JPJR

10 years ago, I used to own a Boxster.
Just recently, this came in the mail.

Nicely done, hard bound brochure.

Do you think we'll get anything this nice from Chevrolet for the C7?

JoesC5

I got a wallet key for my $40,000 C5 in the mail from GM. Never got a thing from GM for my $80,000 C6.

Jinx

JoesC5 -- maybe if you go ten years without buying a Corvette, GM will send you a premium sales pitch like JPJR got.

Or maybe if your Corvette had cost the same but had 150 fewer horses...

The 2005 Corvette "brochure" was pretty nice. Not quite Boxster extravagant, but distinctive.

Process Black

For each Corvette I've purchased, my dealer has held on to a premium dealer brochure for me. They only get a handful of them. The best one was for when I ordered my '05. It had a nice rubberized binder with DVD's talking about the development and demonstrating the new features of the car.

Usually the NCM gets a ton of them and releases them for sale. Of course it would be nice to receive one without paying an additional cost.

JoesC5

At least Mercedes sent me a hard bound Receipe Book(Picnics, over 40 recipes for dining in the great outdoors from Mercedes-Benz) when I purchased one of their cars, and a welcome letter with a catalog for all kinds of M-B accessories. And the Mercedes cost less then my C6, and had less horsepower.

BlueOx

Joe...why must you always go on about recent Corvette marketing being a failure!

JoesC5

I think that sending someone a gift for buying one of your cars falls more into public relations then in marketing. Marketing already did their job. They got me to buy the car. It's PR's job to keep me a happy customer so marketing can sell me another new car.

Bucknut2006

Cadillace gave me tickets to the ALMS race at Road Atlanta last year after I purchased my V. I didn't get anything either for my C6.

Big Lebowski

Doubtful.

Jinx

Mercedes, Porsche, Cadillac, Chevrolet. One of these isn't a luxury brand This is the downside of value-priced performance.

range96

I believe the dealership has to pay for that.

BlueOx

If only you understood what PR is. If marketing gets you to buy the car, then what is the Detroit Auto Show. PR or marketing?
PR, of course but the truth is that PR is just a part of marketing.

TractionControlOff

I don't own a C5, but the local Chevy dealer gave me the '03 and '04 Corvette brochures. I don't have pictures of them, but luckily, Google does:

http://oemcorvettepublications.com/s...31944_zoom.jpg

SouthernSon

Correct. If PR didn't help produce future sales (marketing) then companies wouldn't do it. After all, GM is not a charity or social organization. They sell a product for a profit and pay dividends. I want the car and don't care too much about the frivolities. Evidently, there are hoards of folks that feel the same way.

MikeyTX

heh ......... I got a tin of chocolate chip cookies from the dealer. The grand kids promptly boosted it .........................

JoesC5

Marketing's function is to get me to buy a product tomorrow.
PR's function is to keep me happy with the product I purchased yesterday, so Marketing has a chance to get me to buy a new product tomorrow.

RonnieC6Z

There are Chevys that cost more than some of the cars from all of the above brands. I have purchased 10 Corvettes including a Z06 and GS vert. I have never received anything from any Chevy dealer or from GM afterwards. And the corvette brochure, compared to others, is pure crap. Becasue of PR, marketing or what ever you want to call it, Chevy has the reputation and connotation of being a lower class marque. When people say that the Corvette is "just a Chevy", I may not agree with what they are thinking but I do understand where they are coming from. I have said it many times before. Corvette should be a separate division of GM, (NOT part of Cadillac) sold and serviced through dealers that are called "Cadillac/Corvette". The day is long past that the Corvette is a $40K Chevy. Today Vettes go from an average of almost $60K up to $125K. Time to separate Corvette from Chevy, give it proper marketing and PR, and show it the class it deserves.

CaryKen

Speaking as a former corporate marketing director, the statement that PR is a part of marketing is correct. The statement that PR's function is to keep you happy with the product you purchased yesterday is incorrect. You are confusing two terms with "relations" in their title. "Customer Relations" is the function that works with existing customers to listen to their complaints, keep them happy, act as a liaison for their interests, etc. "Public Relations" is tasked with spreading news and awareness out to the general marketplace. Part of that may be involved with making sure that existing customers hear about news items and events of interest, but it is more concerned with larger-scale influencers and channels than individual customers.

"Marketing" is a catch-all that involves all these aspects and many more.

Jinx

You are confusing price with value. There is a significant cost associated with putting on luxury airs. You can nitpick the piece cost of a brochure or a mailing or say a dealer's attitude doesn't cost anything, but there are real costs and they add up.

If you want Corvette to be a luxury purchase experience, it will go slower, cost more, or both. There is no magic pixie dust.

.Jinx

RonnieC6Z

The Corvette is the most expensive, and probably the most talked about car that GM sells. I want the Corvette purchase to be a classy experience. In 2005, I bought an $85K Viper from a Dodge dealer. It was the cheesiest car buying experience that I have ever experienced. I recently bought an $80K Porsche Boxster S. The experience was ALL class. I want the Vette experience to be like Porsche, not Dodge. (I have bought 10 Vettes, so I know of what I speak).