JerriVette

If the car is great....then advertising is not always necessary...

the magazines will do more for zero cost than the superbowl...if the car is awesome.....

Save a year of extravagances and see if it makes a difference in sales..?

jaki30

Maybe the car is going so far upscale GM figures the masses can't afford one anyway, so, why waste the advertising dollars. Afterall, a new GS is north of $70k. How much is the boost to pay for the engineering in the C7?

Jinx

Considering the way C6 prices have increased over its life, shouldn't be much.

CaryKen

Leapin' Lizards, Sandy... I sure don't know much about marketing upscale sports cars, but it seems to me that the bang for buck would be much higher on focused spends in auto magazines, automotive TV shows (except BBC's Top Gear, which will savage it no matter what), and other channels designed for the car's potential buyers than on general public scattershot advertising during widespread events like the Super Bowl.

Corvette sales are never going to be anywhere near the sales levels of pickup trucks, family sedans, and "sensible" cars. Why spend all that money on general awareness, when such a small percentage of the viewing public would ever convert to buyers? Put your line in the water where the fish already are. The people who might buy a Corvette probably pay at least some attention to either automotive media or toys for the well-to-do.

When the car debuts at the auto show (assumedly), it will automatically get tons of coverage by the automotive media. Consumers can't order it before then anyway... Why commit your budget before that? Piggyback on the free press with your advertising and marketing blitz from thereon. Make sure you have it featured in the paid advertorials that go in the seat pocket magazines on First Class flights. Throw in some coverage in Maxim and GQ for the aspiring youth market, but more importantly to gain an association of youth/cool for the older buyers who want to be sure they are not just buying something associated with senior citizens.

The general awareness marketing can just fall under the General Motors or Chevrolet corporate advertising in those spots that feature the full range of cars so people don't forget that the company produces everything from Sonics up to the flagship performance car.

I don't buy the argument about needing to build anticipation long before availability. Not on cars. Most people start thinking about cars when they need one, not "I wonder what might be available two years from now?" We on this forum are a statistically insignificant anomaly.

Jinx

Because it's a halo car. It reflects on the whole company.

JLinCA

There you go

Jinx

Dude, I'm just trying to get GM to produce a cool C7 spot. Don't you want something cool to go with the brochure? Remember in '05 we got the DVD? That Facebook money is freed up; now they just need a little nudge

BlueOx

Putting your line in the water where the fish already are means you are, at best, maintaining an aging, dwindling audience.

IMHO, marketing a 'halo' car like the Vette is all about showing the world the best you can be. Think of it as an overall GM ad that should impress the crap out of anyone and make them think that if they can build a Corvette that beautiful, that fast, that GOOD, maybe I need to consider GM.

At the same time you are also interesting NEW audiences in the Corvette because otherwise your sales will never go up in any appreciable numbers.

BuckyThreadkiller

You seem think the only way to grow the brand is by moving the age demo down. The price point of the car makes it very difficult for the younger demo to get into the car, even if it's the economical alternative to P & F cars.

The way to broaden the appeal is to build the very best car GM can and make it appeal to even those looking at higher priced competitors. Value sells.

If GM can put those shopping for a Boxster or an M3 in a Corvette, they do what a halo car should do - those folks then may be cross shopping Buicks or Caddys, which have much higher margins than Cruzes and Malibus.

SanDiegoBert

Selling the car to a demographic that can't afford it makes no sense. The Corvette has always been an aspirational vehicle to those who can't afford it. I was a case in point. I like its looks and performance, but the cost was prohibitive. Now, I will continue buying Corvettes provided they still give me a terrific bang for my buck. GM can do it, I believe. But will they?

Jinx

I don't think BlueOx said anything about selling Corvettes to kids. At least not in his last post. There are a lot of people who can afford Corvette but don't consider it; people who aren't already on the hook who should get a heads-up. Do they all read the buff books or their browser-based bretheren? Doubtful.

The Next Corvette is a big deal. Nine years since the last one. Reach out to those who weren't attracted enough in C6 to fall into its orbit. Every new generation has its converts; don't just depend on Lieberman and Baruth to get the word out. Or Facebook and Twitter, for that matter.

.Jinx
maybe they'll give it a MySpace page

jb_va2001

Why would spending big $$$ on a C7 ad during next year's Super Bowl be important? They'll sell all the 2014 C7's they can make, many at or above the sticker price. And in 2015 they'll sell even more.

The only argument that might make sense for a crazy expensive C7 ad would be to rejuvenate sales (in say year 4-5-6) to hype a new [insert something] when C7 sales begin to go flat or taper off.

Cheers,
JB

Jinx

Well, $3.8M per 30 seconds, so $7.6M for a proper minute... that could buy time on a lot of other sporting events and big prime-time TV shows with the demos you want. Maybe that's a smarter play. But you don't say nothing. Not when your normal plant capacity is over 30,000 units per year and you've been selling at well under half that rate.

.Jinx

BlueOx

No, it is by EXPANDING the age demo, not by moving it down. Two different things. Tell me how you grow the Corvette brand otherwise? Make it cheaper? That's not gonna happen. How 'young' they try to expand it to is the only real question.

Remember that as the age of current owners like you and I continues to move up, a younger generation is moving into this older age group. As they do, this 'younger' group comes to this age demographic with some slightly different desires/issues that would move them to buy a car like Corvette. Add to that the fact that the C7 will be aimed at a more global audience that gets it's information in a lot more ways. This isn't new. The Corvette has always changed as generations/times/audiences have changed and the C7 will be no different.

Jinx

Can GM just buy time on some other network that runs during the always-atrocious halftime show? I'd happily change channels to watch ten minutes of car pr0n.

Bill Dearborn

Why advertise when they know the first year's production will be sold out anyways? GM dealers will be charging price premiums for over half the year's production and will be getting full list price for the remainder.

Some of you people forget GM knows the Corvette Customer better than any other auto manufacturer knows their Customers for any of their cars. Why spend a bunch of dollars when there will be no benefit?

Speaking of crappy seats and the Customer wanting better seats. The Customer spoke on this many years ago. Do not provide supportive seats that keep you in place when pulling Gs in a corner. The early C4 seats did a great job doing that and were shut down by Corvette Owners who found them uncomfortable since their butts wouldn't fit in the seats. If you look at aftermarket seats you have to choose a seat size based on your body. That can't be done on a production car. The current seats are comfortable and the seat belt cinch feature helps with the cornering capability.

The vast majority of Corvette owners don't give a crap about the performance capability except for talking about it so seats don't get much interest compared to the magazine writers.

Bill

BlueOx

Well, I gotta hand it to you. You're very optimistic!
Do you already know the production numbers for the '14 C7? Do you know the list price? Do you know just how popular the C7 will be?

jb_va2001

If the C7 is unpopular, a Super Bowl ad won't save it.

Jinx

The only reason GM will sell every C7 they build is because they won't build unsold units. The more important question is will 30,000+ customers step up, all willing to pay MSRP?

CRABBYJ

Here is my take:

If I was GM, and if I wanted to spend that kind of money on a Super Bowl commercial, I would run a composite ad with all the performance vehicles in GM's arsenal along with the usual family choices. Have them all painted the same color (arrest me red) and doing aggressive track moves. Of course the C7 would dominate the exposure being in every shot along with each of the the others. Remember the Cobalt/C6 "Bump" Commercial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBs5FuCN8nE