harley2

Does anyone know, how it works?
Who gets to go?
Do select dealerships select 2 previous customers to go?

jagamajajaran

GM first sent media invites out which were limited to one representative per media outlet and to a limited number of Corvette customers in southern California. This was followed by dealership representative invites to a very limited number of top dealerships. GM also provided a very limited number of passes to the National Corvette Museum which were offered to their top donors. And finally, some dealerships were given a couple of customer passes to provide to loyal customers. Space is limited, which means GM has to be very selective about the invitations they send out.

JDSKY

Space is limited....

Who's the marketing genius that decided this very significant reveal should be held at some tiny venue? If GM really wants to break out of the mold of stodgy old car company does yet another stodgy old car reveal reserved for VIP's and industry butt kisser's then they should have held this thing in the largest outdoor venue possible, crank up the rock music, have a couple of military flyovers and make it a true spectacle. It is in the middle of summer, weather is ideal, people are on vacation anyway and nothing would have been bigger and better than to have a few hundred thousand Corvette enthusiasts present, along with their cars, to make this and event something everyone would want to see.

It also seems like a huge missed opportunity to provide the ultimate thank you for the people that have made the brand what it is today - THE CORVETTE CUSTOMER. Not just a few select customers but hundreds of thousands of customers. Something on the scale that only a car like Corvette could even pull off. I guess the marketing department at GM just didn't want to bother. Oh well, that's how the wheels at big corporate america turn these days.....

jagamajajaran

Or, take the cars to Carlisle and the NCM Anniversary Event a month later where tens of thousands of Corvette fans will be among the first to see the new Corvette in person, which is exactly what they are going to do. Why waste the money on a mega reveal event when you can live stream it for the world to see and then almost immediately get it in front of tens of thousands of fans? Sounds like a good plan to me, actually.

DebRedZR1

^^^ what JAG said! Everyone can view the live Stream, not have to fight all those people to get a close up view, and The General will be displaying it all over ! I’ll have fun with all my Friends watching at once.
They revealed the ZR in Dubai so should I film a video why wasn’t I invited.

capevettes

The GM Tent at Carlisle is going to to be the most interesting in many years. Looking forward to it

Supermassive

TLDR: Limited space = exclusivity, exclusivity = special, GM wants people to think the C8 is special.

Woop another thread, and another bunch of people who just don't understand marketing. A small venue/crowd reveal catering to the media and influencers of the auto world is perfect for an introduction of a car that GM likely wants to shift the perception of the Corvette from the current old guy car, to something a bit more, shall we say, classy?

When any other performance brand (Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc.) reveals their cars, they are special events that are more intimate than revealing a car at the Daytona 500. This is why the ZR1 was unveiled in Dubai (I seriously hate that they did, considering how anti-freedom that region of the world is). Dubai is the new rich people hot spot, which seems odd, but they have been marketing their little slice of desert as a place for billionaires to blow their money for some time now, and the socialites (troglodytes?) bit.

We will all get to see the new Corvette when the invitees get to, we just get to see it from the comfort of our homes. Then they will have tons of PR events around the country that people who really need/want to see one in the flesh, can.

mschuyler

I can't even imagine the logistical mess it would be if they treated this like a Super Bowl. NOBODY would be able to get close to the cars. You'd need binoculars just to get a look. There would be gridlock for miles around. Just a friggin' mess. GM is treating this appropriately and that some people are getting butt hurt because they didn't get an invite is just laughable. Get over yourselves. You've got a much better seat sitting at home.

JDSKY

Didn't say I would be going even if they sent me an invite. It's simply short sighted and small minded to think a large venue could not be had when this reveal could have taken place anywhere in the USA. The marketing team has had plenty of runway to handle any of the necessary logistics. Binoculars? I guess you have never been to an event with more than 100K people attending. I have and with a few large monitors, staged seating, press areas would be all that is needed for something like this to take place on a large scale. Those that need to be close up can be with basic planning. I'm not saying this is the absolute best way GM could have done it but with a little more effort and a little imagination it could have been something far more than a venue with limited space and catering to a small number of attendees.

