Hasta La Creative!

Bob Lutz, General Motor Co.’s Vice Chairman for Marketing revealed Buick’s new tagline to Automotive News, said to be launched Monday, September, 21. “The new class of world class,” is the new statement for what is currently a vague, “Take a look at me now.”

The new tagline is definitely more concentrated on attracting a higher class of people, which seems to be the direction Buick is heading. It all seems to be part of Lutz’s aggressive “return from retirement” brand renovation. The push is certainly onward and upward.

On its way, however, Lutz and Buick stopped briefly to dis the ever-popular Lexus. Los Angeles has been the venue for a series of “knocks” at the luxury brand with billboards stating, “EX your Lexus,” and “Goodbye, road rage. Hello, road envy.” At least Buick’s not being subtle.

Rena Prizant is a Copywriter, Ad Creative, SEO Gal, and mammal in the Chicago area. Visit www.RenaPrizant.com or @WriteLeft.

Best Week Ever

Late last week, Chrysler filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Omnicom’s BBDO Detroit was listed as the second-highest unsecured creditor, with some $58+ million in outstanding invoices. Most of the dollars are believed to be for spot TV buys placed when Chrysler opted to dump it’s national advertising to save money. The Chapter 11 filing gives the carmaker time to restructure under government protection from creditors. So, while Chrysler does NOT have to pay their creditors at the moment, they will still receive cash infusions from Uncle Sam. Now that is what I call the American Dream!
Like a spoiled child whose parents are too weak to say the word, “NO,” Chrysler now finds that they are in great shape: safe from creditors and still receiving their billion dollar allowance. Chrysler, of course, is not celebrating…or are they? The automobile company may not be dancing, but they are acting as if they’ve got America by the short hairs. Sadly, with backing from Obama, they do. Thus it’s no surprise that Chrysler is launching a national, prime-time TV, newspaper, and digital campaign set to hit the public on May 11th, 2009. The tagline for the campaign is, “We’re building a new car company. Come see what we’re building for you.” This move back to the national advertising arena must mean Chrysler does not need to worry about reducing expenses anymore. Whew!

What Do You Mean You Want The Money?

Well, no, that’s not the truth. The real story is that Chrysler does not intend to repay dollars borrowed from private interests prior 
to government intervention. The private “investors” are unlikely sources; the University of Kentucky, Kraft Foods’ retirement fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pension funds, and teachers’ credit unions. The Obama administration is not going to let that happen, and has even berated the companies that were willing to bet on a loser (Chrysler) as “a small group of speculators” who “endanger Chrysler’s future by refusing to sacrifice like everyone else.” This, despite fact that the terms of the agreement state that lenders would be repaid first should bankruptcy became a reality.

The Final Straw

In a last “screw” you from the government and Chrysler, it is now being reported that taxpayers will never see a single dollar of the billions lent to Chrysler. From Monday’s bankruptcy hearings:

“They’re offering financing with a low likelihood of being repaid,” said Robert Manzo, an executive director for Capstone Advisory Group LLC, according to the Associated Press. As part of its Chapter 11 reorganization, Manzo wrote Chrysler expects the U.S. Treasury to forgive a $4 billion bridge loan the automaker received during the Bush administration, a $300 million fee on that loan, and the $3.2 billion in financing the Obama administration approved last week to help the company stay afloat while it is in bankruptcy.

CNN did confirm that the Obama Whitehouse stated that it did not expect Chrysler to repay the money. It’s interesting, but Bernie Madhoff went to prison for less than this.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312..Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312.

Honda is a familiar brand and a popular vehicle but the thing is, do you know its value and see if it matches your needs? Honda has proven to be a reliable brand through the years and the deal can only get sweeter as Honda embarks on a program aimed to ensure that customers only get the best option for their vehicular needs.

To provide consumers the necessary information to make the smartest decision when purchasing a vehicle, Honda is teaming up with Edmunds.com, the No. 1 auto-shopping site on the Web, to deliver “True Cost to Own a Honda” data to consumers.

The multiplatform campaign strategy developed by RPA, Honda’s longstanding agency of record, encourages consumers to compare Honda models to the most cross-shopped competition while calculating the long-term costs of vehicle ownership versus the price tag of a vehicle. The campaign features TV, online and radio.

“The voice of this campaign is honest and approachable. The goal is to get the attention of auto shoppers while differentiating the communication from competitors promoting a strong discount message,” said Gregory J. Smith, SVP, account director at RPA. “The TV ads include a clear call-to-action for consumers to check out the ‘True Cost to Own a Honda’ comparisons at Edmunds.com and are then tagged with compelling incentives.”

(Source) Press