Author Archive

Whether you’re the one saying it all the time; whether you’ve seen it on a bumper sticker or window decal; or even if you’ve just thought it, the phrase “I’d rather have a Chevy,” is something most Americans are familiar with. The word that makes the phrase memorable for Americans is, of course, ‘Chevy.’ How about if you were to say that to somebody in Thailand? What kind of reaction would you get? If Utah Chevrolet dealers were to use it over there, they probably wouldn’t do so well. I’d be willing to bet that, even if they agreed with you about your preference to Chevrolet’s, you would get a blank stare in response. It’s easy to tell that Chevrolet executives understand this phenomenon because they have recently made attempts at focusing their marketing efforts on ‘Chevrolet’ instead of ‘Chevy’.

The reason we’re even talking about this issue lies in a memo, written by GM executives, which leaked out to the press. The section of the memo that got everybody in a tissy is as follows: “We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward.” That sentence alone might give a person the impression that GM is trying to ditch the nick-name that has become an American Icon, but really, the rest of the memo talked about creating consistency in the brand. After all the hoopla, GM had to do a bit of explaining by saying that the memo was “poorly-worded.” Of course Chevy dealers in Utah didn’t expect to have to make any huge change. Although doing so would have been public relations suicide, I wish that they would have just told everybody to take a Marketing class.

We have hopefully already established the fact that foreigners don’t have an emotional connection Chevrolet’s nick-name, and who can blame them? They likely have their own auto-makers. They didn’t learn to drive in the family Chevrolet. They didn’t spend their summers supping up a Chevrolet; nor did they pull their boat to the lake with the Chevrolet. Utah Chevy dealers know that in a different country trying to use that word for marketing purposes would be pointless, so why should the global corporate headquarters allow it? The whole issue revolves around solid marketing principles.

Furthermore, I have a hard time believing that anybody would receive even a moderate reprimand for saying “Chevy.” Towards the end, the office memo included a small P.S. that reads as follows, “We put a plastic “Chevy” can down the hall that will accept a quarter every time someone uses “Chevy” rather than Chevrolet! We’ll use the money for a team building activity.” Chevy dealers in Utah do things like that all the time as incentives for their salespeople. If they really wanted to get rid of the nick-name, don’t you think the punishment would have been a bit harsher? Obviously, as Alan Batey-vice president for Chevrolet sales and service-said, this was his way of making a small adjustment and having “a bit of fun.”

After reading a lot of articles associated with this topic, and reading the comments on the articles, I noticed that the issue has caused many to lose respect or faith in management at GM. On the contrary, this should be evidence of their competence in basic business practices. Of course they would never get rid of the nick-name where it has been built up. Utah Chevy dealers would have their heads on a pike! However, just like its lame for a person to give themselves a nick-name, GM cannot presume that Chevy will be as big of a hit in other markets. GM can, however, concentrate on building the equity of the Chevrolet brand, and let the consumers name them as they will. Let’s just hope it’s as positive as the American one has been.

Looking to find the best deal from a Utah Chevy dealer, then visit http://www.brentbrown-chevrolet.com to find the best advice from Chevy dealers in Utah.