Trouble Turning the Corner - American automakers use nostagial for marketing campaigns and procuct introductions - Brief Article

Brandweek, April 9, 2001 by Karl Greenberg

Gone are the days when U.S. automakers could make cars first and think about marketing later. A belt-tightening economy, ubiquitous layoffs and production slowdowns have left the Big Three sitting on a glut of excess inventory Meanwhile, faced with challenges from imports in every category--including the once-untouchable trucks and SUVs--marketers are struggling to find ways to reach newer and younger consumers. At the top-management levels, auto execs have responded by eliminating brands, the most notable being General Motors' venerable Oldsmobile and Chrysler's Plymouth. Almost everywhere else, marketers are undergoing massive efforts to reinvent existing brands while avoiding redundancy between nameplates.

According to many industry observers, the challenge may amount to redefining the American car. Call it a tactical merging of old and new: With a precedent set by Chrysler's PT Cruiser, whose wild success stemmed from its ability to recall metal icons of a bygone era, designers at Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are all infusing their vehicles with elements borrowed from the past. While the strategy clearly is an attempt to break from the pack, it also provides marketers with a platform to appeal to consumers' sense of nostalgia.

"Nostalgia is an area where we can compete with the Japanese and Germans. Except for Volkswagen, most makers of imported vehicles can't offer that," said Tim Malefyt, vp and senior planner at GM Cadillac and Pontiac agency D'Arcy Detroit.

Malefyt, a cultural anthropologist, argues that cars that borrow from the past without looking old can give vehicles human personas. The idea of the front of the car, the grill in particular, as the vehicle's "face" can't be emphasized enough, he said, as evidenced by a growing movement in advertising to humanize automobiles. "That's where the whole 'retro' movement fits in nicely" Malefyt observed, offering an example of the Dodge Ram, "which has a face that looks familiar since it elaborates on older styles."

The idea hasn't been lost on Cadillac. "Our Cadillacs coming out now retain that big, broad Cadillac grill," Malefyt said. "Cadillac has a lot of nostalgia. It was a point of reference in Americana."

GM execs are looking to create a reference point for the future, and are pinning some of their hopes on the Evoq. Cadillac's 1999 concept car is spawning a luxury roadster for 2003. The name conjures up the past, while the vehicle continues the symbolic link of the Cadillac grill. It sports remnants of the fins in the back and the grill, but with a sleek, modern body design.

The Evoq name (as in "evoke") also provides a metaphor for Cadillac's overall branding efforts. Last month, Cadillac launched a TV campaign using snapshots from the past to evoke Americana. One spot, which began airing during the Academy Awards, features black-and-white images of Muhammad Ali and John F. Kennedy with clips of old Cadillacs.

"We're playing with the retro thing, because that's in a sense where the meaning of American cars lies," said Malefyt.

The spot morphs into color with images from a modern family wedding, all playing off the song "From this moment on." As the ad moves to the future, it shows new models including the EXT, a truck version of the Escalade, and the Evok, the Vizon and Imaj concept cars.

Others offered more practical reasons for going back to the drawing board. "We're all chasing slippery designs to maximize fuel economy," said Mark Hines, brand manager for GM's Buick Century and Regal. "Unfortunately it all kind of leads to similar designs ... the consumer finds the cars all look the same."

But that will change, he argued, as Buick unveils its new models. Those designs, like Cadillac's, will put heavy emphasis on the grill. "In our last product review, [head of GM design] Wayne Cherry said, 'The front-end and grill is your signature. Don't mess with it." In the past, perhaps we haven't been rigorous enough with that," Hines said.

He noted that even in the Rendezvous, Buick's cross-utility vehicle, there is a distinct grill. "When we move forward you will see more of that in a very contemporary fashion. We'll have cues that tell people from 20 yards--that's Buick." He also hinted that Buick's tri-shield emblem will have a much stronger presence both in the grill design and in Buick's upcoming ad campaign. "You will see us integrate more contemporary execution of that tri-shield. You'll see some of the color disappear," Hines said.

GM's Bengal concept car offers an additional glimpse at where Buick might take its designs to bring older styles into play. The two-seat coup features the rear porthole windows, the "sweep-sphere" back end that is standard on all Buicks, and full-across lighting. "You'll see us embrace these design cues and incorporate them throughout the lineup," Hines said.

The same can be said of other models bowing next year. Ford's 2002 Thunderbird borrows such styling cues from its '50s forbearer as port-hole windows, and integrates them with sleek contours consistent with more modern designs. Similarly the Chevy SSR roadster, bowing next year, mixes old and new styling cues including strong fender forms and a prominent Chevy logo on the grill, much like the PT Cruiser and its sibling, the convertible roadster Prowler.