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American Morning
GM Will Launch Corporate Image Advertisements
Aired May 30, 2003 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A confession may be good for the soul, but what about a company's bottom line? General Motors is launching an ad campaign that's best described in two words: Mea culpa. The firm says some of its past models were not well-built and that the company was not well-run.
So, here to talk about these new GM ads and another campaign that is raising some eyebrows, we have marketing executive Donnie Deutsche this morning.
Thanks for being here.
DONNY DEUTSCH, CHAIRMAN, CEO, DEUTSCH, INC.: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Appreciate it very much. Let's go ahead and look right away at that GM ad. It is a print ad that we're going to show you this morning.
One of them reads, "The longest road to redemption." And it also goes on to say: "Thirty years ago GM quality was the best in the world. Twenty years ago it wasn't. The story of our long journey back."
Now, the company I know currently only has about 27 percent of the U.S. market. Do you think this sort of ad campaign is going to be effective?
DEUTSCH: Well, the important thing is they have 27 percent. A few decades ago they had 60 percent.
COLLINS: Yes.
DEUTSCH: I give them star points. I mean, basically they're saying to the American public, you know what? We screwed up over the last couple of decades. We were on top. We used to make the best products. We kind of took our after ball, and we're coming back strong.
I think today in this world consumers want honesty and directness. The big question for them is: Do they have the parts to deliver now? But I applaud the effort.
COLLINS: Yes, and also the question would be, yes, we appreciate honesty, but does it make us go and reach into our wallet or our checkbook?
DEUTSCH: You know, at the end of the day they're going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the products. What they're trying to do is basically they've done research and it's basically that 50 percent of consumers won't even put GM on the shopping list. So, maybe if they can get people to say, you know what? Maybe these guys have got it back on track, I think it's definitely a long ball, but once again, I think there's something different, something fresh. So, anytime somebody is trying a little something out of the box, I've got to give them style points.
COLLINS: OK, well, we can do that. We're going to take a look now at another new ad campaign. This is George Steinbrenner and Derek Jeter.
DEUTSCH: Yes.
COLLINS: Before we do it, though, explain to us just in case some people aren't sure...
DEUTSCH: OK.
COLLINS: ... about the story behind the story.
DEUTSCH: Sure. At spring training, Steinbrenner came out and basically said that Jeter maybe didn't give it his all last year because he was out partying too much, too much with the ladies, so this ad kind of plays off of that.
COLLINS: OK, let's go ahead and listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEINBRENNER, MANAGER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Come on in, Derek. I thought we had discussed this thing and had it all worked out. You're our starting shortstop. How can you possibly afford to spend two nights dancing, two nights eating out and three nights just corralling with your friends? Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to enjoy the New York nightlife, bring your Visa card, because Orso (ph), Cheetah and the Broome Street Bar don't take American Express.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So, hey, we've heard this before from Visa.
DEUTSCH: Right.
COLLINS: But is this particular ad going to play as well in Peoria and other parts of the country?
DEUTSCH: You know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Visa has done some great stuff. Recently they did with Yao Ming, the 7 foot 5 center for the Houston Rockets...
COLLINS: That's right.
DEUTSCH: ... with Yao Yo (ph). I'm not quite sure that the entire country was that up to sped on this Jeter-Steinbrenner thing. I don't think it was that big of news. I think they're kind of making a mountain out of something that was maybe a little bit of a mole hole. But Steinbrenner has got a great on-air presence. Jeter has got an on-air presence. So, I still think it's kind of cute.
COLLINS: Very recognizable obviously.
DEUTSCH: Very recognizable.
COLLINS: So, then why would they do it?
DEUTSCH: You know, basically, once again, they're just trying to hype. Jeter has a got a great kind of Q rating in effect. Steinbrenner, you know, kind of likes to be out there. I think Visa is always looking for angles. As I said, this one, though, I don't think it's as big of news as maybe they thought it was going in.
COLLINS: Well, we will have to see.
DEUTSCH: Yes, we will.
COLLINS: Once again, if it converts to dollars, right?
DEUTSCH: That's what it's all about.
COLLINS: All right, Donnie Deutsche, chairman and CEO of Deutsche, Inc., thanks so much for being with us this morning.
