1965 Corvette
The most recent example of Corporate America “desperation marketing” is below. Emailed from GM’s Troy A. Clarke, Group Vice President and President GM North America. Customers are getting these because they own a GM car, but it’s really in poor taste for GM to try and use customer personal information for the purposes of political lobbying. Sure the “loan” is a complicated situation and whether or not GM ends up in Chapter 11, I don’t think they should be SPAM’ing their customers with email. What do you think? Would you respond differently if it was a letter from Harley-Davidson?
Dear [Customer Name],
You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.
Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.
The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.
The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:
- One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
- Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
- U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
- The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion
Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.
Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the “I’m a Concerned American” link under the “Mobilize Now” section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.
Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better – more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.
Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.
Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.
Sincerely,
Troy Clarke
Shame on GM!
I guess I take a bit of an opposite view. My deffinition of SPAM (and mind you, this is simply “my” deffinition) is email from companies, etc which I had no connection with in the first place. For instance, I’ve never bought Viagra but I seem to receive regular emails asking me to buy.
Privacy is an important thing, but we also need to remember, the internet has been slowly replacing the USPS for awhile now. One could conceivably argue that this is a very fiscally responsible way to send this message to a range of people who may have an interest in seeing this company ultimatly succeed. Sending it to email boxes cost nothing and saves a $.42 stamps, plus the cost of the paper, to probably tens of thousands of people. There is a positive financial and environmental impact by a company who can’t take a crap without getting criticized (I watched a bit of the hearings last week and couldn’t believe some of the questions these Senators were asking).
I guess I feel that if you need an advocate, who better than a past customer.
Maybe I should try that Viagra stuff sometime?
I do not support the mentality of a traditional bailout. This comes down to the old “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day” mentality.
I learned a long time ago that I have been able to perform much better with the understanding that when I fail to meet my requirements to sustain an income, there is nobody there to save me. I believe this to be among the most valuable business lessons I ever learned.
In my youth, I had parents with some money. They could have bailed me out and made life a lot easier for me on many occasions. I think this was in the back of my mind for a while as I grew my first couple companies. I did not really let it surface, but when I was 17 years old and off on my own and running a marketing company, I suppose it was easier to think that if I failed, there would always be a warm bed and something to eat back at Mom and Dad’s place.
I failed like GM only worse. I remember some really hard times when I was all alone with nothing in the cupboard. I am not here to pluck your heart strings, so I will not get too far into the details, but I will say that there were times when I lost a lot of weight without trying.
I was not lucky, and I did not have huge windfalls. I took on as many as five jobs at a time and I developed my product better. This is the part that GM neglected. Jimmy Carter begged for cutting dependency on overseas oil 30 years ago, but GM had enough money back then to ignore the market. Over the following decades, there have been many indications of GM weakness, but they did not hear the call. It is not just about gasoline … it is about many other business and marketing strategies that have hurt them. They made a bed over decades, and allowed ignorance and arrogance lead them.
I believe that it is time for GM to do what I did in the face of catastrophic failure … work harder and work smarter. If their plans and ideas have failed, there is a reason.
As I write this, I would also like to note that just in the past three years I have purchased two Hummer H2, three Corvettes, and one Escalade for a total of about $325,000. I am certain some of you readers have sent some dollars their way, too. Yes, I am a fan of GM products, but what did they do with all of that money?