Buick Envision Concept Previews Future SUVs for China

GM has lifted the wraps off the Buick Envision SUV Concept that will debut at the Shanghai Auto Show, a natural choice since the study is the work of Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC). Furthermore, GM says the crossover model was designed for China, as “it introduces the development direction for Buick’s future SUV products for the market”.

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We're Talkin' Imported from Brampton, Ontario

I had a great time last week on the Adverve Podcast (Show #71: Autobahnned) hosted by Bill Green and Angela Natividad where we discussed quite an interesting blend of topics including Chrysler's Imported from Detroit campaign, the recent Buick NCAA integration, some stuff on what I do heading social media at AT&T, and to start it all off we talked local food and gas station tacos for half of the show (checkout my latest blog: http://www.gasstationtacos.com for more information about that.)

Please follow both of them on twitter and subscribe to Adverve on iTunes, it really is a great show and both Bill (@mtlb) and Angela (@LucktheLady) have a sharp wit and great perspectives on the marketing industry. I listen to their show often and can't recommend it enough.

The tiny Buick, it has to be the smallest they made before the econo box trend of the late 1970's

Buick Goes for an Emotional Brand Campaign for NCAA

Buick is sponsoring the NCAA and as part of that effort they launched a new series of inspirational videos featuring several athletes who have overcome adversity. The campaign is called the Human Highlight Reel and as part of the launch Buick bought the homepage ad unit on YouTube last Monday.

This is all part of Buick's transformation or is it reclamation as the brand moves upmarket as a premium brand. This is the segment brands like Lincoln, Acura, Infiniti and to some extent Cadillac has played in for the past couple decades. Some people also call them segment affordable luxury. It's that awkward place between general consumer and luxury consumer vehicles, essentially the brands that cannot directly compete with the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus; although, Lexus is a primary target of all these brands. Lexus breaks convention as they have beaten the Germans in some vehicle segments.

Buick wants to own the Premium space and as Cadillac continues to evolve and yes become a direct competitor with German luxury brands, now is the time for General Motors to show keeping the Buick brand, after closing several others, was a good decision. Fortunately, the products are getting better but the brand itself still has a major way to go as it assumes a more lofty aspirational brand identity.



The Human Highlight Reel campaign is a fairly typical attempt at facilitating the brand change. I'm sure the consumer research came back showing that Buick considers or the aspirational customers Buick wants to attract are free thinking (think brand agnostic), self motivated people who don't want to follow the herd. As a way to attract these consumers, the brand is trying to appeal to that person through inspirational content that shows the spirit the brand wants to embody or at least thinks its desired customers embody.

I'll admit it is personally difficult for me to see Buick as anything other than my mom's car. She had a nice, yellowish 1976 Buick Skylark coupe. It was mom's car from 1976 until the late 1980s when she finally sold it. Amazingly, it looked just as good the day she let go of it as when she bought it off the car lot. I definitely get my cleanliness when it comes to cars from my mom (my dad's Nissan Sentra had several weeks old McDonalds bags and various trash all over the floor. No wonder they got divorced.)

Fortunately, others may be more open to the Buick brand than I am and fortunately too they are making some solid products to back up the marketing change, because it doesn't matter how bad you want to attract new customers - you have to have the right products to meet the desired change.

Buick Envision Concept SUV Heads to Shanghai Auto Show

A new Buick concept model called the Envision will make its global debut at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 18. Jointly developed by Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), the Envision is a crossover model designed for the Chinese market, although the company points out the vehicle incorporates Buick's "dynamic, fluid, quiet and comfortable" styling language.

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Buick LaCrosse with eAssist Promises 37 Mpg on the Highway

Starting this summer, Buick will offer the 4-cylinder LaCrosse sedan with the eAssist micro-hybrid technology as standard. The LaCrosse eAssist uses a variety of systems and body modifications to deliver an estimated fuel economy rating of 37 mpg on the highway and 25 mpg in the city (pending EPA certification).

