Just when you thought GM was getting smart

[Brandon Miller]

They do something like this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/automobiles/10chevy.html?ref=todayspaper

[novaderrik]

this is what happens when people take their jobs too seriously

[T_Raven]

Yeaaahhhh cause whether or not we call them Chevy or Chevrolet is going to fix their problems? It doesn't change that they don't make anything I want to buy.

[silver69camaro]

Yeaaahhhh cause whether or not we call them Chevy or Chevrolet is going to fix their problems?

The article doesn't imply that. They are trying to rebuild their image, which is something everybody agrees they must do in order to survive. Why be so hard on them?

Just because a GM employee is encouraged not to use the word, what difference does that make for us?

[79PonchoUK]

The article doesn't imply that. They are trying to rebuild their image, which is something everybody agrees they must do in order to survive. Why be so hard on them?

Just because a GM employee is encouraged not to use the word, what difference does that make for us?


It's stupid though.

If you own a brand and it's considered a household name spoken of so frequently and fondly that people shorten it from chevrolet to chevy (particularly as chevy is a friendly sounding word) you should be overcome with pride.

It should be something you exploit and market off of, not discourage.


The problem is that it shows us how the top brass and the marketing department are not all too clued up. It's someone somewhere trying to be professional - too much. They know that brand consistency is vitally important - particularly for household names, but they haven't any idea of the exclusions to that rule. In fact, the word 'Chevy' IS part of their brand image....not an inconsistency.

[silver69camaro]

I disagree. We all think of Chevy as a good name with fond memories, because we're car guys. But what about the 30 year old lady who just wants a appliance vehicle? Does she think of the 1986 Chevy POS she had in high school when she hears that name? Or the beater Chevy pickup with a bumper half bolted on? Extreme examples, but that's my point. We all here (on this forum) have a very skewed perception of the autmotive market compared to the rest of the nation.

I see GM's point, although I probably wouldn't persue what they are doing. But they are making an effort, and have a marketing team - that just might - know more about marketing cars than us.

For a forum that loves Chevrolets, I laugh at how critical we are towards them.

[BuddyP]

Feel free to say "Chevy"

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/10/followup-gm-says-feel-free-to-say-chevy/

[Scott Parkhurst]

How will they refer to the old Chevy II?

The "Chevrolet Two" just doesn't sound right...

[Jarcaines]

who cares, people will still call them Chevy's, all this changes is marketing material.

[buickfunnycar.com]

Scott (Bonzohansen) already posted up on nastyz saying that was false...

[Josh69]

Glad to hear it was a mis-read...I wasn't looking forward to the formality of calling my truck the Heavy Chevrolet. HAHA!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

god what the ****..

[MrQuick]

Its a business decision made to help the company rebound. Why are we taking it personal.

Vince

[JEFFTATE]

Big Deal.

[Rod]

Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, :machine:Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, :idea:Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy,

[Vegas69]

Government Chevrolet....hahahaha I like my Chevy. They can take that new POS Camaro too.

[DFRESH]

Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, :machine:Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, :idea:Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy,


LOL

Doug

[novaderrik]

i just saw a tv commercial for a 'Chevy half ton pickup' about an hour ago. it was written just like that on the screen and the voiceover guy said it out loud.

[parsonsj]

I rarely say Chevy or Chevrolet. I usually say GM these days.

Anyway, as an employee of a big corporation myself, I see this sort of goofiness all the time. It's just some suits wanting to control the uncontrollable. Funny stuff.

jp

[79PonchoUK]

I disagree. We all think of Chevy as a good name with fond memories, because we're car guys. But what about the 30 year old lady who just wants a appliance vehicle? Does she think of the 1986 Chevy POS she had in high school when she hears that name? Or the beater Chevy pickup with a bumper half bolted on? Extreme examples, but that's my point. We all here (on this forum) have a very skewed perception of the autmotive market compared to the rest of the nation.

I see GM's point, although I probably wouldn't persue what they are doing. But they are making an effort, and have a marketing team - that just might - know more about marketing cars than us.

For a forum that loves Chevrolets, I laugh at how critical we are towards them.