The same few keep confusing a Corvette with a Ferrari, Lamborghini - insert low volume high priced sports car here - and that somehow GM needs to emulate everything they do in order to "change" the perception of Corvette. I am one of the few that thinks a two-seater toy that outsells all of the others in massive numbers needs not apologize for it's current perception in the marketplace. On the contrary, it should convey everything the brand has stood for in the past while continuing to set the bar ever higher.

That's all water under the bridge. I won't even be live streaming it. I will check out the coverage when I have the chance, take a look at the photo's and articles and then head back on over here to read the hundreds of threads about how poor a job GM did on the finished product....

mschuyler

So you think GM should hire rock bands, coerce the military to fly some jets over like a football game, and invite tens of thousands of people and THAT is proper marketing. How utterly God-awful, pretentious and ostentatious and outrageously expensive such an event would be. Security costs alone would be in the millions. And it wouldn't be complete without Miley Cyrus and her wrecking ball. Such an event as you envision would be roundly criticized by the MSM as an extravagant waste, a net negative for GM. And there's the very real chance it would turn out to be like a Bill & Hillary event to a bunch of empty seats. I'm sorry, but there is no evidence everyone in the world would flock to such an event. Thank God you don't get your way on this. It would be an utter and complete PR nightmare, a disaster for GM.

JDSKY

I wouldn't quote you again except I would just like the record to reflect that you said Miley should be the star of the show not me. I also said nothing about hiring a rock band I said blast some rock music. Have you heard that something like this can be done from a recording with no live band needed? You are also the one that is using words like coerce. Partnering with the military on major industry events is nothing new and something they actually like to participate in. Specifically if it is being viewed by a very large audience. It is a patriotic thing to do, shows support for the military and is hardly something subversive. I have no idea why you felt compelled to take it in that direction. Corvette is an American icon and I highly doubt the military would object to be associated with it. I guess you feel differently in that regard.

One of the Fortune 50 companies I worked for threw some decent customer events. The largest of which was for 75,000 of them each year. Bill just happened to be a featured guest speaker one year. He was slotted in at the very end of the three day event. You want to know how many of the 75,000 or so in attendance showed up? Just over 73,000 filled the venue. These were customers from all verticals and from countries across the globe. I think Bill did a pretty good job of putting butts in the seats. His session was only supposed to go for 1 hour. He stayed and chatted for nearly two. Just for the sake of clarification I am not suggesting Bill be the featured speaker for the launch of the C8. For some odd reason you brought him up.

I'm not sure why my idea of creating more of a spectacle for the launch of GM's new toy bother's you at all. Specifically when the basis for the idea of making it larger centers around the ability for more people that actually want to be attendance could be. I think this particular vehicle is special and this event is a once in a lifetime event. Specifically for the Corvette faithful and I know there are a lot of them that would attend this historic event in person if they could. Just so they could say they were there.

Red67John

Boys and girls... this isn’t t the second coming of Christ or seventh game of the Stanley cup Final. Let’s go attendees will number in the hundreds (maybe) certainly not thousands.

It’s mostly likely going to be a presentation of a few pre-production cars with real paint and no camo. Other recent GM reveals didn’t even allow those folks to see under the hood of the pre-production vehicles they displayed. Hopefully there is some kind of drive in, or around, so the attendees hear and sense the power.

There will be a few words from Reuss, Tadge, maybe Mary. Beyond that, it will be a bunch of media and internet bloggers walking around the floor for an hour or so, taking pics and video of the cars for their feeds. Other recent GM reveals didn’t even allow those folks to see under the hood of the “pre-production” vehicles on display.

It will all be on-line within an hour, from the mainstream auto media to the YouTube bloggers.

All of us on here are Corvette fanatics and can’t wait to see the car, but after July 18 it will make the rounds to visit Corvette enthusiasts at the Museum, Carlisle, and like the CTS 4V and 5V Blackwing models did at Belle Island a couple weeks ago, maybe even make a few hot laps at some IMSA events.

Oneslackr

Whatever, I'll view the C8 online just like the C7 Stingray & the ZR1, the C6 reveals etc... I'll see one in person when I finally happen to pass one going the opposite direction.

