First there was a "perception gap"– the alleged discrepancy between the quality of GM's products and public perception of the quality of GM's products. Now, for GM's import-fighter-turned-importer Saturn brand, we have an "awareness problem." GM NA Prez reached this conclusion based on some pretty solid evidence. As Automotive News [sub] helpfully points out, "Over the past 15 months, Saturn has launched a complete line of vehicles including the Aura sedan, which won 2006 North American Car of the Year. Yet Saturn sales are down 15.4 percent through April." So does Troy recognize the connection between Saturn products and the brand's disappearance off the consumer's radar? As South Africans say, ja nee. "In GM research of coastal markets, consumers who saw pictures of Saturn vehicles could not identify them," Clarke said, revealing that he regularly reads TTAC. On the other hand, “If you look at the purchase funnel, you ask, 'Do we have a consideration problem on Saturn or a conversion problem?' The fact of the matter is we have a basic awareness problem.” To sort this shit out [paraphrasing], Clarke says… lots. "Saturn's advertising must start over with something 'a little more basic' than the current 'Rethink' theme… Just as if you're introducing a new brand, we'll probably spend about the same amount of money, but we'll repurpose it so that it's more focused on awareness than consideration.” Sure; that'll do it.
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How about, “Please please please please buy one, please?”
John
“Saturn’s advertising must start over with something ‘a little more basic’ than the current ‘Rethink’ theme… Just as if you’re introducing a new brand, we’ll probably spend about the same amount of money, but we’ll repurpose it so that it’s more focused on awareness than consideration.”
Saturn advertises? Really?
Saturn has an “awareness problem” in the same way Ferdinand Piech has a “slight ego management difficulty”.
Saturn was borne to be non-haggling pricing, customer focused (why this value couldn’t be put to ALL GM brands, I’ve no idea), euro-styled vehicles. And it lost it’s focus from day one.
In the space of 20 years, we now have rebadged euro BUILT vehicles sold at a loss. What’s the point?
No wonder customers couldn’t recognise them, they were probably thinking “Didn’t I see one of these on holiday in Europe on that TV programme about Europe….?”
KatiePuckrik :
Less than five percent of Americans have a passport.
Bob Lutz, “Buick and Pontiac are terminally broken brands.”
GM knows it’s noncore brands are extremely weak.
Saturn’s real problem is nobody wants to pay what they’re asking for the new products. They are used to getting happy, crappy IONS for $10k.
Mr Farago,
duly changed to reflect the level of culture in America!
Again I ask, “Why don’t they just bring entire Euro car models over to North America?” I rather enjoyed flogging out a rental Opel or two when in Europe. Let Saturn be a gateway company for these brands.
When GM (or Ford) say that they can’t bring these models to the NA markets profitably I can’t help but think that either they are not trying very hard or they are factoring in potential ‘loss’ of sales of existing GM cars – yeah, like I was really considering buying a…oh, hell just name any of them, Ok, a G6, there you go…. instead of my Acura.
I’d buy a (real) Opel Astra with a diesel – long before I’d buy a Malibu, that’s for sure, and I’d buy a Euro Focus or Mondeo (another fun rental) then even a Mazda (maybe an Accord too).
Actually, Ford has better Euro cars then GM does. Too bad importing them (or at least the tooling) is not in the cards.
I’m aware that Saturn still exists, that their cars are now rebadged Opels, and that they have nothing I’d want to buy. So I have no awareness problem with them. I just have a problem with them selling cars I wouldn’t consider purchasing.
I like the look of the Astra, but it doesn’t have enough pedals, and it burns the wrong type of fuel for me. That equates to a lost sale for Saturn.
I’d buy one if I was in the market. I think they should have just let the Saturn name die and launch as Opel which would have instantly had more cache, being a German brand name and able to aggressively compete with Mazda and VW for the low-end Euro-style car.
They should just emphasize the Euro-ness of the cars – sort of aim for the I want a BMW and can’t afford one crowd.
There’s more to it than an “awareness” problem. Saturn has lost the whole plot.
We “haggled” over the price of our 2005 Saturn Vue Redline (they called us at home to offer better deals than employee pricing offered).
Their after sale service has been awful since day one. Four tries to fix a bad rear window wiper, four tries to fix a loose gear shift knob, improperly rotated tires, incorrect torque converter diagnosis (“we cant find anything wrong” – several attempts over TWO years despite GM issuing a campaign), etc, etc, etc.
