It isn't often anymore in the auto industry that there is an opening for a new marketing campaign big enough to drive a Ram 3500 through, four-wheels-across and all. But the accruing major blows to the safety reputation and corporate integrity of the two biggest players may have created new marketing possibilities that competitors can't resist.
So here's a prediction: It won't be long before an auto brand or two comes out with ads, maybe on TV or just in print and online, that play up their safety bona fides.
It's also probably a good idea to anticipate a new advertising campaign by GM sometime soon offering a mea culpa on safety and corporate integrity, a vow to do better -- or both.
When it comes to competitors' efforts to capitalize, their messages may be new or recycled. But either way, this opening seems to be a no-brainer in a U.S. car market where it has gotten difficult for brands to differentiate from one another based on once-effective criteria such as fuel efficiency and manufacturing quality.
Maybe it'll be Hyundai that steps up. Its spot during the Super Bowl in February used the slapstick treatment to drive home the point that its 2015 Genesis features an automatic emergency-braking system that can be a lifesaver.
Perhaps a new campaign will come out of nowhere from Volvo. While showing signs of revival with new models and financial stability, it's going to take some doing from the now-Chinese-owned, Swedish-made brand to reclaim a place in the hearts of American consumers. What better way to attempt this feat than a marketing campaign highlighting the brand's iconic attribute, crash safety, at a time when car buyers are on heightened alert over the issue?
It's even possible that GM will pull a bit of marketing jujitsu with its own safety woes and actually take the opportunity to emphasize a positive safety story with its vehicles where it can.
For example, the Chevrolet Spark was the only tiny-car model to get an overall acceptable rating in a recent test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of several entrants in the segment. Chevrolet CMO Tim Mahoney told me a few weeks ago he planned to highlight the Spark's success in that regard but would only be doing so through social media and maybe print.
"Spark is in a very small segment compared with Cruze or Malibu, so we won't give it heavy above-the-line [advertising] weight," he said. "We'll do more through social. Our intention there wouldn't be to have big TV commercials but definitely to deliver that information through other media."
It's now possible that GM, looking for something good to say about the integrity of its cars (and its culture), might choose to highlight Spark's showing just a bit more now.
