Opel: Perception Gap, Made In Germany
If cars have DNA, as it is being repeatedly claimed, then perception gap must be running in the family at GM. Now, Opel has admitted that they are afflicted by the syndrome. “I agree with you that the brand has great potential to be hipper and younger,” said Alain Visser, chief marketing officer of Opel in Automobilwoche [sub]. And they are trying real hard. They engaged German songstress Lena as an advertising icon. Not the “99 Luftballons” Nena. It a sound-alike, Lena Meyer-Landrut of dubious Eurovision fame. Further forays are imminent. Says Visser: “After the music, we will occupy the themes of sport, art and science.”
Opel may even go racing. They are looking “very hard” at a re-entry into the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). “Motor Sport and Opel go hand in hand like the partners of a very long marriage,” said Visser. Maybe that’s not the hipper and younger image he wants to project.
Opel indeed has an image problem in Germany. If someone says “I just bought an Opel,” the usual answer is: “Are you alright?”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Ersatz Alizee.
If pretty icons equalled car sales, Jill Wagner would have made Mercury #1. Filling a perception gap with a false perception won't help.
"I bot nuu undah-weh dey bloo" - did she really sing that?
It's not just in Germany. Even in Eastern Europe the feeling about Opel is the same. If you buy an Open (new or used) nobody asks why everybody knows you can't afford anything better.