Terminate Saturn.
This is how bad it is. My mother-in-law is looking for a CUV / small SUV (unlike most people). As she was verbally counting off a list in her head of such vehicles she could think of, I said “Saturn Vue”. She instantly made a face and said “I don’t want a plastic car.” Anything I said after that was met with a look of “yeah, whatever”.
Opel has no cache in the US.
If you took down the Saturn name and put up the Opel name everyone would still be aware they are ex-Saturn dealers and would consider it Saturn by a different name.
Plus, GM already sold Opels under the Opel name in the US through Buick dealers and it failed miserably back then too.
When GM changed Saturn from a paradigm of cheerfully selling low-rent econoboxes to one of Euro inspired/made cars, they should have followed that up with some marketing. When I was looking for a small car a few months back I nearly forgot to test drive the Astra because it has no media profile at all and nor do any of their other cars. I quite like some of Saturn’s new products but they are all but invisible in a crowded car market.
Well, I would probably dump the dealers as much as possible. I certainly think that the automakers would be better to incorporate their own dealership networks in each state and control the experience (there are a lot of laws on the books to protect car dealers, but there are ways…)
@TriShield- Saturn has negative brand equity, as do most American cars. Opel is at least in Gran Turismo, which was enough to make the Skyline huge, and they should promote awareness that way… Small racy cars are going to only increase in popularity with the SUV dying a much deserved death.
“”Mr. Farago,
duly changed to reflect the level of culture in America.””
I don’t believe that the lack of desire to go across the pond has anything to do with culture, or your assertion of the lack of same.
We left there for a reason many years ago. And apparently you guys are still butt hurt.
Didn’t you read it in the papers?
Not many Euro contries are besieged by Immigrants. For a reason…
I miss the old days, when you had to go to a Cadillac dealer to buy an Opel :D
When Saturn departed from plastic body panels, it was time for a massive rebrand (which was halfhearted). Probably a name change, too.
gawdodirt
I don’t agree with your tone, but I do agree with your sentiment. There’s a helluva lot you can do without a passport and that’s not necessarily any indication of “culture.” America is fortunate to have inherited many of the best elements of culture from all over the world, so one could easily stay within our borders and not miss out on all that much. Not my style (going to Italy and Croatia next month), but just a point.
Ash78: “I miss the old days, when you had to go to a Cadillac dealer to buy an Opel”
You mean Buick, right?
@SherbornSean:
He might be referring to the Opel Omega-Cadillac Catera.
For the record, I’ve never heard so much tosh in my life regarding passports, but I am NOT going to rebutt these statements as it’ll be off topic….
Saturn was built on the premise of average built but cheap cars with no haggling buying experience. It worked well when they competed against Hyundai on price and Honda / Toyota with a big discount.
Once Saturn tried to move upmarket overnight – it was the wrong brand to do so. The L300 was a joke and it couldn’t hold a candle to its competition the Camcord. The Vue was a very average vehicle until they put in its competitors engine/drivetrain then it had some zip – but still a cheaply built SUV.
Now that Saturn has taken all of the potential Saabs (i.e. rebaged Opels and Chevys) – it doesn’t make any sense. Cheap purveyer of average cars with no haggle pricing doesn’t bode well with expensive Euro flair cars. What GM did to Saturn they should have done to Saab and it would have worked much better (even if the key was up by the steering wheel).
The problem with Saturn advertising European roots is that it betrays the entire image the brand built-up over the past twenty or so years — a different car company made in America.
GM is doing the right thing here. There is no need to import expensive cars from Europe (look at the profit-margin headache VW is having right now) — just build those Delta / Epsilon II cars right here in North America. In this way, Saturn can share development costs with Opel, without carrying the price premium of an imported car.
GM is not only merging Saturn and Opel, it’s bringing together ALL of its brands across the world. It’s not like Opel or Holden have secrets that they keep from GM. Different markets have different preferences — so vehicles are developed globally and adapted locally.
That’s a great Olan Mills picture of Troy.
gawdodirt – try to be civil. Also, if you are trying to enhance Americas reputation as enlightened cosmopolitan beacon of the free world I would go about it with wit and insight rather than verbal knuckle dragging.
