertising with no immagination, and for the most part, just goes in one ear and out the other. When you do a product introduction, it can be a good idea to just wow people and get them talking. Don't you remember how much everybody liked that Corvette commercial that got pulled back in 2005? That commercial was REALLY entertaining. It didn't have a bunch of BS you'd find in a brochure, and would have gotten people interested in checking out a Corvette online if it hadn't been pulled.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NtxUBXBl_E4
Automakers these days are making commercials that make people skip the first fundamental step: getting them interested.
MatthewRox--
I already have the advertising degree, I'm just not working in an automotive field. I'd love to work for GM.
Here are a few commercial spots to use as examples...
Good commercial, similar to what I'm talking about, though not entirely (I'm talking multiple features shown as benefits in one commercial, not just a commercial advertising one feature). Some of these cars only have one real selling feature, so that's an excuse for why they aren't showing off more things:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gCa44_I8TOA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B8EQ8HRTSlQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wtaXjzQQGE8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqLcPSkK0Gg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K00RVERwaj8
Piece of crap commercials that fail to be entertaining, and only teach us one thing, that could have been said in 5 seconds:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M5KSuurxNVE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H33kQpzapDE
I don't mean this as an insult (or maybe I kind of do), but this is an example of the usual type of junk a lot of guys here expect the commercial to look like...
The "let's raise some hell and entertain only the people who already want the car" commercial
http://youtube.com/watch?v=u9NQGQgFi6o It's an entertaining video for the enthusiasts to watch, but is it really worth the cost to make it? This video is certainly not affecting me, and making me want to choose a Mustang over a Pontiac G8 muchless anything else. You aren't gaining buyers by producing this crap.
The "let's just list a bunch of BS nobody wants to be bothered with" commercial
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yqY3iPJUsX4 How many of you wanted the announcer to STFU?
Again, "let's list a bunch of BS nobody wants to be bothered with, and make sure we put a song our target market (35 year olds) are familiar with...but oh...wait... didn't this song suck?" commercial:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mhr0Xcqb7Ec I don't mean to call you out Rob V, but this looks a lot like what your commercial was, and well... I don't think it's effective.
And last...
I didn't think of this idea earlier, but sometimes the way to sell a car can be to just plain entertain people. This usually works best for a car with very little to offer, and very little differentiating it from competitors. This is my favorite car commercial and came out a few years before the transformer movie and transforming car craze, and just seeing it made me wish Citroen sold cars in the US.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1uIusRXv24
In the Camaro's case, it'd be better to (1) entertain, (2) show off the features without treating the viewer as an idiot and saying "hey look! this guy's plugging his ipod into the dash and it's working! IPOD CONNECTIVITY if you can't tell!", and (3) not insert any music. The car will provide the sound effects as the guy drives it around.
As nice as seeing the footage is compared to many commercials on the air today... if you read my gigantic essay(s) you'll see that you basically just made what everybody expects to see: a brochure with music. We may have learned a few things, but we weren't entertained with seeing why we should choose a Camaro over anything else. Just a bunch of numbers and data like independent rear suspension. These are things that get you to buy a car once you're interested, but these are not (1) things that make you watch the commercial more than once (unless you are an enthusiast already hooked on the car), or (2) things that will make you want to look at the website or go to a dealership to learn more.
Although the VW crash commercials only advertise one thing, I could watch them everyday for weeks and not get sick of watching them, even though I hate VWs. You can't see how fast the airbags deploy or how the car fares in a crash when looking at a brochure, so they not only entertain people, but blow them away with a good reason to get online or get into a dealership to find out more about the car.
Cramming features and data down peoples' throats is just bad advertising with no immagination, and for the most part, just goes in one ear and out the other. When you do a product introduction, it can be a good idea to just wow people and get them talking. Don't you remember how much everybody liked that Corvette commercial that got pulled back in 2005? That commercial was REALLY entertaining. It didn't have a bunch of BS you'd find in a brochure, and would have gotten people interested in checking out a Corvette online if it hadn't been pulled.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NtxUBXBl_E4
Automakers these days are making commercials that make people skip the first fundamental step: getting them interested.
MatthewRox--
I already have the advertising degree, I'm just not working in an automotive field. I'd love to work for GM.
Here are a few commercial spots to use as examples...
Good commercial, similar to what I'm talking about, though not entirely (I'm talking multiple features shown as benefits in one commercial, not just a commercial advertising one feature). Some of these cars only have one real selling feature, so that's an excuse for why they aren't showing off more things:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gCa44_I8TOA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B8EQ8HRTSlQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wtaXjzQQGE8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqLcPSkK0Gg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K00RVERwaj8
Piece of crap commercials that fail to be entertaining, and only teach us one thing, that could have been said in 5 seconds:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M5KSuurxNVE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H33kQpzapDE
I don't mean this as an insult (or maybe I kind of do), but this is an example of the usual type of junk a lot of guys here expect the commercial to look like...
The "let's raise some hell and entertain only the people who already want the car" commercial
http://youtube.com/watch?v=u9NQGQgFi6o It's an entertaining video for the enthusiasts to watch, but is it really worth the cost to make it? This video is certainly not affecting me, and making me want to choose a Mustang over a Pontiac G8 muchless anything else. You aren't gaining buyers by producing this crap.
The "let's just list a bunch of BS nobody wants to be bothered with" commercial
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yqY3iPJUsX4 How many of you wanted the announcer to STFU?
Again, "let's list a bunch of BS nobody wants to be bothered with, and make sure we put a song our target market (35 year olds) are familiar with...but oh...wait... didn't this song suck?" commercial:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mhr0Xcqb7Ec I don't mean to call you out Rob V, but this looks a lot like what your commercial was, and well... I don't think it's effective.
And last...
I didn't think of this idea earlier, but sometimes the way to sell a car can be to just plain entertain people. This usually works best for a car with very little to offer, and very little differentiating it from competitors. This is my favorite car commercial and came out a few years before the transformer movie and transforming car craze, and just seeing it made me wish Citroen sold cars in the US.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1uIusRXv24
In the Camaro's case, it'd be better to (1) entertain, (2) show off the features without treating the viewer as an idiot and saying "hey look! this guy's plugging his ipod into the dash and it's working! IPOD CONNECTIVITY if you can't tell!", and (3) not insert any music. The car will provide the sound effects as the guy drives it around.
Last edited by Brangeta; 04-04-2008 at 07:37 PM.
04-04-2008, 11:22 PM
#15
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Jersey Shore
Posts: 4,306
I do agree with your statement that Camaro needs to be advertised in a way that it shows off its over all tallent. Not that its a muscle car, not that its a monster performance machine, drag racer, gas hog. It needs to be visceral, make it feel like you are there in the car. Make people wana grab the wheel and hold on. Not for 500 trillion hp, but for the steering feedback, for the grip of teh tires, for the funnes that is Camaro.
Make it so that people want to fire up one themsevles. I like the little ads they had. "Two Wishes Left"...I liked that.
Make it so that people want to fire up one themsevles. I like the little ads they had. "Two Wishes Left"...I liked that.