Ranger83 Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 - Stereotype for me - what type of person is a "Subaru person"?Subaru is the official car of New England Engineers, Lesbians, and School Teachers. Some of us are two for three.... * Thought starter one: pretend that you're driving up to a stoplight. You pull up next to a Forrester. Who's driving? How about for a WRX? A new Legacy? 1. Middle-aged woman or Senior male. 2. Who cares. 3. Legacy? Senior Citizen Outback? Mom. * Thought starter two: Compared to people who drive Nissan/Toyota/Ford, Subaru drivers are much more....what?Outdoorsy. I'm amazed that Subaru does not make more of their rally experience. I was very pleased with how the Outback handles, and as a former road racer and performance rallyist, delight in stuffing it up the back of BMW's driven by ham-handed white guys who think "the line" is the one down the middle of the road. The suspension has decent ride quality while being able to handle a substantial load and offers excellent ground clearance on dirt roads and snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 NIce one Northguy, but maybe a little risky. I thought of another way of discribing a Subaru: It's the car you will want to give a name ;-) (My Impreza is called Terri !) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7starTom Posted June 18, 2004 Author Share Posted June 18, 2004 Hey there - a note from the original poster. Thanks much for all your comments, I've enjoyed reading the variety of ideas! When I get to the point when we have some ad concepts to talk about, I'd may want to come back and get some feedback from you on the rough thoughts. Know that I continue to keep up with the thread, so if you have new thoughts to add, please pile on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajun100 Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 How about a "family" ad: one that shows in a snowy lot, for example, older Subarus and newer models side by side, the early morphing into the good-looking and performing vehicle it is today? How about road MILEAGE figures under the cars -- for example, 300,000km on this 1986, etc. etc. Yas, I know this imples great reliability --- and, well, maybe it's provable, maybe not ... My take on the ads is that Subaru still doesn't really know where their most satisfying market lies. So they shoot for everything, blurring the message. I SUSPECT that with the price increases, mpg concerns, word getting around (yes, it is!) on the less-than-excellent reliability of the 2.5 engines, and competition ... that Subaru will have tougher sledding this next couple years. They better get it right, and I really doubt that the relatively small population following Lance Armstrong is their best bet for growing sales. To me -- and probably others -- the ads mean nothing. The info from this forum and related others means everything. I am very close to deciding to sell our 1998 OBW due to needed and potential expensive repairs and I doubt we will get another. Even my 1984 VW Convertible has been less expensive to maintain. Too bad, Subaru -- 'cause I live in northern CA where the vehicles are popular and I get queried every week by someone wanting a recommendation or not, knowing I know something about the marque. Actions speak louder than words, even those in advertising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahDL88 Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 I browsed, sorry, but i like the classic... person in front of car, this is my Subaru ______ its got 2,000,000 miles and i love it, repeat 5 times, showing cars like Kens brat and Corkys turbo's the people that drive subarus, dont drive them cause they look good, go fast, although the fast part is changing quick, or because it makes them cool. subaru drivers are not the "cool" croud, the're the sensible, "I want a car that can go anywhere when i need it to, like out of a snowy driveway, but i want reliability and a ruggedness" the core audience of the subaru is a smart person that shops around and once they get a subie they usually get a second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Outback Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Well, my 2 cents is that Subaru really has to focus some ads on the Legacy. The last gen Legacy got so lost in the marketing between the Forester, WRX, and Outback. The only article about the Legacy GT in my Motor Trend was just a quick look. No comparison test between the last gen Accord and Camry, nothing but a quick look. Car and Driver did a more extensive test between family sedans and the Legacy took 4th out of 10. Not to bad considering it is a little smaller then other sedans. Getting vehicles into the hands of the testers is extremely important. Subaru has only so much they can spend on ads, so they have to count, and the current ads are unique and do this. GM and Ford just constantly run their annoying comercials. Sometimes the same ad every other commercial break. It almost makes me want to buy one just to get them to stop showing the ad. I have taped movies that are 12yrs old with Honda commercials that are the same basic ads that they have today, boring and uncreative. I like the current ads, maybe because I'm 20 and I like ads that stand apart and are entertaining. Not like the constant blathering of GM ads that, at least with their truck ads, usually have a shot where you can see the camera in the chrome of the bumper, or the rambling about sales events and