Brand journalism, cool cars, copycat ads, and the future of GM

This has been "GM week" for me. I spent the day at General Motors world headquarters in Detroit on Monday at the invitation of the GM social media communications team. And each day since, I've posted a new video interview that helps tell the story of GM re:invention directly from those involved. (If you have not seen these, do also pay attention to the discussion within the blog comments).

GM CEO Fritz Henderson discusses new marketing

Top GM marketing exec Bob Lutz on effective communication

Christopher Barger on social media communications at GM

Mary Henige of GM on storytelling and humanizing the company

This all happened because I wrote a blog post in June that was critical of General Motors Attention GM: Here are the top 5 marketing ideas for your reinvention. The post received hundreds of tweets and more than 50 comments. But then something remarkable happened. Within mere hours, I was engaged with the social media team at GM. And the candor and human interaction turned me around. I went from a critic to a supporter. Amazing really that a visible critic can become an educated supporter.

I accepted the company's invitation to visit and to learn more about what they are doing. After a week of reflection, I have some observations to share with the marketers and executives at GM.

Humanizing a giant corporation: My biggest takeaway of my GM experience is that the people who work at GM are doing a good job at humanizing the company. The individuals I met are passionate about their work and about the company. They know they have a tough road, but they are invested in the challenge. Watching the videos gives you a good sense of the ways that the company is engaging in a human way. This was an issue I was particularly critical of back in June. However, the company’s television ads are not helping (see below).

Products: While visiting GM, I drove a Yukon Denali Hybrid SUV as well as a zero-emission, hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle. I was also given a tour of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle factory (where they are making early test versions). While the Hydrogen and electric cars are not in the market yet, these new technology vehicles are certainly products that people will want to buy.

Chevrolet VoltAge site: The Volt is not due out for more than a year, but the company knows there is huge interest in a plug-in electric car. The marketing challenge here is to build a broad group of fans for a product that cannot be actually purchased for more than a year. Chevrolet VoltAge is a social network for Volt and electric vehicle enthusiasts to engage with others around the Volt and vehicle electrification issues. This is a great example of brand journalism and a terrific way to keep them interested in the development of a new car through to the time they can buy it.

GM Design Lab blog: I was given a glimpse into the GM design process by Andrew Smith director of advance design at the GM Design Lab. Smith is working on a project for the future called Small Premium. What’s interesting is that GM opened the ideas up for public comment via a blog and videos. Where most early design thinking is “top secret,” in this case the open discussions are refreshing. In another great example of brand journalism at work, Smith explores ideas like, “What is Premium?” and “In what context can Premium be measured?”

Television advertising: I am not a fan of the new May the Best Car Win 60-day money back guarantee television commercial featuring Chairman Ed Whitacre. In my opinion (and the opinion of commenters on this blog and a bunch of tweets I have seen), Whitacre does not come across as a credible spokesperson. I’d like to see Fritz Henderson doing these ads instead.

Ed Whitacre is no Lee Iacocca. But I have a more fundamental issue with the May the Best Car Win television ads. They seem to be a blatant rip-off of the 1980s Chrysler commercials with chairman Lee Iacocca. Watch one and then the other and you'll see what I mean. The parallels are eerily similar. Big American auto company has a near death experience. They run ads featuring the most senior executive walking around the latest model cars talking about quality. Both ads talk about how great their cars are compared to the competition. Really? Is that the best that your Madison Avenue agency can do? Copy a 1980s playbook? And a poor copy at that?

I'd like to thank Fritz, Bob, Christopher, Mary, Chris, Andrew, and the many other people at GM who tool the time to educate me, and in turn you. I’ll be watching, blogging (and hopefully cheering too) as GM continues to make progress.

Comments

[Christopher Barger]

David - thank you so much for making the time to come visit with us, and as always for your candid and honest assessments of what we're doing well and what we could improve. (And thank you for devoting so much blog time and real estate to a discussion of our company, our business, and our marketing efforts!)

I know each of us enjoyed meeting you in person and really appreciated your thoughts and insights. We'll of course keep reading and staying in touch with you in the coming months.

