Posted by Christopher Stevenson
I have to buy a car. I hate buying cars. Nevertheless, with the recent demise of my 1994 Honda, I've been swept into the used-car market. Bummer. The problem is compounded by my innate cheapness. It's hard enough for me to buy standard razor blades rather than cheap disposable razors, let alone spending thousands of dollars on something that is only going to cost me more money going forward.
So I'm working on a plan. My goal is to find a car that is highly reliable with great features, but that doesn't hold its resale value so I can it pick it up on the cheap. Is there such a thing? Yup. It's called a Buick. I've been looking at a 2005 Buick Rendezvous. It's affordable (relatively speaking) and spacious, has a good reliability rating, and has a way to control the interior temperature. (The slider for the heat in my Honda broke off in 2004.) Seems like a good fit, right? What's the hold up? Image.
Clearly, I'm not an image conscious guy. If I was, I wouldn't have been driving a Honda with a bad paint job and no heat. But when I've mentioned that I was looking at a Buick to my colleagues, the responses I've gotten have been pretty much the same: "Are you that old?" or "How old are you?" or "Do they still make Buicks?" I'm not sure I'm ready to be classified as an old guy, even if my beard is graying and my hair is thinning.
Buick is fighting it's position as the car for mature Americans. It's a position they've orchestrated well with the Park Avenue and the Roadmaster. Take a look at their commercials from the '90s and you can get a feel for who Buick was targeting. Older, wealthy drivers, interested in comfort, not fun. Even in recent commercials that feature Tiger Woods, Buick still feels like a car for old people.
The problem is that consumers have a tough time shaking off their feeling that you have to have blue hair to drive a Buick. Even though Buick has expanded its product line to include SUVs and cross-overs like the Enclave, they still can't get young folks to drive them. Why? Because they've positioned themselves too well. They even make Tiger Woods look old.
It's not a new story. The same thing happened to Countrytime; new products under the Countrytime brand failed because the brand is so well positioned as lemonade. It happened to Bic too. Anybody remember Parfum Bic? A little Paris in your pocket? Bic has a line of personal care products, so perfume could be a natural extension, right? Not when the consumer views Bic as a pen and lighter company. (Take a close look at the perfume bottles; they're shaped like lighters. Bad idea.)
How is your organization positioned? I hear all the time that CUs want to attract younger members or expand their presence in the community. That's great, but what's the message you're sending? Even if you're a community charter, you have to ask, "How does the consumer perceive us?" The CU for the mature generation? The CU that serves the local manufacturing plant? You may not even realize what signals you're sending to the consumer. Certainly, Buick thought that bringing in Tiger would automatically make the brand appeal to a younger buyer; instead, they made Tiger look decidedly un-hip.
You can't change your position until you're sure what your current position is. Do you know?
As for me, I think I know my position. I'm cheap, unhip, and aging. Buick is probably a good fit.
