Case Study: CREATING A NEW IMAGE FOR BUICK

The first thing that usually comes to mind when someone mentions a Buick is old car-oldfashioned, owned by older people, a car you would expect your grandfather to drive. Certainly not something you would think about buying just after you graduated college.

Buick is out to change that image. The 116-year-old car company wants to appeal to a younger audience and to sell them more cars, so it decided to change its image and become more appealing to a younger audience including millennials.

In 2014, approximately 53 percent of Buick buyers were over the age of 55. The image they projected was clearly not attractive to the younger crowd. It was time for a change.

It started with the introduction of needed new car models. The redesigned new models include an attractive Enclave sport-utility vehicle (SUV), a smaller crossover Encore, and the Cascanda the first Buick convertible introduced in the last 25 years. All were designed to appeal to the millennial market.

Showrooms were redesigned to reflect this change and attract younger customers; customer service was improved; and a new mantra emphasising happiness became pervasive which poked fun at the automobiles image. IMC program centered around the Thats a Buick? ad campaign which helps shake off Buick's uninteresting image. In these ads, people are surprised by Buick's new sleek, modern look which suits young drivers, rather than being a car for grandparents. The commercials featured older people and millennials seeing a new Buick for the first time, and not believing that the car is really a Buick. In one spot a grandmother doesnt believe her grandsons new car is a Buick. After this campaign, sales went up and continued to climb.

A second campaign targeted even more specifically at millennials and titled #BuickHappiness, emphasizes happiness for driving a Buick car.

Buick has utilized various types of additional media in order to attract the young audience and to create a new image among those who dont yet have a Buick

1. Buick is attempting to reposition its car.

a. Identify two (2) elements of the marketing mix used by Buick to reposition its product and discuss the relevance of the elements.

b. Discuss one (1) advantage and one (1) disadvantage of the repositioning of the Buick car?

2. Buick Company has utilised various types of media to reach its new younger audience.

a. What media would you expect Buick to use most in order to reach its young audience? Justify your choice.

b. What media would you expect Buick to use most in order to reach older audience? Justify your choice.

3. Marketers employ several types of advertising appeals.

a. Discuss two types of advertising appeals would most likely be suitable for Buicks older audience? Justify your answer.

b. Discuss two types of advertising appeals would most likely be suitable for Buicks younger audience? Justify your answer

4. Given its attempt to reposition its brand (which is a marketing goal / objective)

a. What one (1) advertising goal should Buick consider when designing its advertisements for its new car models?

b. Justify the advertising goal you have suggested in 4a.