take a good song and ruin it Ford ads. And about the wheel bearings and headgaskets. The wheel bearing installation procedures were changed to reduce the bearing preload or crush. It really was improperly made bearings at fault, was the way they installed them. And I work in the parts department at a big Subaru dealership and can say that the headgasket issues are no more of a problem then with any other company using aluminum engines. I also handle the warrenty return parts that are to be scraped and can say that in a 4 or 5mo period there were only about 6 HG kits claimed for warrenty. I've also grilled the techs about the problem and they say it really only affects probably less then 1% of Subies with the 2.5L. According to my manager, the '85-'89 1.8L used in the GL/DL were far worse in almost every respect of engine reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderhound Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 To me Subaru means firing it up at 30 below and driving 5 hours through a snowstorm to ski some fresh snow turning 150,000 miles on the way without a second thought. When I lived in Montana I often drove from Bozeman to Whitefish and my legacy saved my arse more than once. The scariest was coming down out of the hills into Missula on I90 cresting a hill to find someone doing 40mph and when I switched lanes I found out why...sheer ice. We passed a semi fishtailing between a cement barrier and the big rig...any other car and all three of us would've been dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 I think an awesome tv ad would show the forester, baja and outback doing some heavy offroading because thats what they are intended for, offroad! Show the STi and legacy turbo cutting it up on a race track and your set for all their cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger83 Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 And I work in the parts department at a big Subaru dealership and can say that the headgasket issues are no more of a problem then with any other company using aluminum engines. You can't say that here - you'll be drawn and quartered! The fact that Toyota has a had a bunch of problems wit head gaskets - as one example - doesn't seem to surface. The local garage that does work on my 97 OBW has never done a head gasket job. Of 8 friends with OBW's - 97 and 98 - one will have had head gaskets replaced, at around 140,000 miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 You can't say that here - you'll be drawn and quartered! The fact that Toyota has a had a bunch of problems wit head gaskets - as one example - doesn't seem to surface. The local garage that does work on my 97 OBW has never done a head gasket job. Of 8 friends with OBW's - 97 and 98 - one will have had head gaskets replaced, at around 140,000 miles. Actually the Toyota head gasket issue comes up frequently. Yes but Toyota took car of it customers when it had head gasket issues. They have national recalls and admit when there is a design flaw. I was the 4th owner of a 4-runner and the HG blew at 145,000 miles. Called Toyota and they had me take it to a dealership and paid for the repair completely. Subaru will not even admit there is a design issue, and just give people head gasket bottle treatments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Try to keep to the topic guys, plenty of space to rant elsewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 I want to see a subaru commercial with a bunch of rice rockets on them. Not like, honda's or cavaliers, but decoy's. Just dummy cars that look like lowered, 4" exhaust, 22" rimmed ricers.... then have a 2.5 GT & STi come by and completly blow them away. The rice rockets and other cars would spin out of control in the background as the Subaru's continued on their way. Then there could be some lame punchline like "Its time to grow up" or something like that... Or just show a forester on the rubicon and say something like "And this is what all the hypes all about?" Whatever you do, get rid of the biker. What does Lance Armstrong know about AWD? -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderhound Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Lance might not know anything about AWD but he is the epitome of endurance--something Subaru (used) to be known for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 And, according to the new book - L.A. Confidential-, he runs on steroids. Subarus run like they're on steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Robot Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 Subaru has recently announced that they're looking for a new ad agency in the US, and I may be lucky enough to be involved in creating some new ads for them. Hey, Tom- going right to the source, eh? Nice move. Are they seriously looking, or is it the obligatory 3-5 year threat to keep their agency on its toes? I don't know who their current agency is, but they've done a pretty good job overall. I agree with most of the posters here that they could do much better promoting the Legacy/Legacy GT and pumping their WRC experience. If you were to drive a bunch of new cars without logos on them, how would you know which were the Subaru? What is it about a Subaru that sets it apart from the others? The Subaru is the one going straight down the snow/ice-covered road when the light turns green. The others are spinning their wheels or sliding into a ditch. Stereotype for me - what type of person is a "Subaru