DEUTSCH: My pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired May 30, 2003 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A confession may be good for the soul, but what about a company's bottom line? General Motors is launching an ad campaign that's best described in two words: Mea culpa. The firm says some of its past models were not well-built and that the company was not well-run.
So, here to talk about these new GM ads and another campaign that is raising some eyebrows, we have marketing executive Donnie Deutsche this morning.
Thanks for being here.
DONNY DEUTSCH, CHAIRMAN, CEO, DEUTSCH, INC.: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Appreciate it very much. Let's go ahead and look right away at that GM ad. It is a print ad that we're going to show you this morning.
One of them reads, "The longest road to redemption." And it also goes on to say: "Thirty years ago GM quality was the best in the world. Twenty years ago it wasn't. The story of our long journey back."
Now, the company I know currently only has about 27 percent of the U.S. market. Do you think this sort of ad campaign is going to be effective?
DEUTSCH: Well, the important thing is they have 27 percent. A few decades ago they had 60 percent.
COLLINS: Yes.
DEUTSCH: I give them star points. I mean, basically they're saying to the American public, you know what? We screwed up over the last couple of decades. We were on top. We used to make the best products. We kind of took our after ball, and we're coming back strong.
I think today in this world consumers want honesty and directness. The big question for them is: Do they have the parts to deliver now? But I applaud the effort.
COLLINS: Yes, and also the question would be, yes, we appreciate honesty, but does it make us go and reach into our wallet or our checkbook?
DEUTSCH: You know, at the end of the day they're going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the products. What they're trying to do is basically they've done research and it's basically that 50 percent of consumers won't even put GM on the shopping list. So, maybe if they can get people to say, you know what? Maybe these guys have got it back on track, I think it's definitely a long ball, but once again, I think there's something different, something fresh. So, anytime somebody is trying a little something out of the box, I've got to give them style points.
COLLINS: OK, well, we can do that. We're going to take a look now at another new ad campaign. This is George Steinbrenner and Derek Jeter.
DEUTSCH: Yes.
COLLINS: Before we do it, though, explain to us just in case some people aren't sure...
DEUTSCH: OK.
COLLINS: ... about the story behind the story.
DEUTSCH: Sure. At spring training, Steinbrenner came out and basically said that Jeter maybe didn't give it his all last year because he was out partying too much, too much with the ladies, so this ad kind of plays off of that.
COLLINS: OK, let's go ahead and listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEINBRENNER, MANAGER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Come on in, Derek. I thought we had discussed this thing and had it all worked out. You're our starting shortstop. How can you possibly afford to spend two nights dancing, two nights eating out and three nights just corralling with your friends? Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to enjoy the New York nightlife, bring your Visa card, because Orso (ph), Cheetah and the Broome Street Bar don't take American Express.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So, hey, we've heard this before from Visa.
DEUTSCH: Right.
COLLINS: But is this particular ad going to play as well in Peoria and other parts of the country?
DEUTSCH: You know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Visa has done some great stuff. Recently they did with Yao Ming, the 7 foot 5 center for the Houston Rockets...
COLLINS: That's right.
DEUTSCH: ... with Yao Yo (ph). I'm not quite sure that the entire country was that up to sped on this Jeter-Steinbrenner thing. I don't think it was that big of news. I think they're kind of making a mountain out of something that was maybe a little bit of a mole hole. But Steinbrenner has got a great on-air presence. Jeter has got an on-air presence. So, I still think it's kind of cute.
COLLINS: Very recognizable obviously.
DEUTSCH: Very recognizable.
COLLINS: So, then why would they do it?
DEUTSCH: You know, basically, once again, they're just trying to hype. Jeter has a got a great kind of Q rating in effect. Steinbrenner, you know, kind of likes to be out there. I think Visa is always looking for angles. As I said, this one, though, I don't think it's as big of news as maybe they thought it was going in.
COLLINS: Well, we will have to see.
DEUTSCH: Yes, we will.
COLLINS: Once again, if it converts to dollars, right?
DEUTSCH: That's what it's all about.
COLLINS: All right, Donnie Deutsche, chairman and CEO of Deutsche, Inc., thanks so much for being with us this morning.
DEUTSCH: My pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