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Cuban Classics, great photography of the last American cars in Cuba

see more at http://cubanclassics.blogspot.com/

Pontiac Resurrects from the Dead Tries to Sell Me a Buick

Last Monday afternoon I received an unexpected email. Seems Pontiac is back. Well at least the former Pontiac eNewsletter is back and it no longer has a new Pontiac to sell me, but someone at General Motors feels a new Buick Regal is the new GM's answer to Pontiac.

I suppose the Regal is the right answer, since it is trying to position itself as a sports sedan capable of reigniting "Excitement!"

It's an interesting play with Pontiac owners/leasees probably on the hunt for a new car and GM obviously wants to keep Pontiac owners in the family so with the new Regal there is a decent replacement for these customers.

The email also promoted service for Pontiac owners and a new mobile app available for 2011 Buick, GMC, Chevrolet, and Cadillac models. It will be interesting to see how or if the Pontiac eNewsletter will promote other GM vehicles or if it will try to move Pontiac owners to the Buick brand.

Tweet Buick Social Media Trio for a Test Drive

Buick is interested in appealing to a more youthful customer and they are making strides with the Enclave, LaCrosse, and now the new Regal. As part of their outreach, Buick has hired three social media "Ambassadors" (their word) where one can tweet the @DriveBuickChi trio and "the test drive comes to you", provided one lives in Chicago (that's what "Chi" stands for in case you were wondering...)

It's an interesting concept and surely takes some of the hassle out of car shopping for those who are serious potential buyers. I wonder though how many tweets will be people testing how this concept works with no intent of really buying.

They are tweeting pictures of test drivers like @BrianGainor (Brian Gainor) @LauraGainor (Laura Gainor) who tried out the LaCrosse last week. Laura is a social media strategist for a marketing+pr agency and blogged about her experience.

Buick is spreading the word by posting a photo gallery on its Facebook page. I'm not sure if other efforts are happening to get the idea some reach. They have also created a Facebook event from August 1 to October 31 for those who want to attend a drive. To further increase interest, test drivers can win VIP tickets to an event if they are lucky to find some tickets under the test drive car's seat.

I do like the idea of Tweet to test drive. It's an interesting idea and one that could work very well for a dealership. One wonders why this concept wasn't extended to a dealer instead of going with three social media experts. I get the obvious reason, but why not train a dealer and test-pilot how effective this can be and then broaden its reach to other markets.

Is the Buick Regal a Departure or a Band-Aid?

Today I received the first email communication for Buick Regal handraisers. The vehicle just debuted two weeks ago at the Detroit Auto Show. Or is it still the North American International Auto Show? Either way, the Regal is the latest injection of sporty European car design coming to America via the Opel brand.

The Regal is an Opel Insignia re-badged and reconfigured to meet U.S. taste. It is definitely an interesting car and won the highly prestigious European Car of the Year award back in 2008.

What’s most compelling to Buick fans and others interested in GM products is how the Insignia, sorry Regal, is a sport worthy sedan. To some extent, it fills the enthusiast hole left when GM pulled the Pontiac brand and its G8 from the product portfolio.

The Regal’s “Its Arrival Will Be A Departure” message communicates the redefining of the brand that has been underway since the Buick Enclave and, more recently, Buick LaCrosse.

Regal is a more complete departure from the brand’s image of big cars with soft suspensions appealing to elderly American drivers. This new entry brings a more sport tuned suspension, European handling and Brembo brakes, at least on the car shown at the Detroit Auto Show.

In a way Buick is becoming what Saturn always wanted to be, a stylish European answer within the General Motors lineup. Is the Regal the first of many Opels on its way to the States? European products tend to have more upscale appeal to American taste and upscale premium is where GM wants to go with the Buick brand.

Is this a departure Buick will continue to take? Or is this just a quick one product injection to show consumers there is a "New GM" in 2010?

UPDATE: Seems I might be on to something here. Just a little after I posted this blog, GM Inside News (@REALGMI) just reported that the coming Buick compact car is a slightly reworked Opel Astra sedan.

