Can a straight-talking Texan and a money-back guarantee persuade American consumers to buy a car from General Motors?
In its first major marketing campaign since emerging from bankruptcy, G.M. is putting its new chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., in the spotlight as the spokesman for its offer to give customers a full refund within 60 days on any G.M. car or truck.
The campaign, called “May the Best Car Win,” is part of G.M.’s effort to change its lingering image as a financially struggling company with substandard products. The first television ads will begin Sunday, featuring Mr. Whitacre, the 67-year-old former AT&T chief who was recruited by the federal government to lead G.M.’s reconstituted board.
Mr. Whitacre, with his Texas drawl and folksy manner, dismissed comparisons to Lee Iacocca in an interview, though he said he hoped to restore confidence in G.M. just as Mr. Iacocca did with his ads for Chrysler in the 1980s.
“I’m happy to do it, I wanted to do it, and I think it is important to do it,” Mr. Whitacre said in an interview. “I am convinced that our cars are as good, if not better, than anybody else’s.”
He joked that he did not expect to become as famous as Mr. Iacocca, but he did say G.M. needed to repair its image.
“People are going to like this guarantee,” he said. “We’re putting a lot on the line here, but I think that these risks are necessary.”
In the ads, Mr. Whitacre does not mention the $50 billion that American taxpayers provided to bail out G.M., or the fact that the federal government holds a 60 percent ownership stake in the company. Mr. Whitacre is filmed walking through G.M.’s design studios in Warren, Mich., and sharing his own skepticism about the company before he came out of retirement in July.
“Before I started this job, I admit, I had some doubts — probably a lot like you,” he says to the camera. “But I like what I found. I think you will too.”
Other automakers, such as Hyundai, have offered to take cars back if buyer lose their jobs, or to replace a lemon with a new vehicle.
But the G.M. program, which goes into effect Monday, simply guarantees product satisfaction or your money back.
“It’s a pretty powerful statement of confidence in our products,” said Fritz Henderson, G.M.’s chief executive. “It’s really all about getting people to consider our brands and our vehicles.”
G.M.’s sales in the United States have fallen 35 percent this year, and its market share has dropped to a record low of about 19 percent.
Mr. Whitacre has vowed that G.M. must stem the slide and begin increasing its sales. But he said it wasn’t until he and other new board members actually drove the automaker’s newest products that they felt G.M. had a lineup worthy of a money-back guarantee.
“The board was like a lot of Americans in that they didn’t know how competitive we are on fuel economy and other attributes,” said Bob Lutz, G.M.’s veteran car czar, who recently took charge of its marketing and advertising.
Mr. Lutz and Mr. Henderson first discussed the idea last month, over lunch, of having Mr. Whitacre represent G.M. in its new ad campaign.
“Neither Fritz or I would be good in that role because we’re tainted,” Mr. Lutz said. “We’re part of the gang that took G.M. through Chapter 11. But Ed is definitely not one of the Detroit insiders.”
Mr. Whitacre said he wasn’t sure he wanted the attention the ads would bring. “I was a little taken aback at first, because that’s not exactly my bag,” he said.
But he realized that standing up for G.M. on camera could send a powerful message to consumers who might be on the fence about considering its products.
“I just know if you get into one of our cars, you’re going to like what you see,” Mr. Whitacre says in the ads. “So we’re putting our money where our mouth is.”
While Mr. Iacocca became a legendary figure in automotive history partly because of the success of his ads, other auto executives have not fared as well in TV ads.
Three years ago, a Chrysler campaign featuring Dieter Zetsche, the head of DaimlerChrysler, fell flat when consumers were confused by who exactly “Dr. Z” was.
The TV spots featuring Mr. Whitacre will be phased out rather quickly, with more emphasis directed to the money-back guarantee and G.M.’s core brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.
Mr. Lutz said the company had no way of knowing how many consumers would return cars after buying them. There are restrictions to prevent fraud in the program, including a requirement that customers make regular payments on the vehicle to qualify for a refund.
Analysts saw little downside to the campaign. “The risk that G.M. has in buyers returning its vehicles is very minimal,” said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the auto research Web site Edmunds.com.
G.M. expects to continue the money-back guarantee at least through November and possibly longer. The marketing campaign will also include head-to-head comparisons between G.M. vehicles and competing models from Toyota, Ford and other companies.
Mr. Whitacre declined to put a price tag on the overall campaign, although he acknowledged that it was more expensive than other, less ambitious options.
“But if it can generate sales, which we certainly think it will, that will result in us being able to pay back the American taxpayer quicker,” he said.
source: nytimes
