Analyzing GM's Marketing
The overall perception of GM has went up in the last two years. According to the New York Times in 2009 the company was at a low of 59% of Americans having a negative view of the company. As of last summer this sentiment had turned around to 42 % approving and only 32 % disapproving. This turn around is just the first step in recovery and the changing of image.
The recent decision to discontinue Facebook ads has created a bunch of press coverage and some are chastising GM for not utilizing the tool correctly. As an example Jan Rezab wrote an open letter to GM that was posted on the Forbes web site. In the letter he is critical of GM not seemingly taking the Facebook presence seriously and not dedicating a resource to answer questions. He also points out that they were posting updates at times when most of their audience was not actively on Facebook or in a position to look at the pages.
What is a bit misleading is that GM was specifically withdrawing the Facebook ads and not their Facebook pages. The delivery of the ads may be not creating the traffic that they would like and it appears that they are just refocusing their efforts elsewhere. This is exactly what we are covering in class where have to review the data and take action on the results. This alone tells me that they are not satisfied that their message is getting out to the target audience and that they are going to try a different approach.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/auto-bailout-is-looking-better-to-the-public/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/05/16/an-open-letter-to-gm-why-you-shouldnt-abandon-facebook/
I haven't looked at the ads in detail, but one might wonder if GM was using the right messaging or enticement in their ads. But you'd also think that Facebook would have dedicated some resources to helping GM get the most out of the platform, especially for the amount of $ they were investing.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder if it was the message in the ads that failed to captivate customers. I'd expect a company of GM's size to be able to properly assess what advertisement is successful and use that information correctly but at the same time we've seen many large companies make ads that not only failed but also worked to tarnish their name. I don't think withdrawing from advertising on Facebook is a reason to chastise a company though. If they are measuring the effectiveness of the ads and find they aren't working then there isn't a reason to continue. I think GM will once again advertise on Facebook in the future though, they just need to reexamine how to do it successfully.
ReplyDeleteA company does not necessarily have to run ads on Facebook to be successful on their platform. With a world renowned reputation, General Motors (GM) has a huge variety of advertisement opportunities and Facebook is a mere drop in the bucket for them. GM could have a very active presence on Facebook and likely get the same ROI that they would if they placed ads on the site.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I do not look at the ads on Facebook. I find them irritating and more of a nuisance than anything. My guess is that I am not the only consumer that feels that way. GM can likely find a more effective way to reallocate the resources they were using on Facebook ads that will have more of an impact.