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Yet another reason why the government shouldn’t bail out the Big 3 U.S. Automakers – the $38 million Ram Challenge from Chrysler.
What do you do when consumers clearly indicate that big gas-guzzling vehicles are not what they want? Try to convince them otherwise with a $38 million reality show contest – the Ram Challenge. At least that’s what Chrysler thinks will save the falling company. So sad.
Your thoughts? Will the Ram Challenge save Chrysler? (don’t mind my laughter as you answer that question)
And just for kicks, check out the promo for the Ram Challenge below. I’m nearly speechless.
Image: Flickr
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Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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This is a tough one. Product managers (PMs) are recruited to be optimists and create opportunities, but ultimately it boils down to the question: can you create demand that ain’t there? I guess one function of demand (or so the theory books tell us) is “sufficient level of interest”. And if promoting a product or advertising can generate interest, then any PM wanting to keep their job would go for it.
But here it’s more about the other element of demand: disposable income. Oops. Bad timing.
I agree with you on this one. Chrysler: think again.
Alex, you’ve got it. No disposable income + demand shift = time to retool the marketing plan. Chyrsler still hasn’t figured it out.