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What makes a minivan a sports car?
Category: Marketing"People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy!" - Jeffrey Gittomer. Marketing is about telling a story that resonates with your target niche. That product may be new and exciting like the latest electronic gadget ( iphone 3G anyone? ), or it may be not so exciting like laundry detergent or a hammer. In some cases you can tell a story by showing a celebrity using a product and having a great time with it. The Jimmy Johnson kobalt tools ads spring to mind, where the well known 2 time NASCAR champ restores a great looking SS Camaro in no time with the aid of his trusty kobalt tools. Who wouldn’t want a set? So comes the issue of getting a product that ordinarily would seem somewhat boring and tell a story that makes it resonate.
Leaving the office yesterday, I spotted something that made me laugh long and loud. Sitting in front of me, waiting to pull out of the carpark was one of a billion minivans on the road, nothing unusal there right? Families all around the world buy millions of them every year. There was something different about this one that happened to catch my eye. On the lower right rear of the tail gate was a shiny, simple "sport" badge.
This goes hand in hand with the Honda ads for their new minivan, saying "The Van is Back" as if the minivan of today has any resemblance to van culture of the 70’s, where large V8 fire breathing beasts with shag pile carpeting and mirrored ceilings were responsible for in the dark fumbling and many a good time.
This marketing is trying to tell a story and resound with today’s mom’s and dad’s. To say, I know on most levels it’s a minivan. It’s slow, front wheel drive, boxy and ugly to look at. However it has plenty of room to tote the kids around while getting the groceries in comfort. But you know what? Mine is a sport, it has alloy wheels and that makes it cooler than all the other minivans, OR, perhaps; I had a great time in my van as a teenager and now this Van is just like that only newer and with more DVD screens.
The Van’s back man … peace!
Shane
