To
follow up our report on the great new designs by GM, we wanted to bring
you the spin on the new Buick Enclave crossover vehicle. General Motors
and Buick revealed their new 2008 Buick Enclave at a swanky little
reception in Pasadena Tuesday night. The coolest part about the reveal?
Tiger Woods drove the vehicle out onto the stage.
You
heard us! Tiger drove the Enclave out onto the platform and he and Rick
Wagoner, Chairman and CEO of GM, stepped out of the gorgeous brown
vehicle to answer some questions. And guess who stepped up and asked a
question? That’s right, Ask Patty. We asked him the question that Ask
Patty continues to ask the automotive industry at all levels, “What are
you doing to market this vehicle to women?” And what did the CEO of GM
say? He gave the somewhat disappointing, generic, non answer.
The
reason why this is so terribly troubling is that the Enclave
practically does the marketing FOR them. This vehicle has so many
touches to it that were made with a woman in mind. And we can say this
with certainty because we met one of the co-designers… and it was a
woman! She had her hands all over this crossover ute and it shows.
For example—and this is just such a great design element—she told us
that she specifically designed the left foot rest to allow room for a
heel. Now your foot can rest on that dead pedal in comfort with your
heel slipping neatly into the provided pocket. Genius! And this baby
seats eight. Eight. That is very carpool and family friendly. On top of
all of that, the color of this vehicle was beautiful. It reminded us of
a rich chocolate silk pillow. Breanne wants to pain her living room the
same color now. It actually matched the svelte brown jacket Jody wore
to the event!
So can you see what we mean? GM doesn’t have their work cut out for
them with the product, but they do when it comes to their marketing
plan. All that aside, we met with some lovely blogger women from the Silicon Valley Mom Blog and Mommies With Style. We shared a great Italian dinner with people from all over blogland, including Automotive.com, PSFK and The McGinn Group. We talked about marketing to women strategies over yummy ravioli and spaghetti.
Stay tuned for more updates as we travel through the L.A. Auto Show!