New 08 Cars.

NO CHALLENGER WHATS WITH THAT!!!!!!!!![:@][sm=chairshot.gif][sm=headbang.gif]

 

Could be because its considered an 09.

 

It isn't an 09, it's supposed to be an 08... Motor Trend included it in their new 08 car issue (as an 08 model), guess C&D just forgot. [sm=boosign.gif]

 

Typical of the press coverage for Challenger...next to ZERO.

Great products deserve great marketing. I cannot for the life of me understand why the Dodge PR folks are not beating the doors down at car magazines, auto TV shows & movies, and other events to spread the buzz. Don't tell me the car will sell itself. I am in sales and very few products jump off the shelf at people...they have a campaign behind it. The iPhone is a recent example of something people think was spontaneous...it was not. Apple did release a great product...they also fueled the hype.

Even garbage can be sold with good marketing...my kids were gaga for the HORRIBLE show Disney just aired: High School Musical II. Take a lesson from that event. HUGE ratings for a plastic wrapped lip syncing tween movie. Big time marketing overcame a deficient product.

In the case of Challenger they have created a fantastic product...GET OUT THERE & TELL THE PEOPLE!!!!

Sorry for the rant...I really am passionate about this topic & want to see more done.

 

Yeah, just a couple spy pics and a spy video where an engineer is trying his best to lose the camera. [&:]
Maybe they're waiting for the unveiling in Feb 08. I hope they are not holding off placing ads with the concept because the production car will be too different.
But from what I've read, and seen on the spy shots, the car looks really similar! [sm=drooldude.gif]

 

It could be because they figure they'll get more publicity by waiting till February. Why be one of several hundred cars in magazines now when they can get everyone's full attention at the Chicago auto show?

 

No offense...they have our attention. We have seen the concept & we love it. They say the production car will follow it very closely so WHAT"S THE BIG SECRET???

One show does not capture America's attention...they need to hit all media....the web, print, tv,movies, shows, even radio. THAT IS MARKETING...

So far the Camaro which is out a year later has FAR more visibility & it is not as nice a car...it's crazy...makes no sense.

I'll shut up now (well...for a few minutes anyway)

[8D]

 

I think awsure has pretty much hit the nail on the head. Proper marketing can make or break a new product, we can't just assume it'll do well because a select group likes it. GM has done a hands-down MUCH better job at marketing the new Camaro than Chrysler has done with the Challenger, and it's coming out a year later.

Here are a couple of cases in point - remember the Merkur XR4ti back in the late 80's? (if you don't, you only prove my point). One of the biggest reasons this car tanked was because no one in the U.S. had any clue as to how to properly market it. Plus, you had L&M dealers with Town Cars and Grand Marquis who had no idea how to sell such a car, much less even know what the hell it really was.

Another case is the 04-06 Pontiac GTO (I know, I had an 04 for a while). Again, here was a car that was very poorly marketed - you would think GM would have better known what to do with such a car... but they didn't. Granted the GTO was pretty much doomed anyway for a number of other reasons, but the fact that it was a marketing disaster was certainly another nail in its coffin.

I would SO hate to see the Challenger ultimately suffer the same fate, especially after all this time.

 

Yes, Awsure, Dodge already has OUR attention. It's other consumers' attention that they need to seek. And it would make a lot more sense for them to get a bunch of attention just shortly before the Challenger comes out -- not, probably, 8 or 9 months before the car is even in showrooms.

 

I have a couple of theories on the marketing thing. One, they advertise for a car that doesn't have final specs on everything yet. They market on the concept and the production car comes out and it's different, then many people might be upset by that. I mean how upset do you think people are going to be if, and probably when, the Camaro comes out looking different from what was in Transformers? How much do you think that's going to hurt it? Maybe Chrysler feels the same way about this car. Wait until things are final until they hype it up so much.

Second theory, maybe they are calling this an 09 because it's going to be out for an 09 model. Yes, it goes into production in Feb 08, but how long is it going to take them to get anything out to the dealerships? How much hype is built on it already, how many people are asking about this car at the dealerships and how many dealerships do we know are pretty much going to sell this thing well above MSRP? Why advertise so much on this car when no one is really going to be able to get their hands on it? Is it really going to hurt them to wait until the Chicago show to start advertising on this? I mean when is the general public really going to be able to get their hands on this car without having to dish out a fortune on it?

Again, my theories on it, they may be correct and they may be way off.