GM vs. Ford - Who Wins with Women?

Posted on | September 23, 2009 |

By Holly Buchanan

Two auto ads caught my attention recently; one from Ford, the other from GM.

Here’s why Ford came out the clear winner in marketing to women.

Here’s the Ford TV ad featuring Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe. He’s talking about the Cash for Clunkers program.

In this ad Mike sounds almost…well….credible. Is it the delivery of his lines? He actually almost stumbles in some parts. Is it his arm movements? I’m not exactly sure. But he just comes across as - a regular guy, right down to wearing a ball cap. (You don’t often see that in TV spokespeople). He comes across as confident rather than arrogant.

Compare that to the new GM commercial.

I just have to ask - really? The best you can come up with is the Chairman wandering through the spot saying things like “When you compare, we win.” Just to be clear, the “we” he is referring to is GM, not you or me.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again -now is NOT the time to feature a CEO or Chairman in your TV ad. People are still pissed about the behavior of top executives, on Wall Street and in Detroit, especially women. We have a long memory when it comes to people we feel have wronged us.

People commenting on the GM commercial video are saying things like: “You’d think that if they are so revolutionary, they could create a commercial that had a little more authenticity and less braggadocio.”

Right now women AND men want more authenticity and less braggadocio. Heavily scripted, talking head, power-tie-wearing CEO’s aren’t going to get the job done.

It’s too bad, because I think GM actually has some strong offers right now.

What do you think? Which car company do you feel is doing a good job of speaking to you?