Let me rephrase

Hmmmm....some interesting comments on my Chevy Tahoe observations. It seems that people think that Chevy somehow 'wins' on this one merely because we are thinking 'Chevy' or 'GM' or 'Tahoe' or the like. Even Chris fell into the trap that any buzz is good buzz in a conversation we had this morning. Therefore, I had better clarify some things here.

First of all Jackie Huba has some astute observations on the campaign over at the Church of the Customer. Notably:

...it was strategically flawed at birth. It's a textbook case of what happens when buzz for the sake of buzz is the primary objective. Here's why: This campaign was designed to encourage a mass audience to spread messages. It wasn't designed with loyal and evangelistic Tahoe owners in mind. Heck, even the word "campaign" reflects the impetus of mass advertising and message control.

This 'campaign', although generating amazing buzz and current mindshare, will actually, IMO, be detrimental to whatever brand it is they are trying to build if they either ignore it (nonplussed, as one commentor put it, or they just don't read blogs) or shut the site down (which is what I predict will happen, although I'd love for them to surprise me).

Why? Isn't "any advertising good advertising"? Erm. No. Not really.

Rather than being an 'everyday' vehicle, the sheer size and price (38,000-46,000 est) of this vehicle lends itself to the interstice between family and luxury SUV. Sure, you pay less than a Land Rover, but you are paying significantly more than the Ford Explorer (a family fave). The cost of the gas to run this monster, alone, begs the necessity to justify the purchase based on an almost purely 'big truck' aesthetic reason.

But the Tahoe's biggest issue is that it is quite...well...unsexy. You put it in a room alongside the Escalade or the Land Rover or the H2 and it's, well, the ugly stepsister that doesn't quite fit into the pack. There are many vehicles out there that found niches in a polluted, hard to compete in market. I love what the Civic did years ago with the ability to 'pimp' the car in all sorts of creative ways (and not manufactured purely by Honda, the enthusiasts started creating gorgeous retrofit add-ons).Why not concentrating these efforts on pimping this (ta)hoe?

And, yes, more and more car-buyers are researching their vehicular purchases online, so I understand the need for online buzz. But what do you think they will find when they search for SUVs? When they search for the Tahoe as an option?? The presence that the Tahoe has created on the net through this campaign may result in producing search results for this gaff rather than its features. In this way, not all buzz is good buzz.

'Cause really in the end, nobody wants to drive a joke.

[tags: pinkomarketing, cluetrain, marketing]