Advertising in hard times - GM's new commercial

During one of what must be the most difficult times in any business, GM made a surprising move. Last night I watched a commercial that basically said, "We're GM, we didn't do a good enough job, we're completely restructuring, here's how we're going to do it." It was a really good commercial. Against what many believe, in hard times, DON'T eliminate your advertising and marketing budget. In the case of GM, some very smart marketing person (or team) decided that the American people are famous for forgiving when they are told the truth. The ad didn't use a bunch of flowery language, didn't try to temper the message, just told the truth. The commercial clearly told viewers that the company could no longer do what it has been doing. It's our money that's bailing them out, don't we have the right to know? I don't know about the rest of you, but I can handle the truth and appreciate it. If GM would have come out and said, "We're better than before, we are still the greatest, we're top of our game, etc." I would have been disappointed. They're not. Instead, they are saying, "We screwed up and now here's what we're going to do to fix it."

By launching a straightforward campaign, the backlash of naysayers is likely to be less volatile. There will be those who complain that our bail out money is going to the advertisers instead of into the restructuring process, but I would have to disagree. When your company is doing something to improve itself, the only way your publics are going to know is if you advertise it. You cannot rely soley on public relations - even though that's an important part of the communication strategy. Too many businesses see advertising as an expendable expense. Instead, it should be considered an invaluable investment. You can make the greatest product in the world, but if the people don't know about it, it remains the greatest product in the world - sitting in a garage somewhere. It is hard to justify advertising expenditures when you have to lay people off. People are more important, right? The fact is, with a slow down of business, you need fewer people to complete the job. The smart companies are ramping up their advertising right now while media costs are lower. If I was an advertiser, I'd want to be the one who people hear about, talk about and buy from. The others are biding their time until things turn around. Sadly things may not for them.

As a cynical Gen Xr, I must say that I'm taking the wait and see attitude with GM. Maybe it's still a bunch of puffery. But when you tell me that you're decreasing the number of models available, that tells me that you're cutting fat. When you tell me that you're making an environmentally friendly car that qualifies for stimulus money, that tells me that you're jumping on the environmental bandwagon and we may all benefit. We'll see how things turn out. I'm currently a die-hard Honda fan and probably STILL won't buy a GM, but I know there are many who are staunch buy-American types who felt like the world was going to end when GM crashed. This ad campaign gives them hope. Good work GM. Now if you can make a car as reliable as my Honda, there may be some competition. We'll see.