I run a marketing business though - I may not know as much about marketing cars as they do....but I like to think I can pick out an obvious mistake with my experience. :lol:

I'm far from critical to Chev(y)rolets anyway. Probably their biggest supporter here. lol....short of actually having given them any of my money. lol





Edit: The fact it seems to be a false story explains why we were against it. lol.
Keeping your advetising consistent is one thing (though while keeping it consistent in most advertising, I still would have thought certain adverts would do better using Chevy instead) but discouraging the term would have been crazy.

I think some of us take it personally because we care...and too often in the past have we seen them make silly mistakes....only for us to be proven correct 5 years down the line.

[parsonsj]

I don't think the story was false. GM's "clarification" is that consumers can call their vehicles a "Chevy" if they wish, and that they are proud of the term "Chevy". Nevertheless, they will continue to encourage the use of Chevrolet over Chevy among their staff, especially those in marketing and sales.

That's how I read it.

jp

[JEFFTATE]

We got the memo this morning.
It's just a marketing and advertising facelift.

[JChilders]

waste of money.

[JEFFTATE]

waste of money.

Tell me about it .

[wmhjr]

I don't think the story was false. GM's "clarification" is that consumers can call their vehicles a "Chevy" if they wish, and that they are proud of the term "Chevy". Nevertheless, they will continue to encourage the use of Chevrolet over Chevy among their staff, especially those in marketing and sales.

That's how I read it.

jp

Me too. Interestingly, there was a piece on NPR today about this and that is their take - they were kind of poking fun at GM for this, and NPR sure isn't the most conservative group in the world. Matter of fact, when Daniel Shorr comes on, I have to turn NPR off. I can't stand to listen to that pompous a$$

[novaderrik]

Me too. Interestingly, there was a piece on NPR today about this and that is their take - they were kind of poking fun at GM for this, and NPR sure isn't the most conservative group in the world. Matter of fact, when Daniel Shorr comes on, I have to turn NPR off. I can't stand to listen to that pompous a$$

i'm sure they seize every opportunity they can to bash any car company that isn't Volvo or Toyota.

[paul67]

Someone somewhere trying to justify his job.:idea:

[wmhjr]

i'm sure they seize every opportunity they can to bash any car company that isn't Volvo or Toyota.

Actually, with this administration NPR is somewhat the opposite. They're now firmly entrenched into the GM HQ at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Schorr believes no liberal agenda is too liberal, and no conservative should have the right to vote. His dripping condescening attitude is sickening.

But back to the topic at hand. This is just a stupid marketing policy with very little meaning or impact.

[rednecknate]

so can we say just plain old Chev... I been saying my chev for year's Does this make me diffirent ? do i have my own rules? am i allowed to say it in the forest where no one else can here me?? If a bear were in the woods and said "chevy" Would he still be wrong? If a Man said it in the comfort of his own garage by accident while throwing a wrench .. after his Chevrolet made him bleed then can he say this G#d Dang Chevy?? i mean what is this country coming to !! I'm scared Mommy!!:secret:

[6'9"Witha69]

Can we start a "Stupid thread of the day" award? I nominate this one.
:spam:

[brans72]

So are they going to do away with there GM logo and make a Genral motors logo on the cars now to?

[TonyHuntimer]

This is probably a marketing stunt. Get everyone in an uproar about nothing and get buzz going for the company. Ever notice how when there's a big movie coming out that somehow the biggest actor in the movie does or says something really bad...? It's a way to create buzz about the movie. Now Chevy just got all the media talking about them for a few days.

My $.02
Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

[MrQuick]

that would be good. maybe they will just drop the y.


vince

[Johnny]

Changing the name will not change the perception. GM's problem is really that in all honestly, they have been on a downward spiral since 1972. You have to remember Japanese cars at one time where a complete joke, but as their products and quality approved, and GM's declined.... Toyoda became a name associated with quality, and Chevy a name with cheap junk.

Hyundai is another great example, 20 years ago they where on par with Yugo, now they have quality that rivals the best of them and are a serious consideration to anyone buying a car.

If GM wants to improve it's image, then build some quality cars for a few model generations and people will expect it. You can't just whip out a new Buick Lacrosse and expect everyone to forget the last 30 years of badge sharing, tupperware interior cars.

[79PonchoUK]

Changing the name will not change the perception. GM's problem is really that in all honestly, they have been on a downward spiral since 1972. You have to remember Japanese cars at one time where a complete joke, but as their products and quality approved, and GM's declined.... Toyoda became a name associated with quality, and Chevy a name with cheap junk.

