Saturday, February 20, 2010
BMW makes your joy happy.
Hey, why not. Why shouldn’t every brand own every generic positioning like joy and fun! Ritz was happy, so too, Pepsi, but, can’t a car be happy as well? Sure the tagline-slash-headline hybrid positioning statement in advertising is nowde rigueur, even though me thinks it conflicts with their classic tagline here.
A sign-off that’s is still there for the U.S. and UK markets, even if Sheer Driving Pleasure makes an appearance on the main site, and seems to change depending on the country. New positioning or not, BMW is still the Ultimate Driving Machine.
It is not fun. A Carnival Cruise is fun.
It is not joy. Exhilaration, maybe. Joy? That’s for VW and the Farfegnugen crowd.
Nor does it make joy. Trojan makes joy. (Actually, customers make joy—they make joy 99.999% worry-free.)
BMW makes the Ultimate Driving Machine. Not VW. Not GM. Not nobody.
BMW without UDM is like Nike sans Just Do It.
It’s like Harley saying their rides release your inner fun. Why? Because joy, or fun or happy doesn’t mean any more for a cracker than it does a soda or a car. When different brands increasingly equate themselves with the same word, doesn’t that word lose it’s vibe?
I know a lot of blood, sweat and rewrites went into crafting joy in just the *right* way, and that often why you shouldn’t change a positioning can be as good a reason as any for why they should change.
But, go ahead. I’ll wait while they run with joy, then change back when it turns out to be no happier than anyone else’s.
#ReadingIntoThingsTooMuch
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Well said. It's Nike sans Just Do It. The worst part of the Joy campaign is that it could be done for a Chevy, Honda, Hyundai or just about any other brand that wants to be all things to all people. I can't stand this campaign because it just shows the company is losing its strong brand positioning. Many will argue it was lost when they started building SUVs like the X5. Probably true and definitely true when they built the hideous X6 and now 5-Series GT. The destruction of this brand began with product and this campaign is just another manifestation of how the positioning is further slipping away.
After a few years of losing their strong brand image, BMW will try to get the brand aligned again and like many before it find out how difficult it is to convince consumers you really are the brand of Ultimate Driving Machines after building such vanilla, bloated family vehicles.
Sad. Very, very sad. I can only hope the brand wakes up from this idiotic direction before it is too late.
And this is coming from a 13 year BMW Car Club Member who has owned 3 BMWs including a current 2007 335i. So, I think I know what I'm talking about after seeing what is happening to this great brand.
Oh and did I mention Audi keeps looking better and better BMW. Better get ready for fight instead this Joy bullshit.
My BMW does NOT make me feel joy. Wait. Is joy now a synonym for angst and/or buyer's remorse? If that's the case, I'm over-fucking-joyed.
Post a Comment