person"? They're the ones who pray for snow so they can go find an unplowed parking lot and practice power-slides. Thought starter one: pretend that you're driving up to a stoplight. You pull up next to a Forrester. Who's driving? How about for a WRX? A new Legacy? Around these parts: Forester = Women, Middle Age WRX = Men, High School - Middle Age Legacy Sedans = Men, Mid & Older Legacy Wagons = Women, Mid & Older Outbacks = About equal Men & Women, Mid & Older Tons of Outbacks & WRXs around here. Respectable showing of Foresters, as well. Not nearly as many Legacy models around. Hardly any Impreza/Outback Sport models. I've never seen a Baja outside the showroom. Thought starter two: Compared to people who drive Nissan/Toyota/Ford, Subaru drivers are much more....what? Intelligent (naturally!) If you have questions for me, I can definitely answer them back. Are you at liberty to say what agency you're with? BLATANT PLUG TO FOLLOW: Ever consider posting spots in Cleveland? There's a great full-service facility here... OK, I'm the VFX Director. Smoke, Flame, Avids, Full-Service Audio, Soundstage, Remotes... Had to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlierh2 Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 the WRX is out on the street doing its own advertising, and the outback does a pretty good job at that too. the ads need to include the Legacy GT and the GT Wagon! When you release a car get ads out there that show that car, especially from behind, cause if you live in a city stuck behind one in traffic is when you get a good look at it, people need to know what it is when they come up beind it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Opening shot - Wide view of an auditorium - panning in on one man sitting in a seat in the middle of the auditorium. man says - I wonder where everyone else is? I know there were thousands invited. cut to blizzard conditions - snow blowing sideways. Shhet ice on the roads. People slipping and falling head over tea kettles.... Back to the man - By now a couple of other people amble in. "Is that your car out there? I parked next to you. Nice car. Looks like it handles pretty well. (And continued talk of this ilk without naming a make or model). cut to cars in the ditch, collisions and fender benders. More footage of snow and sleet.... Back to a collection of about a hundred people all talking together - a representative sampling of all walks of life and cultural,and socio-economic sampling. cut to a collection of about 80 Subarus all parked together. back to the crowd - overheard - maybe if the visiting team had Subarus, there'd be a game today. Run the logo - Subaru - It's what you want when you want to get there. copywrite USMB - 6-24-04 - may be used with permission - all proceeds donated to USMB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teppichkopf Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Maybe a little old fashioned but any time I see an ad (Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes, come to mind) that illustrates the high mileage a vehicle can get, I'm impressed. I know friends with 300k plus on their boxer engines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zefy Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 first off... whatever you do... do NOT do something like that stupid jeep commercial with the mother getting blocked in my the semi and having to "4wheel-it" over a log then over a pile of dirt... i hate that commercail and want it to die! ok... now that i have that out... i have noticed that not many people reolize that subaru is a fairly old company... i remember that chevy commercial with a bunch of people having different chevys of different ages... when we bought out 01 legasy i thought subaru was almost a new company(ie. came out in the 90's... how unimformed i was:rolleyes:) you should have a commercial showing loyal subaru costomers doing what they love... (rallying, off-roading, racing...) but don't just show new models but show old ones... definatly have the new cars being a large part of it but showing old ones will make it sound like a subaru "community"... and there is... just like the chevy one or the civic nation... on the note of the civic nation with all the civics driving though the salt flats together and stuff... you could show that civic nation driving then doing over some "rough terrain" and all crashing then have the subaru line come out and pass them... it would be funny...anybody agree??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7starTom Posted June 28, 2004 Author Share Posted June 28, 2004 1) The pitch seems pretty real at this point, but it is still in preliminary stages, with 8-9 agencies submitting proposals - I'm not sure how far into it we'll go at this point, this is just me trying to get ahead of the game. You can go to www.adage.com or www.adweek.com and search for Subaru articles to get the latest scoop. 2) Coming to the source always works the best! I've also been stopping Subaru drivers in parking lots for the past 10 days. Quite an interesting crew. 3) As for posting in Cleveland, that's not my part of the process...though I can pass the info along to our production dept here. Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Feel free to use any of the Ideas I put forth here; just pay an honorarium to USMB for the idea. Discuss terms with Shawn W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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