Regarding the commercial, I won't defend but will explain: part of the reason for including Mr. Whitacre in the commercials was because we've heard the criticism that the new GM is still run by the same people who ran the old GM; we felt that Mr. Whitacre's "Detroit outsider" perspective might be more credible to people. That said, his commercials ran primarily during the first week of the campaign (to introduce the 60 day guarantee); the campaign has largely shifted now to our products and how they directly compare to our competition. (At the end of the day, our business success or failure depend on the strength of our products, so they need to be what we build around.)

I promise, I'm not trying to defend here; if you didn't like the Whitacre commercial, you didn't like it - and that's quite fair. I just wanted you to know the thinking behind it. Not that I want/expect it to change your mind, just wanted you to know what we were thinking.

Thanks again and have a great weekend!

[David Meerman Scott]

Hey Christopher -- Thanks again for everything. It was a great week.

The problem is that 99 percent of people watching the commercial have no clue who the chairman of GM is (or was).

I know that he says "new chairman" but that could mean he was promoted. I don't know if the people who worked on the commercial did the research, but my guess is that less than one percent of people viewing would make the leap to an understanding that this is an "outsider" perspective.

Call me dense, but I watched the commercial 5 times, I met all of you guys on Monday, I did independent research, and until reading your comment just now even I did not know he was an "outsider"...

Anyway - its a small point. Overall you guys are doing great. Keep it up.

David

[Tony Fannin]

David,
It's great to see that you're open minded to listen and give an honest chance for others to convince you of their viewpoint. I appreciate your example of willingness to learn and to change your perception once you knew the inside facts. Speaking of inside facts, it's amazing how much we understand once we walk in their shoes.

From a marketers standpoint, the magic is when we're able to get across the same message and emotion in all forms of the marketing plan that you experienced first hand at GM.

Thank you for sharing,
Tony Fannin

[Neil Callanan]

David,

Great stuff. A good trend to see big brands like GM engage with those who take the time to create commentary on their brand and org.

Thanks for recapping your experience.

-Neil Callanan

[Harriet Meth]

@David - This was a really well-done series of interviews. Candid, revealing not only about GM but also a wider interpretation of what a story is and the implications for businesses of all sizes (a subject I've just blogged on).

@Chris - Wondering if you are going to re-edit any of the interviews and run on your website or Facebook page. Good material here for communications peers as well as folks interested in what GM is thinking these days.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks, all.

GM is doing a good job. Yes, they have a tough fight, but they are engaged.

[Christopher Barger]

Hi Harriet - good idea! David, may I have your permission to post these videos to our Facebook page?

[David Meerman Scott]

Of course, Christopher. I would be honored. Direct links to the videos are in each post.

[Jeff Rutherford]

David, I'm curious if you saw the Journal story today re: GM ending their eBay experiment after only 7 weeks - http://ow.ly/rQ6t

I tweeted about it earlier pointing out that car dealers were surprised that eBay shoppers wanted rock-bottom, no haggle prices for new cars.

I think GM should be lauded for their social media efforts and outreach. However, I think they're going to have a continual problem, consumers experience of GM's brand ultimately leads them to their local dealer. And car dealerships are operating from a different era.

Now, I'm no expert on the ways of Detroit, but I think there will be lots of money to be made when a car company can truly deliver a customer experience that is customer focused - NOT dealer focused. One price, no haggling, and no I don't want your expensive add-ons, Simonizing, etc.

Delivering on that will be far, far tougher than a social media strategy. However, as I pointed out, what happens when all their social media strategies leads a potential customer to a local dealer - who isn't customer focused or social media adept?

[David Meerman Scott]

Jeff -- I think you are right about the dealer stuff.

There are many legacy aspects of the auto business that are tough to manage - dealers, unions, retiree health benefits, the many years required to bring new cars to market.

I'm intrigued by how they have changed the way they communicate. I hope that indicates they can change other aspects of the business.

[Derya Yilmaz]

thank u for ur posting webinknow :))

[Used cars]

It is a nice new trend which is used by brands like GM to engage with those who take the time to create commentary on their brand and org as it will definitely increase the popularity of their brand in short time and less expenditure