164, perfect for Impala advertisement

["Mike Nakamura" <mike_nakamura@domain.elided>]

Another viewpoint.  Imagine you have the okay to do this ad concept.
You need a car to chase.  You want the Impala to look good.  You cannot
let a competitor look good.  You don't want to show an actual
competitive product, regardless of legalities, why encourage any
comparison shopping?

 

That eliminates most cars right away.  What if showing a competitor was
okay?  

 

Even without knowing the specific niche in which the Impala competes,
consider these cars (sedans).  

 

Camay, too family, not sporty a comparison.  Maybe too strong a
competitor?

BMW 3 series sedan, this is probably the wrong demographics.  If you
compare your product to a competitor, make is outrageous, like WRX to
Porsche.

WRX, wrong niche.

Legacy, if you're looking for all wheel drive, you'll not consider
Impala

Honda Accord, same as Camay.

 

You can see the direction this discussion could take at the ad agency
and at Chevy.  You can see how the agency or Chevy representative could
nix about any car.  It's easy to state why a car should be eliminated
from consideration.  

 

Finally, someone into cars lays out the following criteria.

 

Use a fairly modern looking car, but not currently sold in the US.

Better yet, European looking.  Exotic enough so it looks fun to chase
(chasing an old Hyundai would not help Impala's image).

Has to look enough like a sports sedan, yet not stretch the Impala
demographic.

Since it could get damaged during the shoot, get it cheap.

Find something common enough that we could get a second car if need to
finish the shoot.

Make the breakdown innocuous enough so it can be fixed fast by the cops.

Don't worry about differentiating between a mechanical breakdown and
tire repair, hey; it's a fun visual spot with only the kicker line in
voice.

If it's cool looking, but few people recognize it, all the better.

 

BiTurbo, too pricey, besides Maserati is back.

Rover 3500, not cool or modern looking, not even close.

Sterling, can you say Accord?

164, merits more consideration.

 

What is the downside for Chevy?  About 5,000 164's were sold in the US.
Will any of those buyers be mad at GM?  Would any of them be shopping
for a Chevy?  If we lost all of the historic ALFA buyers, what
percentage of our sales would we impact?  Did we ever care about the
ALFA buyer demographic?  Did ALFA try to lure Chevy buyers? 

 

Sounds like the perfect candidate is a 164!

 

Why do I like our 164?

Modern, European, sporty, cheap to buy (24v not so cheap to maintain.but
livable), still pretty cool looking.

Was I considering any GM product? No. When ALFA comes back, will they
take sales from GM?  I guess, not many.

 

OK, our perfectly logical, SUV = bad, ALFA = practical, digest may be
able to grasp that the reason the 164 was perfect for the Impala ad is
that it's also perfect for ALFA people like me.  Not to say that I don't
want newer ALFA's.  I enjoyed driving a 1.8TS Spider in Holland several
years ago.  

 

I can see how the 164 was selected, I can make a case for it, and
naturally one can never cover all of the issues, so expect some
controversy.  Try to find the best compromise.  At least the cops didn't
have to fix the stepper gears; that would have been insulting!

 

Enough from me.

 

Mike Nakamura

 

mike_nakamura@domain.elided

Fall City WA USA

91 Spider Veloce

94 164LS

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