GM takes its image issue head-on in new campaign

General Motors knows it has an image issue. The company has long been embattled with perceptions about reliability when compared to imports, and until recently, has been below the curve on fuel efficiency. The recent bankruptcy headlines haven't helped, either.

When you have a crisis or image issue, the last thing you want to do is pretend it doesn't exist, especially when consumers, in general, are very skeptical by nature.

GM's marketing team gets it, and is not pretending that the big elephant in the room (poor consumer perceptions of GM) doesn't exist. In the company's latest TV spot, Ed Whitacre, GM's new chairman, admits he "had some doubts" about the company before recently taking the job. That's a good move and helps Whitacre immediately connect with viewers.

Then Whitacre, as the TV spot's narrator, rolls out the automaker's most innovative program to date: Buy a new Chevy, Buick, GMC or Cadillac, and, if you're not 100 percent happy, GM will take it back within 60 days, as long as vehicle has less than 4,000 miles on it.

Wow. GM's new 60-day satisfaction guarantee is the company putting its money where its mouth is. Whitacre says in the spot that he knows that if you get in one of his cars "you'll like what you see," especially when compared to the competition.

Talk about overcoming image issues; remember when everyone thought a Hyundai was an unreliable piece of junk? It was actually a very unfair perception. Hyundai needed to step up and back up its cars if the quality was as good as the automaker knew it was. In 1998, Hyundai announced an industry-leading 100,000-mile factory warranty at a time when you were lucky to get 36,000 miles from its domestic competitors. For Hyundai, it worked, and revolutionized its market share. The warranty was enough to soothe any concerns of consumers. Now you see
Hyundai vehicles everywhere.

Now GM's campaign takes its image issues head-on. The company says it's rebuilding from the ground up. This includes more fuel-efficient vehicles and simply reinventing itself (although not so simple a task). GM knows its cars are good, and when it says may the best car win, it is putting a lot on the table to woo back customers.

In a crisis or dealing with poor image issues, most circumstances call for dealing with it head-on and countering the negatives. In some cases, it could backfire and further spread a virus that was not as prevalent as you might have thought. In GM's case, may the best car win.

Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a marketing and public relations firm serving the Hudson Valley. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 796-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at focusonmarketing.blogspot.com or visit www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.