Another Round For ‘Buy American'

Anthony Fontanelle
June 20, 2007

The General Motors Corp. is greatly injured by consumers who simply refuse to purchase American vehicles. This is why the automaker is entertaining campaigns to win over the unfaithful. The largest American automaker has decided to use its heritage to grab more edge in the market.

GM’s Saturn division earlier launched its ‘Rethink American’ campaign, “the opposite of a buy-American campaign,” said Eric Hirshberg of Deutsch, which created the ads. “Even the staunchest American- car rejecter is rooting for American cars,” said Eric Hirshberg, the president of Deutsch Los Angeles, the advertising agency behind the current Saturn’s campaign. “They just don’t think they’re good enough quality, or they’re set against them for whatever reason. But everybody in this country has an affinity for American cars and wants to get behind them.”

Although Saturn’s sales have been increasing, GM will have difficulty persuading people who have spurned American vehicles that they have improved, said Jim Hossack, a consultant with AutoPacific in Tustin, Calif. “The stigma is still there. Is the reality still there? I’m not really sure,” Hossack said. “There’s still a negative connotation coming from decades of products that proved in the end to have quality, reliability and durability less than the leading Japanese imports’.”

Hossack added that patriotism alone was not enough for GM and Ford to regain any of the market shares that they have lost to Toyota, Honda and others. “Still, that they are American companies could work in their favor. I don’t see a whole lot of patriotism, but I do see a sort of rooting for the underdog,” Hossack said. “For decades GM, Ford and Chrysler had such a dominant position that the underdog was the imports. But they may have inverted their position. Detroit may now be the underdog.”

GM is not the only automaker that has been using its American roots to lure purchasers. The Ford Motor Co. tried to rally around the slogan “Red, White and Bold,” and the executives talk of the company’s goal to “embody the American spirit” and to become “America’s car company.”

But foreign automakers are waving the American flag as well. Mark Fields, the president of Ford’s Americas division, has criticized the Toyota Motor Corp. for “desperately trying to cast itself as an American brand” to appeal to patriotic auto purchasers. At last year’s Los Angeles auto show, Fields said, “Americans really do want to buy American brands, as long as we’re competitive with the imports.”

Hirshberg of Deutsch described the ‘Rethink American’ campaign as “the opposite of a buy-American campaign. ‘Rethink American’ is not a patriotism campaign,” Hirshberg said. “It’s a ‘rethink your rejection of American’ campaign.”

Saturn’s ads highlight fuel economy, safety features, and critical acclaim. It features the enhanced auto parts of the automaker that include the Saturn header pipe, engines, brakes, radiator and more. Aside from this, the ads also concentrate on the renaissance concept of the Saturn.

At present, the division of GM is entertaining a timely metamorphosis to serve as a catalyst in the industry. It will be building more product lines that will cater to the growing needs of purchasers. The ads are designed to wow consumers by flaunting the improved quality of its lineup since it began selling entry-level vehicles. Saturn is also aimed at prompting people with low opinions of American vehicles to take another look.

Despite these patriotic appeals, a GM spokeswoman, Ryndee Carney, said that the company is trying to play up its vehicles’ amenities more than their heritage. “You see more of our advertising talking specifically about the product and the brand as opposed to ‘We’re American,’ ” Carney said.

Source:  Amazines.com