Saturn is, was, and always will be, a completely stupid idea. It’s a giant hole in the ground where GM throws money into. It didn’t make fiscal sense to start an entire brand to sell plastic Corolla-clones, and it doesn’t make fiscal sense to attempt to move that brand upscale after convincing the world that all they sell is plastic Corolla-clones, especially since most of their new product is clones of stuff sold at other GM dealers-and the other dealers haggle and Saturn dealers don’t. Oh, and this brand which, in the public’s mind, only sells plastic Corolla-clones, no longer sells a plastic Corolla-clone! (The Astra is not plastic, and is a hatchback, not a sedan. And it costs way too much. And GM loses money on every one they sell. Which I guess means the fact they don’t sell many is a good thing.)
Saturn is a classic case of a huge company being totally clueless, realizing it screwed up way too late, and then fixing the problem by screwing up in a completely different way.
I haven’t seen Saturn advertising itself as a European brand or even touting the Astra as a German car at all.
In fact the Astra is the only real European car Saturn sells, the rest are all American with the exception of the VUE, which is Korean and assembled here. It also so happens to be sold by Opel too but it’s still a Daewoo at heart.
All the ads just ask people to rethink the brand.
The words “start over” and “introducing a new brand” say it all.
That’s a monumental task. Is GM up for that?
Even then, what’s the salient selling point?
Right, there is none. So, the Saturn revival is another poorly conceived GM project that is set up for failure from the start.
Saturn was borne to be non-haggling pricing, customer focused (why this value couldn’t be put to ALL GM brands, I’ve no idea), euro-styled vehicles. And it lost it’s focus from day one.
I disagree. Saturn had focus and the most unusual cult following. Their whole thing was that it was Detroit brand, it didn’t act like one. One of their earliest ads was comparing the regular union contract with the one one signed with the Spring Hill workers, where the union contract was about the size of a phone book and the Spring Hill contract fit neatly into a folder. They pushed no haggle and no rebate pricing as one of their big things. They had a short ad campaign that featured the annual get-together barbeque between factory workers and owners. It really was a different kind of company that focused on people, those who make the cars, and those who buy the cars they made. That focus, unfortunately is gone because GM neglected it in pursuit of money-generating trucks and suv’s.
It’s nice that Saturn is making interesting cars now, but it’s tragic that they’re no longer the company they told us they were building fifteen years ago.
As for the other unrelated response:
Not many Euro contries are besieged by Immigrants. For a reason…
Actually, they are. The monthlong riots that broke out in France over the accidental death of three immigrant teenagers, the stereotypical ‘Polish Plumber’ that dominated the EU Referendum vote, the ‘Black Sheep’ political ad put up by the Swiss Peoples’ Party before that country’s general elections. They’re none too crazy about the folks coming across the Mediterranean in search of a better life crowding them out either.
FWIW, it’s not a matter of whether Saturn’s newest products are recognizeable. Their distinctive European flavor should’ve been a selling point as a revamped Saturn if they were intentionally changing their branding from being A Different Kind of Company, but they’re not even using the new and improved looks as a selling point. Saturn v2.0 is doomed to fall to the wayside from neglect just like Saturn v1.0 did.
Saturn was borne to be non-haggling pricing, customer focused (why this value couldn’t be put to ALL GM brands, I’ve no idea), euro-styled vehicles.
Saturn originally targeted the Japanese compacts, not the Europeans.
The difference in sales approach was possible with Saturn because they created a franchise agreement that was not typical. They could not have imposed those terms on the other brands, but with Saturn being created from the ground up, they were able to impose the no-haggle model from the start.
Saturn actually sold a lot of cars in the beginning. But the brand was neglected, so it lost steam.
Saturn is, was, and always will be, a completely stupid idea. It’s a giant hole in the ground where GM throws money into.
What is so hard to understand about this that the GM execs just can’t see it? Is GM trying to honor Roger Smith or the opposite? We get it already. He screwed up in creating this money pit, and in a few other areas too, so give the guy a break. Dump it.
Continuing this fiasco defies logic. Not enough dealers to make GM any money if Saturn did have a homerun, and what decent products they might have would sell in higher numbers at a BPG dealer.