Buick’s “Photo Shoot” the Symptom, Not the Cause

Since Bob Lutz was put in charge of all things marketing at General Motors, one campaign has taken the brunt of the criticism. The first TV Spot from the campaign is “Photo Shoot” which launched Buick’s new flagship sedan the LaCrosse.

Why all the attention?

Autoblog claims “the 2010 Buick LaCrosse is the most important vehicle launched by the brand in decades.” Whether that is entirely true or not, we at least know the car market is very important and Buick really needs a wining product to fill GM’s need to remake the Buick brand with premium luxury-like products and the LaCrosse fits that need perfectly.

Buick - Cadillac’s Pestering Luxury Brand:

Four brands remain in the New GM: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac. Chevrolet is definitely the mass appeal brand, while Cadillac remains GM's luxury brand. GMC is a dedicated truck and SUV brand even though it is just a bunch of me-too Chevy and Cadillac products. Buick, meanwhile, is slotted between Chevy and Cadillac and is supposed to be a premium brand that will butt heads with Cadillac for years to come. Many think Buick only survived because of its success in China, but that’s nonsense. GM didn’t have to keep the brand in the States to keep it in China.

What’s most interesting is that Buick is going after similar competitors its sister brand Cadillac is after too. The Lexus ES350 is in Buick LaCrosse’s sight and the Cadillac SRX is running a campaign chasing the Lexus RX350. So which one is really the luxury brand?

Enter “Photo Shoot”

The TV spot treats the car and SUV like fashion models that are being shot by a hip photographer. The setup is to convince the viewer that the Buick is an unexpected subject for the ultra-cool design crowd. It is meant to disrupt consumer impression of the brand and get viewers to think of the Buick LaCrosse and Enclave as upscale, cool products.

Whether it is successful at doing all of that I’m sure someone in the marketing department will prove out with consumer research and BEAT metrics showing how well the TV spot is changing consumer perception.

Bob Lutz looked at the ad and slammed the testing saying, “that Buick commercial tested very well, which is not the same as saying that it's an effective ad." What does Bob mean? I think he means does it really get buyers to consider the Buick LaCrosse. We’ll see but we at least know the new guy in charge of marketing won’t give marketing the credit if sales are meeting or exceeding expectations.

Blame the Creative

The saddest part of the “Photo Shoot” public criticism is that the creative independent Gary Topolewski who developed the spot is getting most of the blame. Topolewski tried to downplay the attention by telling Automotive News, “the idea was to gain attention for Buick, which I think it surely did." He’s right, but the attention isn’t the kind you want from your client or client’s client.

Campaigns are not developed in a vacuum. In fact, we learn from a recent Ad Age article that Buick’s own VP of Sales and Marketing for North America, Mark LaNeve, was the one who “urged” the agency Leo Burnett Chicago to hire Topolewski. But even that is not the issue. The creative concept had to come from a Creative Brief developed out of brand planning and approvals of the TV spot from Topolewski had to undergo multiple layers of approvals I’m certain, before it ever showed up on anyone’s television set.

All of this doesn’t mean Bob Lutz is wrong. The Creative Brief that became the inspiration for “Photo Shoot” probably struggled to find what a brand does when it isn’t luxury but wants to be luxury but can’t be too luxury because Cadillac is the luxury brand.

Fortunately, the Buick LaCrosse is getting some solid reviews and the product may save the marketing provided the tweaks to the LaCrosse advertising campaign can calm some of the public ugliness going on and nothing can be more effective than some great sales results to forget about “Photo Shoot.”

Buick Enclave CXL

The car claiming to be the "finest luxury crossover ever" is quieter than the Lexus RX350,theAcuraMDX and the Mercedes R Class.




Engine:
3.6L24-ValveV6

Horsepower:
275 hp @ 6,600 rpm

Torque:
251 lb-ft@ 3,200 rpm

Transmission:
6-speed automatic

Performance 0-100
km/h:
8.1 s

Length:
5.126m

Width:
2.006 m

Height:
1.846 m

Wheelbase:
3.021 m

Towing capacity:
2.041 kg

Base price: US$35,740



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