GM Extends “May the Best Car Win”

GM’s 60-day money back guarantee offer is now good to the end of the year.    “May the best car win” was designed to impress consumers with the company’s faith in its products and entice them to overcome long simmering reservations about quality and give those products a try.

So far, only a handful of car buyers have actually returned their vehicles, usually for just a different variation of the model.  Nevertheless, the campaign seems to be helping sales grow and GM will extend the offer through January 4, 2010.

Jay Spenchian, GM's executive director of the marketing strategy support group, told The Associated Press on Thursday that more people are considering GM's four brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick — and few vehicles have been returned.

"We're starting to see big consideration changes and opinion changes," he said.

That's what the company was hoping for when it created the campaign, which includes advertisements comparing GM vehicles to those of  competitors. The nation's largest automaker needs to improve sales so it can repay billions in government loans and stay in business.

Spenchian said October's numbers appear to be up. GM on Wednesday said it is likely next week to post its first year-over-year monthly sales gain in 21 months.--October 30, 2009

GM News:

“May the Best Car Win” Winning with Consumers; GM Extends 60-Day Satisfaction Guarantee

October 29, 2009

GM’s “May the Best Car Win” marketing campaign is boosting consumer opinion and consideration of its cars and trucks. The ads scored in the top quartile for all automotive advertising in the last three years in terms of consumer opinion, consideration and relevancy, according to GM’s internal testing data.

The campaign is getting the word out about how good GM’s new products are,” Jay Spenchian, executive director, Marketing Strategy, said Thursday during a media update on the marketing campaign.   “We’ve seen positive coverage and increased awareness of launch products like the Buick LaCrosse and GMC Terrain.”

Spenchian also said GM’s successful 60-Day Satisfaction Guarantee, which is part of the campaign, will be extended through January 4.

“More than 99 percent of buyers who choose to take the Satisfaction Guarantee are keeping their vehicle,” he said.

The next phase of the campaign will launch in December with head-to-head ads in magazines, newspaper and web sites.---Oct. 30, 2009

SOURCE:  

Bob Lutz and many others behind the making of this marketing campaign deserve a big bunch of credit(from the industry, media and of course the tax payers). This is going to be recorded as one of the MOST successful and yet uniquely courageous( with having to report the progress and results to some 290+ million US tax payers) marketing and sales pitch ever practised by GM( or any other manufacturer present or represented in the US )since 3 decades; I insist..! AND let me tell you, it hasn't been easy to accomplish. Expecting more good results to keep coming to help us sustain our high hopes for the fast recovery of GM. There is some "good" reading if you may be interested, posted earlier in the following blogs; please click on the links below(your comments will be highly appreciated): /MT
W-Info Autos                                  The "New" GM

                             

  

Vehicles Returned under GM 60-Day Guarantee Less Than 1%

Less than 1 percent of the vehicles bought under General Motors' 60-day moneyback guarantee program have been returned.

Susan Docherty, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, said 142,000 vehicles have been sold under the program with 449 customers opting for the guarantee instead of the $500 cash rebate. Of those, four have returned their vehicles and gotten their money back on a Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Silverado. In total, 49 customers, including the four that already have returned their vehicles, are in the process of a return or exchange, she said.

VIA:

Good Result. It looks like Chevy is the one that got the hit with the above mentioned very few returns and it is quite natural for a hi-volume selling brand among others. Campaign ends November 30; so another month to go for achieving even better results we hope. 

The 142,000 figure needs a further clarification as to where it stands relevant to month-to-date sales data prior to judgment on the campaign's contributions. 

This campaign at the very least should generate invaluable info for Bob Lutz &  the GM Marketing team, sourced directly from the consumers, and help them with their efforts to develop more 'bold' moves./MT

Re: Prejudgments???? -GM's 'May The Best Car Win' Marketing Campaign

MTuzmen: I had recently put together some of the  'open-to-public-viewing' advocations and 

prejudgments re the  Campaign and the GM execs involved with it in this Blog. You may click here to read. BUT I dont want to stop  there. I certainly feel the urge to bring forward more about Lutz and his drive to accomplish even further at the age of 77 where he could relax and chase the golf ball at an exclusive club; nothing  would stop him. Lets go thru what's here from the  web/media, carefully leaving out what Robert Farago of The Truth About Cars kept saying, and help you judge for yorselves...

Tackling:

Huffingtonpost / Steve Parker Journalist/Broadcaster covering the auto industry and auto racing for 35 years. Posted: July 11, 2009

What!?! Bob Lutz back at GM!

General Motors has come out of bankruptcy after a somewhat-biblical 40 days and nights of massive reorganization, as a new, smaller company more than 60% owned by the US government (that's US, as in "us"). Yet GM is stubbornly holding onto Buick and GMC, when the other two of the General's remaining "Core Four," Chevrolet and Cadillac, are all they really need and all that make sense. It appears, though, that the vestiges of cars and trucks past aren't the only things GM is clinging to: Bob Lutz, 77, has "unretired" and will continue as GM's vice-chairman. He will head the company's marketing, advertising and communications and have significant input on product design.

