Me people, We people, Us people.

[parsec]

In the past, I was occasionally involved in new car launches for Volvo and others. We would put together competitive space comparisons. A Volvo S60, a BMW 330i, and a Mercedes C300 were very similar cars with similar price tags. But the cars were marketed to three different types of people: We people, Me people, and Us people.

Volvo owners are We people: concerned about community and doing the right things for the environment, driving safely, etc.

BMW owners are Me people: concerned about the personal enjoyment of driving their cars, and happy to drive on twisty roads at substantially over the speed limit.

Mercedes owners are Us people, as in Us vs Them. They use their cars (which they believe to be the best-engineered cars on earth) to set help set themselves apart from those people who drive inferior cars. They see themselves as superior people driving superior cars.

Those three manufacturers were skilled at tweaking their cars and advertising to better appeal to their target markets.

So, what are Chevy owners? I'd have to think they are just well-adjusted ordinary people. We could call them Folks.

Your assignment: Answer the following questions.
1. What are Tesla owners? (Extra points for coming up with something catchier than "self absorbed virtue signalers"
2. Do you fit the mold?
3. Has the Tesla brand identity shifted over the last decade?
4. What will Tesla be in 5 years?

 

[jjrandorin]

This isnt a moderation note, but I find this only slightly less offensive than people saying stuff like " all (insert political stance X) people do Y" or "all (insert people race here) people do Z, or all "(insert religion here) people do XXX"

Lumping a bunch of people together because they made one choice and assuming they all fit some mold or other typically leads to misunderstandings, or at the very least offending a bunch of people.

 

[parsec]

I'm certainly not intending to hurt anyone's feelings or create misunderstandings.

I grew up reading Ad Age in the 60's, my dad being an ad man. Early Volkswagen ads were both fun and very effective. As compared to the American cars of the time, the VW was too small, under powered, had the engine in the wrong end, was air-cooled like a lawnmower engine... and the name "Volkswagen" was coined by Adolf Hitler.

Hard to sell?

No company can afford to throw advertising dollars everywhere. Obviously, it would make little sense to advertise Volkswagens in Boy's Life. By careful targeting, ad dollars could be effectively spent in the media that best reached the target buyer. But before an ad agency could do that, they had to establish a target market via market research... the steel, aluminum, rubber, and upholstery does not do that. And the media had to know, as precisely as possible, their demographics, so that they could demonstrate that they could economically reach the target market.

My dad would work with Doctor Dichter (a famous advertising psychologist) to create perceived needs where none previously existed. For me this critical facet of advertising (and cynicism) is best displayed by the early Dial soap ads: "Aren't you glad you use Dial?" (The once happy actor turns to look at someone and looks a little concerned, maybe a tiny bit disgusted.) "Don't you wish everyone did?" The implication is that people who don't use Dial soap small bad. Of course, there is no evidence for this: people who shower at normal intervals do not have stinky skin, and the parts of the body that routinely become stinky were treated with deodorant, marketed for decades before Dial was introduced. And, of course, there were other cultures where underarm odor was not considered offensive, so selling deodorant in those cultures, required that a "need" be created.

Many years later, when I helped Volvo launch its S60, every auto manufacturer had learned the value of precise market targeting. Some high-powered market research firm (like Radius Global Market Research -- although I don't remember the firm's name) charged $millions (charged to all three companies, I'd assume) to come up with WE, ME, and US descriptors. I don't know what terms were used for the target market for Porshe, Chevy, Ford, Ferrari, etc, etc. but it is well understood and accepted by biz schools and marketing people in virtually every successful corporation that you must target your marketing -- otherwise you are wasting advertising and publicity dollars.

Consider Stellantis: 14 different car brands ranging from inexpensive to exotic, mundane to esoteric, plain to fancy. Like it or not, the target buyer for Maserati is different than the target buyer for Fiat, despite the fact that the cars come from the same organization. Talk to any marketing head at each of the 14 brands, and they can describe the demographics they are aiming for in rather precise terms. Even though you find such targeting offensive, every car company engages in it... even Tesla, or at times especially Tesla. The first Tesla, the Roadster, was the very opposite of a everywoman's car. No person of average income could possibly afford one. Even now, no financial advisor would encourage a person of the average US income to buy a car as expensive as the average new Tesla.

The driver of a Suburu WRX is twice as likely to be caught speeding as the average driver. Is that a flaw of the car? Of the manufacturer? Am I mean spirited to bring up that statistic? Am I the stereotyper you hate?


What does Google sell? You. (And as much about you as they can discover.)
What does Facebook sell? You. (And as much about you as they can discover.)

I'm only the messenger. Market targeting seems to be a necessary evil in capitalism.










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