I dont care what kind of car company they are. I want a good car, fun car, a worthwhile car. I’d like a good experience at the dealership. If this is what Saturn is then perhaps many have an awareness problem. The Aura and Astra seem like good cars, advertise those I say. Any car with the 3.6 V6 shared with so many GM cars. Advertise true integrity. Say “its the engine we are banking on, you can too.” “We’re working together worldwide”.
Then again being instructive is not main focus, its realizing were things are coming from and why, and were is it we want to be. The industry is coming from some ignorance because it thinks it can make people change. The industry thinks making people change is the answer to being happily ever after. What we want is balance, Saturn does not need to sell one car for anyone to be happy. Saturn and everyone else needs balance in their lives. I need balance, to me that means not worrying about Saturn and learning about the world with detachment. It means holding others responsible for themselves. If someone thinks they can make somebody’s choice for them, they have not realized the truth with clarity (resulting in dirty methods). Its not my job to make them see the light, I can’t. Life ie. failure will challenge us all to see the light. I’m best to let go, I cannot control when that will happen.
“Less than five percent of Americans have a passport.”
Why would an American need a passport? They’re already IN America …
I’m South African. We spell it ja nee and pronounce it “Yah nyeah.”
Yes-no, I suspect GM will be looking to the East, not to Europe, to source imports. It’s happening here in South Africa, a similar but much smaller market (670,000 cars and trucks annually) than the US.
Pretorius said during 2007, more fully imported passenger vehicles were sold than locally produced units. That had never happened before. McCarthy said that back in 1998 fully imported cars made only 12.6% of new cars sold, which compared to 55.7% of the new vehicle market last year.
However, foreign-manufactured vehicles look set to continue to dominate the domestic market.
Most of those imports were Korean and, more recently, Chinese. And not all were counted because their dealers didn’t join industry associations, so the position is worse than the figures show. Link
Martin B : I’m South African. We spell it ja nee and pronounce it “Yah nyeah.” I asked my wife– a Bloemfontein rose– how to spell it. That's all I'm saying on that score (so to speak). Text amended.
Robert Farago:
“I asked my wife – a Bloemfontein rose”
VRYSTAA-A-A-A-A-T!!!!
He’s not thinking with enough nuance. Saturn as a car-making brand has a consideration problem in the US, not an awareness problem. But the recent spate of new models have an awareness problem that is standing in front of the the brand’s consideration problem. Ultimately the Saturn consideration problem is worse drag on adoption than is the low awareness of Saturn models. But the product awareness problem is addressable more immediately than is the Saturn brand consideration problem, so progress can be made. Aura, et al, are product brands. But the attributes of the current cars are not communicated, and outside of the Sky roadster, the newer cars are modern-sleek yet vaguely generic. To understand the scope of what has to change in Saturn’s marketing, one has to segregate the product marketing from the overarching brand (corporate) marketing and do what’s correct for each challenge.
The original Saturn cars were highly identifiable and distinguishable from the era’s mainstream automobiles. The combination of shovel-nosed styling, space-pod greenhouses and the general swoopiness (and dent-resistance) made feasible by the launch vehicles’ polymer body panels rendered Saturn cars visually distinctive. The later decision to turn Saturn into a retail outlet for mildly massaged steel unibody European sedans, coupes and mainstream CUVs plus a niche sports car sacrificed the brand’s raison d’etre. There has been some effort to retain the other, non-automotive, existential argument for Saturn — no-haggle pricing. But that no longer has the compelling consumer resonance it did circa 1990.
So the products are more or less invisible, in media and on the road. TV advertising isn’t showing the product, and buff books aren’t hitting the right audiences. The web effort isn’t incorporating enough rich media techniques. The cars look current, and build quality as well as design are far ahead of the original brand-establishing models, but it’s more difficult to achieve awareness through vehicle presence than in 1990.
The consideration problem for Saturn as a brand is a consequence of the years of inattention and orphaning of the marque after a promising start; and of course Saturn inherits some of GM’s tarnish now. So the pressure is on the vehicles to be catalysts for their own market creation, but presence marketing isn’t fueled by enough presence on the street, in both senses.