In February, Lutz had said he would retire by year-end after eight years as GM's product development chief. The always-quotable and sometimes-acerbic Swiss-born Lutz, a favorite of reporters, has also been at Ford, BMW and Chrysler --- where he served as one of the top two executives along with Bob Eaton --- is an ex-Marine fighter pilot who collects cars ... and fighter jets.

He may be possibly the last remaining still-active genetic throwback to the revered and storied "GM General Manager," the men who ran the separate GM divisions as their own private car companies, battling the company's board of directors for every last penny for their pet projects --

and constantly fighting each other to be first with the best and the most. The top general manager usually became president of the company (except Chevrolet General Manager John Z. DeLorean, but that's another story).

Is it possible for a 77-year old gentleman to essentially do a complete 180-degree turn from his life experience and philosophy? After all, among Lutz's major claims to fame are green-lighting the Dodge Viper and the Plymouth Prowler faux hot rod.

Can Bob Lutz get the religion necessary for the 21st century automotive world?

Maybe GM's new owners should step in at this point for some major and meaningful executive changes.

Welcoming:

USA TODAY- By Sharon Silke Carty- Updated 7/15/2009

Bob Lutz, GM's new image chief, says he'll 'tell it like it is'

DETROIT — General Motors is trying to change its image, fast. So it chose the only person on hand that made sense as its image czar: an old car guy with some new ideas.

"(GM's) image is in tatters, and they need a real jump-start," says Peter DeLorenzo, editor of AutoExtremist.com. "I think Bob will bring it." Bob Lutz, 77, was going to retire at the end of 2009, but decided to stick around and help GM revamp its advertising, internal communications and public relations. Lutz is the same guy who propelled GM's product design into the 21st century, and most critics say his tenure has helped the company turn out some pretty good vehicles.

"When I made the decision to retire, I thought we'd be in bankruptcy for a long time. I thought we'd lose our freedom to design and build the products the public wants as opposed to the products the government wants to see on the road," Lutz says. "I thought all of the fun is gone from the business.

... But lo, and behold, the government task force were not a bunch of ogres. They were extremely helpful, and their only agenda was to make GM the best company it could be."

Now, Lutz says, GM has to move fast to convince consumers it's changed. While the product design changes he made are taking hold over years, the ad changes could take hold in a month or so.And it's among Lutz's top priorities.

"There's a lot of stuff that irks me" with GM's current advertising, Lutz says.

 "We must do a far more effective job communicating what we are and who were are," he says. "We have to reconnect with this depressingly large part of the American public who won't give us consideration." Lutz expects to have impact within a month or so. His first meeting to go over

future advertising was Tuesday, and before going into the meeting, he said he didn't expect to approve much of it.

And although he'll be overseeing communications, Lutz says he expects the public relations department also still will need to keep tabs on him and what he says publicly. "I expect people to step in," he says. "But having said that, I do believe we have to be much bolder and much more

self-aware, and in some cases, more controversial or willing to tell it like it is rather than putting out a more sanitized version."

Right To The Point:

AutoObserver- Michelle Krebs, Senior Analyst and Editor at Large October 15, 2009

"New" GM Goes on the Offense with Quarterback Lutz

Expect the "new" General Motors to play offense when it comes to marketing and communications, Bob Lutz, GM's chief marketing quarterback, told the media Tuesday. "We have to shock Americans into a new awareness about the competitiveness of GM products," Lutz said. "We can't do it the way we used to do it by gently showing our products. We've got to take it on boldly and head-on. We can stand the comparison with just about anybody."

The recently launched May the Best Car Win, starring GM's government-appointed chairman Ed Whitacre was just the beginning.

Upcoming advertising will focus on GM's four remaining brands and not the corporate parent. Ads will compare GM's vehicles and their attributes to the competition, like Chevrolet ads that challenge the notion that Toyotas achieve better fuel economy and GMC Terrain ads that position it against BMW X3. And every GM ad will highlight the automaker's warranty, which Lutz boasts is better than Hyundai's but consumer don't know it since it isn't advertised.

GM will be "more aggressive" and spend big on advertising, Lutz said. "We got to close the perception gap...we want consumers to see the ads and say 'what!?"  throwing caution to the wind at the risk of offending some, admits the often-bombastic Lutz. The risk is consumers will see the ads as not confidence but arrogance, a hallmark of the old GM.

Lutz, 77, who had months ago announced his retirement, opted to stay on with the new GM in a new post. He oversees a seemingly unrelated areas - from public relations, marketing and advertising to vehicle design. But Lutz says they indeed are related as all are consumer touch points the consumer experiences.

Bob Lutz now heads all things creative for GM.

Mtuzmen: Certainly believe that Lutz's got a whole big lot to contribute to a restructuring GM. Most of what he has done in the design area was the best the pre-bankrupt GM could do IMO. The world knows and agrees that this 'guy' is CREATIVE..! Who else would be a better choice to watch perform in the Marketing & PR for a reborn giant?!. He is comin from the "GM kitchen" . With his approach, holding a baseball bat, Lutz is chasing GM in to the battlefield of agressive advertising.

60-day Money-Back Guarantee? Worked; even Edmunds.com agreed..."May The Best Car Win" is and will work too as it displays great confidence towards the competition and the consumer; isnt all this what we would like to see GM doing for the last three decades.

Will appreciate any comments to this.

(compiled and edited by: RiskyInstinct on Twitter & ZANNEL)