Launching a new car or truck into the marketplace is a multimillion-dollar effort. Months of investment in design, product specifications, testing and factory tooling often
ride on a small window of opportunity to communicate to the public through media coverage. Advertising plays a big part in marketing. But similar to the movie business, good
reviews - important third party endorsements -- go a long way in creating "buzz" and helping a new vehicle succeed.
GM's Pontiac Division believed it had a strong product in the newly redesigned Grand Prix. It also knew the car was placed in the middle of one of the most competitive
segments -- the mid-size passenger car market. Planning began early with Marketing and Communications working with Engineering to craft a deliberate, and creative approach
towards gaining coverage of the new vehicle. The Grand Prix presents a good case study of how effective messaging and training can make a difference.
In the automotive business, it all starts with quality "sheet metal." That means the car or truck has to be well designed, attractive and perform well. There's no substitute
for handling, horsepower and a car or brand that already has strong customer following. After that, it's often how the reporters characterize the vehicle and its specific
features.
Mary Henige, director of product communications at Pontiac, says, "We started very early to define our key messages and sound bites. We knew the marketing messages wouldn't
play well with reporters so we worked as a team to customize them for the media to achieve the highest message resonance possible. And some of our work was in finding a nugget or
two that symbolized the features that customers want in a mid-size vehicle."
For example, Pontiac wanted to emphasize the versatility of the sedan and that while not quite as functional as an SUV or pick-up, the car could hold a lot of "stuff." It
aimed to attract performance sedan buyers who could use more flexibility and storage. One of the new features to demonstrate this on the sedan were rear doors that open wider
than any of the competitors' models. The spec sheets state the opening is 82 degrees. A car expert might relate to that fact, but Pontiac communicators worked on translating
this into consumer language. "Almost a right angle" was okay, but then Henige's team worked harder to come up with an image.
Pontiac spokespersons told reporters, "The rear doors open wide enough to solve the computer box litter problem. You know, when you go buy a new computer monitor and it's too
big to fit into the back of a typical sedan. That's when we often see the empty boxes sitting in the parking lot. The new Grand Prix doors open wide enough to get the monitor
and the box in the back seat." That visual survived the editing process and ended up in many articles.
Another feature: rear seats that fold down flat, as well as a front seat that also folds down to allow for sliding in long and wide items into the vehicle. The typical and
over-used metaphor for this type of load has been the ability to place a pair of skis into the car.
Driving along on I-75 in Detroit, I heard Marketing Director Bob Kraut say on a local radio station: "There's a enough room in the Grand Prix to load a 9 foot kayak into the
car." Why did the radio reporter select this comment? Because it was visual, and different.
The Pontiac team created similar messages about other vehicle features, such as those that related to performance, contemporary styling and Pontiac's renaissance in the
marketplace.
According to Henige, the hard work paid off in more than a few sound bites. "Our research showed that over the 12-month launch window our message resonance was 40%, which is
considered very high. We found that much of this was due to the fact that many of our messages were contained in spokespersons' quotes. This focus led to the Grand Prix being
the most covered GM vehicle for the first six months of the year. While our ranking has gone down some since then, we're still doing well." According to media launch metrics, the
Grand Prix has received strong positive coverage and fewer than usual negative comments.
"Why? We started early," she adds. "We looked at media coverage for the previous Grand Prix to find where the improvement opportunities were with the new car. We brainstormed,
crafted our messages, and then conducted media training with our managers to prepare them for interviews," she says. We also had the Grand Prix team members meet with as many
reporters as possible. We're pleased the hard work has resulted in exceptionally positive coverage, and we have very appreciate marketing partners.
Contact: Andy Gilman is president of CommCore Consulting. He can be reached at 202.659.4177; [email protected]
Message(s) in a Bottle
- Conduct messaging sessions for the entire product team. Include engineers, marketers, advertising and communications
- Search for sound bites in analogies, customer testimonials, focus groups (a.k.a. clinics in the automotive field)
- Make sure messages are differentiated from what competitors are saying
- Align messages with overall corporate strategy
- Conduct media training with video cameras and playback, then do it again
- Work to make sure that messages are communicated
- Measure your message resonance and results