If cars have DNA, as it is being repeatedly claimed, then perception gap must be running in the family at GM. Now, Opel has admitted that they are afflicted by the syndrome. “I agree with you that the brand has great potential to be hipper and younger,” said Alain Visser, chief marketing officer of Opel in Automobilwoche [sub]. And they are trying real hard. They engaged German songstress Lena as an advertising icon. Not the “99 Luftballons” Nena. It#s a sound-alike, Lena Meyer-Landrut of dubious Eurovision fame. Further forays are imminent. Says Visser: “After the music, we will occupy the themes of sport, art and science.”
Opel may even go racing. They are looking “very hard” at a re-entry into the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). “Motor Sport and Opel go hand in hand like the partners of a very long marriage,” said Visser. Maybe that’s not the hipper and younger image he wants to project.
Opel indeed has an image problem in Germany. If someone says “I just bought an Opel,” the usual answer is: “Are you alright?”
Sad thing is that their bad reputation is mostly undeserved, as they nowadays build really decent cars and sell them at a reasonable pricepoint.
The cars might me much better than they were ten years ago, but Opel is still the butt of many jokes.. I don’t really consider them an option when buying my next new car, even though the Astra is pretty nice. Maybe the next generation. Only driven them on the track at a press event, and the lower rubber door-seal came off on two of the six cars when i accidentally touched the seals with my foot. Only seen a couple of the new Astras in traffic.
I would rather have an Opel than a VW. Then again, I am not posing as a hipster.
Apparently Toyota has a perception gap too – James Lentz (I’m pretty sure it was him) complained about it in a recent interview. He feels there’s a gap between Toyota’s safety and consumer perception. I wish I could find a link to the article but I’m not having much luck right now. Anyway, the perception “blame game” isn’t limited to GM or the domestic manufacturers.
The timing and content of the interview from the “top of the house” is no coincidence as it reflects TMC’s roll-out of a new advertising campaign built around the theme of “being safer than people realize.”
Nerd alert. It was Nena who sang “99 Luftballoons”, not Lena.
If Opel wanted a German icon, they should have just hired The Hoff.
I’d buy a car from Lena though. Then again, I’m not German.
The last I heard the Hoff was shilling for Audi, when he wasn’t shilling for himself.
http://www.tmz.com/2008/08/12/nobody-loves-the-hoff-more-than-the-hoff/
Although I am not sold on Lena as a testimonial for cars it might be a start.
Back in the 90s Opel was big in supporting sports like soccer and tennis, Steffi Graf and Bayern Munich being the most famous, but they lost that some time ago.
Ersatz Alizee.
If pretty icons equalled car sales, Jill Wagner would have made Mercury #1.
Filling a perception gap with a false perception won’t help.
“I bot nuu undah-weh dey bloo” – did she really sing that?
I bought new underwear, they´re blue.
She´s cute.
It’s not just in Germany. Even in Eastern Europe the feeling about Opel is the same. If you buy an Open (new or used) nobody asks why everybody knows you can’t afford anything better.