The Detroit News reports that golfing phenom Tiger Woods is set to tackle Buick's one foot in the grave image. In a new series of ads, Woods waxes eloquent about driving his Lambda gimme– despite the fact that it's made by a brand that's more Geritol than Gen X. Or Y. "Growing up I thought it was for my mom and my dad and that generation and certainly not for someone in their 20s and 30s." But now that Tiger's a husband and father, he "appreciates the Enclave's safety features" and how easy it is to stuff his family, pets and golf clubs into the Tahoe-sized CUV. The multimillionaire also likes his $40k mom-mobile's style. "The Enclave looks cool– you feel like this car was specifically made for you." I'm sure it was. Hey! How about lending it to one of those potential Enclave buyers who can't get their hands on the crossover (before they cross over) because GM screwed-up the parts supply? And if the Enclave is already hot, and GM can't meet existing demand, why pay Mr. Woods to turn-up the heat? Someone needs to tell GM's marketing minions that timing is. Everything.
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Heck – I might drive an Enclave if it was given to me for free. But realistically – what other cars are in TW’s garage that he actually paid money for?
Just like MJ’s plugs for the now defunct Chevy Blazer (he was paid $1m per year to be seen driving a free Blazer to some games). MJ’s real love was his collection of Ferrari’s.
It’s just advertising. No different than putting Derek Jeter in a Ford Edge, or Tiki Barber in an Escalade.
If Woods is getting millions to push their product, more power to him.
TW had to pay for that Porsche 911 Turbo in his garage!
Tiger Woods getting a free Buick absolutely makes me want to buy one.
WTF? Still, down here in the land of golf tournaments, Buick (previously it was Oldsmobile) gives the players cars to drive at each sponsored tournament and then local dealers sell the cars for cheap. Lots of cars.
My numbers could be a little off, but since Tiger signed on with Buick in 2000(?), Buick sales have declined somewhere around 200,000 units. Last year they sold 130,000 cars. The deal was to pay TW ~60M. So how exactly do we calculate THAT return on marketing investment?
I think my favorite TW moment was the Frankenstein commercial for the Rendezvous – pure genius….
Don’t get me wrong, I like the Enclave, it’s a 45,000 Buick…would have looked much better as a Cadillac Escalade Jr. (what the SRX should have been)
And if the Enclave is already hot, and GM can’t meet existing demand, why pay Mr. Woods more millions to turn-up the heat?
To keep them from leaving the queue and buying something else.
You ever view an Enclave in person? It is gorgeous.
Skooter
You ever view an Enclave in person? It is gorgeous.
Yes I have, and find it a bit too bulbous for my tastes. I prefer the Acadia. Interestingly, every Enclave I’ve seen on the road in the metro Atlanta area has been piloted by a middle-aged woman.
Frank Williams:
Anecdotal evidence means very close to nothing. I saw one yesterday being driving by a African American man in his 40s. So what?
The Enclave is a great vehicle. GM shouldn’t have to pay TW so much money to promote a vehicle that is in short supply (due to demand).
Skooter
ditto. stunning. i wish i had alot of money, i’d def buy this to have in my garage just in case i had to carry people. But I dont.
I was just hanging out with a bunch of 20 something guys and they were all talking about how to emulate Tiger Woods sense of style and demeanor. I quote “He’s a righteous dude”
Buick61:
Link to Fitzmall.com Buick Enclave inventory, White Flint MD. As of this writing, 2 in stock, one on the way. They’re asking a couple hundred below invoice on the AWD CXL and $200 above invoice on the FWD CXL.
Vehicles in demand at this dealership chain command prices significantly above invoice, such as the just-introduced 2008 Sequoia and the Highlander Hybrid, get $1k-$2k above invoice. The previously hot Jeep Wrangler 4 door is now a few to several hundred below invoice.
guyincognito:
That was a joke right? You were joking, right?
Qusus,
Yes.
“A wise man once said, celebrity endorsements are the life’s blood of useless crap.”
-Stolen from Jalopnik
Seriously though, aren’t there enough people that understand the economics of celebrity endorsement so as to make it ineffective and expensive?
guyincognito,
Oh ok thank god. Because it was either a funny spoof or you were hanging out with the dorkiest group of 20-somethings ever. Glad it’s the former.
But hey, my mom loves him and that’s probably the crowd Buick is going for anyways.
storminvormin: “Seriously though, aren’t there enough people that understand the economics of celebrity endorsement…?”
Tiger Woods does; to the tune of $60 million!
I couldn’t find complete information but presuming TW has a 10-year contract with Buick (’00-’09) for $60 million, and that Buick sales were ~450,000 in ’00 and ’01 (the two years for which I couldn’t readily get figures; ’03 was ~430,000) and that Buick holds the line at ~200K for the next two years (no more declines), every Buick purchaser is essentially paying a fee to TW of about $20!
Well… it’s less than the rebates but $20 per car (plus the airtime) seems like rather a lot of money.
Perhaps they should blame the sales decrease on TW and move on to a new celebrity. I’m available and I’m much less expensive than TW.
KixStart:
Yearly sales figures are available as far back as 1998 at http://media.gm.com/us/gm/en/news/press/release_list.jsp
Click on January, then hunt around for the press release showing the yearly (and monthly) sales figures for the prior two years. The press releases go back as far as Jan. 2000 (which has 1998’s and 1999’s sales).
Buick’s sales by calandar year:
1998: 398,156
1999: 445,611
2000: 404,612
2001: 405,678
2002: 432,017
2003: 336,788
2004: 309,639
2005: 282,288
2006: 240,657
2007: 185,791
I expect sales to be even lower in 2008 (even with the Enclave). One of the main problems here is they are shrinking the number of models offered. For model year 2005, Buick had seven models. For model year 2008, Buick has three models. No matter how well the Enclave sells, it won’t sell as well as the three models it replaced (Rendezvous, Rainer, Terraza) combined.
Also, all the old names are gone. If some guy buys a new Buick Century every four years goes into a Buick dealer and doesn’t see any Centurys for sale (or Regals or Le Sabres or Park Avenues), only things called the Lucerne and the LaCrosse, he might just go to the Toyota dealer across the street and buy an Avalon. The name changes turned automatic, repeat sales into “maybes”. This is the reason Toyota has made Corollas and Camrys and Honda has made Civics and Accords since the dawn of time.
Of course, none of this has to do with Tiger Woods. He has neither helped nor hurt the brand, other than subtracting his salary from GM’s bank account.