The advertising and promotion campaign has to fill the gaps, but both lack imagination, and too much media spending appears wasted on the wrong targets. Dealers similarly aren’t aggressive enough. If you’re having trouble pulling people into your dealerships, take cars to where people are. From the strategic overlay of marketing to create a climate of acceptance for Saturn in the market, to the pointed product launch and penetration campaigns, to the hand-off of local demand generation to the dealers, marketing integration requires someone at the top possess the imagination to envision all the steps needed to drive a result. Imagination is not currently a plentiful skill in Detroit’s marketing. The cars may or may not win the tactile contests intrinsic to evaluation. They may or may not erode enough bigotry against Detroit brands to win as much business as their design and execution warrant. But Saturn can’t even learn the friction factors if it doesn’t get people into dealerships and cars. Saturn’s brand consideration problem is trumping anemia in their products’ awareness levels.
Phil
It is too funny when some high priced exec at GM when tasked with getting to the bottom of poor sales for his particular brand always comes up with the customer is not aware of this product or we are not on the customers radar screen or our share of advertizing voice is too small. Troy Clarke's latest pronouncement is true in the obverse. GM does have an awareness problem but not what he exposes. The american automobile consumer is all too aware of GM and it's products and the overwhelming majority don't want anything to do with them. Guys like Troy Clarke deeply understand GM's problems and the dire straits they are in but his job and career are dependent on him flying the company flag so to speak. If I had that job and made that kind of money and benefits I could say jsut about anything I needed to, to promote GM and its products. Gm and it's products are so uncompetitive on every level with the best products from Honda , Toyota, BMW , Mercedes etc. Look at any catagory. Quality , price, resale value fit and finish, fuel economy . They only build a few vehicles that realy are world class. Silverado, CTS, Corvette the rest no one really wants.
as long as there is Honda and Toyota running the small car game, Saturn will continue to be unknown.
hands down.
The american automobile consumer is all too aware of GM and it’s products and the overwhelming majority don’t want anything to do with them.
Pretty much. Many American consumers perceive GM as a truck and SUV manufacturer that sells a few V-8 sedans and Corvettes. When they think of desirable cars, GM isn’t even much of a consideration.
They don’t tend to associate it with reliability or customer service, and they don’t perceive it as an automaker. That’s entirely GM’s fault for ignoring these segments, even though many Americans want compact and mid-sized cars.
Saturn did well with service, but ultimately failed with product. Saturn neglected its loyal core audience, to GM’s detriment. The product was neglected for so long that it has fallen off of many shopping lists. Not exactly a shocker.
It isn’t an awareness problem or a perception problem. It’s a reality problem. If they continue to blame the customer or bad luck, and believe that marketing will solve all of their problems, they will fail.
I think saturn’s cars are half decent, but most people are really unaware of them. This is simply because GM doesn’t have the money to mount an effective advertising campain – they have too many cars and too many car divisions as others have pointed out – they are all starving for advertising dollars.
And Kevin if you don’t have a passport you can never leave America as you can’t get back in. Of course I realise that won’t be a problem for most people.
I think saturn’s cars are half decent, but most people are really unaware of them.
That is the reality problem — “half decent” just isn’t good enough. It might have been acceptable in 1958, but in 2008, there’s no point.
Why buy “half decent” when you can get “best in class” for a modest price premium, particularly when the better products will involve less ownership hassle and offer better resale value?
No amount of advertising is going to persuade many customers to go for “half decent” when there are superior alternatives.
Saturn: This is our price take or leave it!
Not many Euro contries are besieged by Immigrants. For a reason…
Wrong! but I would be interested to hear your reason.
How much money has Saturn cost GM since it started?
How much profit has it earned for the mother ship?
Having kicked the tires on several Saturn points, I’ll contribute the following observations:
1. No Haggle is a myth.
Your local Saturn slinger is likely a well-established GM dealer with other GM brands. The “one price” bleat is nonsense…they simply pack the trade-in value to try and keep you from buying a Chevy.
2. Customer friendly? Compared to what?
I was amazed at the games Saturn dealers engaged in, from mandatory glass etching to universal pinstripes applied by the dealer. These, btw, were at GM-owned stores!
The warm and fuzzy stuff was just a cover for some good ol’ tomfoolery, IMO.
No, we didn’t buy the franchise.
What’s the reason to buy one?
@KatiePuckrik: duly changed to reflect the level of culture in America!
Katie, can we keep this discussion to cars, please? Being of European descent (although calling USA my home now), I am embarrassed by such ill-cultured comments.