Just before Christmas 2013, iconic Australian motoring brand Holden announced that as of 2017 it would stop making cars in Australia. While possibly a sound business decision due to falling sales and overall profitability the execution of the announcement and the subsequent advertising campaign was Holden’s Bungle!
The history of Holden dates back to 1856 when it started as a saddlery business in South Australia before it moved into the automotive industry in 1908. In 1931 Holden became a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) but the brand has colloquially been known and recognised as Australian.
The Holden departure from Australia wasn’t the first time GM has made an announcement regarding one of their brands that would ultimately trigger loss. In 2000 GM announced in the United States that they would cease making the Oldsmobile. As we know the Principle of Scarcity says that things become more valuable when they are less available and this was certainly the case with the Oldsmobile as it broke its own sales records after the announcement – “people had to have one before they were gone”.
In Holden’s case however the brand is not being discontinued like the Oldsmobile. Instead it is just not being made in Australia any longer. So the loss is not of the brand itself rather the jobs and the fact the car is no longer being made here.
Holden’s Bungle – “We’re here to stay”
Holden knew the announcement would not be popular so they followed the it with the “We’re here to stay” advertising campaign that ran for two weeks after the announcement on television, radio and in print.
As a public and active commitment goes many people immediately questioned this statement with a simple response of
“No you’re not!”
Rather than allay the fears of the general public, Holden’s Facebook page received over 1500 comments about the announcement – many negative as did the above video on YouTube.
Some of the unhappy comments included:
Not only did somebody come up with this, it made it through all points of approval and sign off at GM. – the most inappropriate, fake and insulting commercial I’ve ever seen. We all know what has happened. Rubbing salt into the wound by saying you are here to stay, as you just announced you are moving production overseas is a kick in the guts Holden/GM. You had already damaged your brand, this just killed it. Perfect example of the ultimate marketing failure. Will never buy your product again after this. Deplorable. Bailey Collins
“I had bought 4 new Holden’s and the last 13 years and 1 second hand VZ SS ute because it had more grunt then the SV6 Ute I had, I also have a 2004 Monaro and it’s a nice car but I will never buy another Holden again, also the media adds are an insult to a person’s intelligence. Barry S
“Disgusted with you Holden. First you destroy families and lives here crying poor and then you spend mega bucks on a radio / advertising campaign assuring us all that your still committed to Australia.” John Brown
“Please stop showing your add about how your here to stay because it’s complete BS!!! It’s not true your going and that’s it no more Australia made cars after 2017!!!!! The add is patronising so stop it because the Australian public are not dumb!!!!!! Peter Hill
“Utterly disgusting. I’m here to stay as well but I’m also here to tell you I’ll never buy another Holden vehicle ever again!” David Pearson
Regardless of the intent of the campaign many felt that Holden were behaving Consistently with the message they were putting out. Even after the conclusion of the campaign Holden maintained the theme saying the ad was produced to clear up ill informed speculation about the future of the brand.
While it is a play on words,
In the future, we may no longer make cars IN Australia, but we’ll always make cars FOR Australia, because we’re here to stay. Think Holden!
Will people think positively about Holden? Have they cost themselves their unique marketing message based on Liking (i.e. we are all from here so we are more inclined to think positively about them) or will people just not care? From the comments of those on Social Media, NOT LIKELY!
The Principle of Consistency says that once we make a commitment we feel personal and interpersonal pressure to remain consistent with that commitment. In this circumstance have Holden made a commitment but due to the circumstance and delivery the commitment seems false therefore being received negatively by those they have attempted to influence?
My advice is be careful how you convey your message and remember nobody likes a smarty pants. A play on words could be playing with fire.
How do you think Holden could have handled it differently?
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