DISQUS

raafi · 3 months ago

This also jibes with what you were saying about Hynudai a couple years back:

But lately I've been hearing a lot of positive buzz about Hyundai. And I'm by no means a car guy. Various auto publications have liked Hyundai's cars better than the more expensive Japanese imports. [their new advertising is] ... a campaign designed to move Hyundai into the space ... that Subaru kind of owns: the smart, safe car for people who could spend a lot of money on a car but choose not to. An anti-status symbol of sorts.

This type of product-focused work by the brand itself is not coincidentally associated with Hyundai's recent surge in sales.

Alan Wolk · 3 months ago

Good catch Raafi. I was 100% thinking about Hyundai and that post and figured no one would remember it.

But it's exactly the case-- Hyundai's brand and sales are heading up without any memorable "big idea" type ad campaign in place... it mostly seems to be WOM, DWOM and people noticing them on the street and being surprised that the good looking car is a Hyundai

dailybiz · 3 months ago

While I would certainly say that product has helped - the fantastic new Forester and equally fantastic new Outback can't be ignored - this is also a brand with a portfolio of clunkers - Tribeca, anyone? - and a long history of ugly, offbeat cars with weird technology and a reputation for appealing to communist lesbian gardeners.

So it's not just the product.

I am far beyond biased here, but I think that the advertising is solid. It focuses on how much the owner loves the car (which, admit it, every Subaru owner you know is a bit fanatical and loves their car) and how the car isn't about status...which is both what people want out of a purchase and where the marketplace is going.

Call it right place at the right time with a product that is on trend, but don't ignore that the ad message is just right too.

And it may not be flashy, but neither is Subaru.

Again, way beyond biased here, but it hurts me to see the ads called mediocre in the midst of a huge success story for a historically stumbling brand.

Ads always get blamed for poor performance and written off during good performance. Seems more than a bit unfair.

Ben Kunz · 2 months ago

Autos show what marketers forget: consumers have pretty good memories. If you encounter a car and realize it's damn good, you tend to come back. And if not, you run away.

About 8 years ago I left Toyota to buy a sporty VW Passat. The VW handled like a dream ... and was in the shop every four months. About six months after I bought it as a commuter car, the right front door handle stopped working ... and my wife had climbed in maybe a dozen times. No amount of advertising in the world will ever get me to go back.

Subaru has a bit of anti-memory problem for me. My dad bought a few back in the early 1980s when the cars were 4 feet tall and colored banana yellow. I know they've improved since then, but I can't quite get over my teenage embarrassment.

The point for agencies dreaming up the next big creative storm is, are you recognizing the brand's history? Because consumers will surely remember their experience 2 or 20 years back.

Alan Wolk · 2 months ago

Very true Ben - that's an excellent point about consumers having long memories about products. It's sort of how I feel about FPGs (Familiar Packaged Goods) - our memory of them and feelings about them are often fixed at the time we first tried them and if that experience was negative, the brand has a lot to overcome.

hamiltonwallace · 2 months ago

It's interesting how few people include product with the marketing mix anymore. The reason Subaru's "mediocre" advertising campaign is working is because they make cars people want to buy. What an amazing strategy, eh?! I hope the magazine remembers good branding starts with something people actually want to buy.

nickwills · 2 months ago

It wonderful to see the amazing car which you have made and launched after in few weeks, So good do more launches of the best designed of the great models of the cars....
All the best for your launch new brands design car...:)