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Bloglumn: Experience the GM brand?
General Motors (GM), the industry's largest advertiser (first-half 2005 ad spending to USD 1.44 billion) and the largest automobile maker in the world, is facing hard times. How is GM tackling their problems?
 General Motors: Despite all the cost-cutting and an uptick in sales during the summer when GM offered employee pricing, some industry analysts maintain that the automaker should go even further to reverse its sagging fortunes. What are the problems of GM? - Forty years ago, GM controlled half the market in the United States. Now it controls one-fourth of it. - US customers want smaller cars. Foreign manufacturers like Toyota and Honda deliver these small cars cheaper. - GM faces costly health care and retirement payments. - GM plants perform for 85%. - GM shares decreased 40% this year. - GM overstated 2001 profits. What are the solutions of GM? - GM will fire 30,000 employees. - 12 plants in the US and Canada will be closed. - GM renegotiates supplier contracts. - Big discounts on car sales. - Launch of new models in 2007. - End of free health care for employees. - GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner e-mailed all employees that there will not be a postponement of payment. Primairy focus of GM's turnaround plan is product excellence, followed by a revitalized sales and marketing strategy. Big question is if GM will create growth founded by customer loyalty. To win this customer loyalty, GM should not only create and shape demand but also develop and deliver brand experience. Advertising is a step towards creating such an experience. But GM should really "brand the experience". This means that customers are "living" the brand: they start conversations about the brand and become advocates of the brand. They are experiencing the brand. One of the best ways a marketer can join and influence these brand conversations is to launch a corporate blog.  GM FastLane Blog: A blog, far better than a static website with its continually changing content yielding search engine love, enables the brand to take on a less monolithic personality. A great example is GM's blog written by Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. He speaks in a personal tone about what GM is doing, the cars it is developing and its opinion on the automotive industry. It's doing wonders to bring GM "to the people" as it were. Lutz believes open communication will give relevant input of savvy customers. The media will also get the impression that the company really interacts with it's environment. And this will contribute to a positive corporate brand image. GM FastLane Podcast: Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman, talks about the realities of today's market for full-size sport utility vehicles with host Bill O'Neill, GM executive director of communications. Consumer Generated Media can help in getting customer insights. It's about "experiencing the brand" and "branding the experience". Companies should "brand the experience" in an interactive way: by starting to communicate with their customers.  E. F. Fonkstra |
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posted by BlogFonk: Monday, November 28, 2005 [#] Erms Suripatty