Hyundai is another great example, 20 years ago they where on par with Yugo, now they have quality that rivals the best of them and are a serious consideration to anyone buying a car.

If GM wants to improve it's image, then build some quality cars for a few model generations and people will expect it. You can't just whip out a new Buick Lacrosse and expect everyone to forget the last 30 years of badge sharing, tupperware interior cars.

The reason for GMs problems isn't their cars - they have some of the best engineers in the world - and their cars are very often underrated through a combination of trend and bad PR.

The problem is the same as the one's we had in the UK. Unions.

Rover died because of unions, British airways is suffering DRASTICALLY because of unions, GM, Ford, British Telecom, UK rail networks - the list is endless.

Foreign car producers don't have these antiques troubling them. Seriously, if the workers at GM went to work at a Toyota plant, they'd strike before they even walked through the door. It's plain and simple.

The car quality issues aren't the issue any more, hasn't been that way for 20 years....bad PR and 'fashion' amongst automotive journalists are to blame for keeping that rumour alive. I don't want to hear bad stories about those who owned domestics either. There are a million GM owners who had their cars for 200k miles without a fault too....and paid less money for the privilege.

[jeff s]

People always develop slang words and that's ok. I think it was unprofessional and wrong for GM and their Ad agency to call them Chevy's in the 1st place. Too little too late at this point though.

[wmhjr]

The car quality issues aren't the issue any more, hasn't been that way for 20 years....bad PR and 'fashion' amongst automotive journalists are to blame for keeping that rumour alive. I don't want to hear bad stories about those who owned domestics either. There are a million GM owners who had their cars for 200k miles without a fault too....and paid less money for the privilege.

Your opinion. You have a right to it. Doesn't make it fact. BTW, show me those "million" GM owners who had their car for 200k miles without a fault. That's what we call making a generalization not based on fact.

There are people here on this site who own GM products today and admit that there remain quality issues. As just a single example, I'll point you to the new corvette thread and discussions of the interior that just doesn't stack up.

There are many reasons for why GM is where it is. Certainly, marketing is one of them. Unions are certainly another factor. But so is vehicle design, poor business decisions, relative quality, etc. This is not to say that other manufacturers don't have their issues as well, but there are ABSOLUTELY quality issues with vehicles less than 20 yrs old.

BTW, I'll also point to the recent announcement in April by the NHTSA concerning GM truck brake failures...... Something which I personally experienced and have photographic evidence of.... Something which GM formally denied any knowledge of (though a VP of engineering admitted 2 yrs ago) and they've now been caught with their hand the the cookie jar.

[CreepinDeth]

Can we start a "Stupid thread of the day" award? I nominate this one.
:spam:

No ****. :1st: Who cares ??

[trapin]

I'm for banning ALL threads that have to do with GM....and yes, that would include myself from posting them.

Seems like anytime you have one it isn't long before the arguements start.

Why bother anymore?

[JEFFTATE]

I'm for banning ALL threads that have to do with GM....and yes, that would include myself from posting them.

Seems like anytime you have one it isn't long before the arguements start.

Why bother anymore?

Exactly...

[Jim Nilsen]

this is what happens when people take their jobs too seriously

It is also what happens right before they get fired for taking themselves so seriously.

It has never mattered what you call something as long as it worked and people want it.

Some people need to spend some time with their families so they can learn to get along with the rest of the world better. I wonder if the nut that thought this up calls his mother by her 1st name? What a jerk off.

When we call Chevrolet "BANKRUPT" will it make a difference then? That's the name they need to worry about people calling them.

Do you have to ask them pretty please to get a Chevy or can you be denied the sale because you refuse to call it a Chevrolet to th salesman.

I say fire the idiot who is trying to conform America to GM and get there attention to conform GM to the new America that needs to emerge. Why is it they always get it backwards when they need to move forward ?

[Jim Nilsen]

I rarely say Chevy or Chevrolet. I usually say GM these days.

Anyway, as an employee of a big corporation myself, I see this sort of goofiness all the time. It's just some suits wanting to control the uncontrollable. Funny stuff.

jp

You got that right, without stuff like this they wouldn't know what to do with themselves and find themselves useless and out of a job.

[Nine Ball]

I can't even remember the last time I've said the word "Chevrolet". Its always been Chevy to me, when speaking of the brand. Usually I don't mention the brand, I just say the vehicle name.