I didn't see a C7 Stingray in person until I finally passed one going the other way here in town & that was way after it was released, probably in 2015 sometime. Heck, I've never even seen the current ZR1 in person, let alone up close. I've seen quite a few Ferraris, Lambos, Bentleys, Astons, Maseratis etc...in & around Austin but I haven't seen even one ZR1 on the road.

JDSKY

That's a good idea and would also have been a way to directly involve current and potential customers in a more direct and engaging manner. I don't care how good the live stream reveal is as they always end up being lame. The limiting factor is producing the cars for the reveal but there has been a lot of speculation that cars will drop to dealers in January. This is not the 12 months or more to the showroom reveal so there could be a way to make it happen. Again, just have to be properly motivated to do so.

mschuyler

And I'm not sure why you are so set on pushing this idea when it obviously is not going to happen. Your starry-eyed vision of this extravaganza ignores the practical infrastructure issues that would have to be addressed. GM has chosen not to do that, and it is their party, their call.

"He's dead, Jim!" What's the point?

Steve Garrett

^^^^ This......and thanks for the Stanley Cup reference too.

MikeG37

Same here
Locally I've seen a few McLarens, one Viper ACR on the road, and even sat in a Countach of a guy that lives near me. I've only seen the C7 Z06 and ZR1 on the Internet. The first time I saw a C7 in person was at the NCM in December 2014.

blackvetterzo6

Who cares, really, you will see,it within hours.

C2C3C4C6

Who cares? We will all get to see it eventually just hope the moonies running GM haven't messed up the Corvette...they very well may have.

ShagVette

"The Next-Generation Corvette reveal is being planned and executed for maximum promotional effect and so far these are the four groups of people that we’ve seen invited to the event:

The Media

Obviously, members of the media and various websites have been invited to cover the event and this group will help spread the news far and wide. In my previous media events with GM and Corvette, we’ve seen a mix of journalists from the larger automotive websites and magazines as well as the small fraternity of Corvette-related writers from other blogs, forums, and magazines. Most of the outlets are only receiving one invite and that’s because GM is paying the bills for airfare and hotel stays for this group. A subgroup of media may also include “Influencers” who are those individuals that have large social media followings on YouTube, Instagram, and other outlets. I haven’t heard of any specific influencers receiving invites and I can’t name a single Corvette youtuber that has been invited so far.

Dealership-Invited Customers

Though a video from our friend Rick Conti (a top 10 Corvette seller who wasn’t invited), we learned that GM has made approximately 500 tickets available for Chevrolet dealers to give out to its customers. We understand that these chosen dealerships will have two tickets each and that they are designated for customer use only…no dealership employees are allowed to use them. These customers are responsible for their own travel arrangements and lodging.

Local Corvette Enthusiasts

If you caught the reveal of the 2019 Corvette ZR1 in Dubai and LA in late 2017, both events featured local Corvette enthusiasts who were invited to come to the event with their Corvettes as organizers created a Corvette display outside the event location. GM is doing the same in Orange County as we’ve heard from several local Corvette enthusiasts who have been invited to the event with their cars. Our understanding is that this group is capped at 75 RSVPs with each local Corvette enthusiast receiving two invites to the reveal event.

GM Corporate/Corvette Team Members/VIPs



The final group identified are made up of employees and invited guests of General Motors. We are assuming that major corporate personnel will be there and we expect to see GM’s Mary Barra and Mark Reuss along with other top brass from the automaker. The Corvette Team will have a large contingent of engineers and designers on hand who will finally be able to talk about the various aspects of the car with the media. Others in this group will include some of the top Corvette dealers (our friend Mike Furman will be there!) and we also expect several key vendors related to the Corvette program to be there as well.

For those that would love to be at the next-generation Corvette reveal but can’t, we do feel for you. Luckily, GM will be streaming video from the event life and many are organizing watch parties with their Corvette clubs to enjoy the event with other enthusiasts. We think this is a great idea so talk with your clubs and get your reveal watch parties in gear!

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2019...in-california/