GET A TRIP TO EUROPE WITH YOUR NEW CAR
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Talk about the ultimate Christmas present. "Dave! We're giving you a deluxe trip to Stuttgart to pick up your new GT3!" "SWEET!", says Dave.
This is one smart move by European carmakers. In a marketing world dominated by "the experience" rather than "the product", nothing could be better than buying your car by 1) going to the factory, 2) seeing it roll off the assembly line, 3) getting the keys handed to you by an engineer named "Wolfgang", 5) baptizing your baby on the Autobahn at 140 mph. Stroke of genius, EuroFellas.
Which brings about a potent question. Is an automobile a "product" or an "experience" in itself? In the retail world, having an unusual, fresh "experience" is almost (even more) important than the "product" the "experience" produces. For example: Starbucks Coffee rocketed off the charts when it started because it offered its customers a hip, fresh environment at every franchise in which the customer could sip outrageously overpriced lattes. No matter where you were, from Seattle to Miami, you could always find the same Starbucks: clean, hip, comfy. This attracted people, not because it was great coffee, but because it was a reliable, fresh "experience".
So what about cars? Cars are probably the only products nowadays consumed based on the product. People buy the Toyota not because they give you a free tote bag and the dealership building is hip, but because the Toyota is a very reliable product. People don't buy a BMW because the dealership has a cool kiosk where you can play addicting arcade games, but because the BMW is a fine product, and turns heads at the gas station.
But this new "Come and Get It at the Factory!" has strange implications for the marketing aspect of the automobile industry. Will people now buy a BMW simply for the trip to the factory, and the "experience" Beamer gives you? Will people buy a Toyota not because it's a good car, but because Toyota offers a "unique car-buying experience"?
Marketing is a strange business, lads.
Click link to read story.
Talk about the ultimate Christmas present. "Dave! We're giving you a deluxe trip to Stuttgart to pick up your new GT3!" "SWEET!", says Dave.
This is one smart move by European carmakers. In a marketing world dominated by "the experience" rather than "the product", nothing could be better than buying your car by 1) going to the factory, 2) seeing it roll off the assembly line, 3) getting the keys handed to you by an engineer named "Wolfgang", 5) baptizing your baby on the Autobahn at 140 mph. Stroke of genius, EuroFellas.
Which brings about a potent question. Is an automobile a "product" or an "experience" in itself? In the retail world, having an unusual, fresh "experience" is almost (even more) important than the "product" the "experience" produces. For example: Starbucks Coffee rocketed off the charts when it started because it offered its customers a hip, fresh environment at every franchise in which the customer could sip outrageously overpriced lattes. No matter where you were, from Seattle to Miami, you could always find the same Starbucks: clean, hip, comfy. This attracted people, not because it was great coffee, but because it was a reliable, fresh "experience".
So what about cars? Cars are probably the only products nowadays consumed based on the product. People buy the Toyota not because they give you a free tote bag and the dealership building is hip, but because the Toyota is a very reliable product. People don't buy a BMW because the dealership has a cool kiosk where you can play addicting arcade games, but because the BMW is a fine product, and turns heads at the gas station.
But this new "Come and Get It at the Factory!" has strange implications for the marketing aspect of the automobile industry. Will people now buy a BMW simply for the trip to the factory, and the "experience" Beamer gives you? Will people buy a Toyota not because it's a good car, but because Toyota offers a "unique car-buying experience"?
Marketing is a strange business, lads.
posted by J.L.D at 7:42 PM
1 Comments:
This is not a "new" marketing tool. Saab and BMW have been doing this for at least 20 years.
I first heard about the "buy your car in Europe at a discount, drive it around on a vacation and then get it shipped home" deal back in the 1980's.
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