Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Pontiac BMW ad - would someone in the market for a BMW actually make the switch?

I saw a rather odd commercial on tv the other day; it essentially pits the Pontiac against the BMW. At least one version of the campaign is available on YouTube. Another article writes how the Pontiac G8 embarrasses the BMW 5-Series in this commercial. Well, that's what the spot advertises, but does it really accomplish the goal? I think not. The only thing I thought when seeing this commercial was "who would ever mix up a Pontiac with a BMW?" Further, who in the market for a BMW would trade down for a Pontiac? It seems to be targeted at two very different consumer groups.

But maybe I'm a snob when it comes to this type of ineffective advertising. Or Pontiacs. For me, the spot was too long and too cluttered to follow. But maybe the spot is designed for those who pay close attention to television commercials. Or it hopes to gain some sort of viral status that will increase Pontiac's market share by a half of a percentage point over BMW. Sometimes I have to wonder about who approves these ad campaigns and what they are hoping to accomplish. This particular campaign misses the mark.

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