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Buick ditches Tiger for actual product-focused marketing


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GM: Buick ads to downplay Tiger Woods; golfer to tout OnStar
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Link to Original Article @ The Detroit News


Tiger Woods will end his eight-year stint as the main spokesman for General Motors Corp.'s Buick division, the automaker said today.

Instead, the golf phenomenon will help tout the OnStar roadside assistance program, which GM has heavily promoted in recent years.

The switch was prompted by a desire to refocus Buick marketing on the product, the company said.

"We don't want a celebrity at the core of any brand. We want the message on Buick to be about Buick," said Mark LaNeve.

But, he said, GM still wants to capitalize on Woods' star appeal. The golfer still will appear in Buick ads, but not as the main focus of campaigns.

"Tiger's a great asset and he's got an association with General Motors. Why not use him beyond Buick?"

The extent of Woods' involvement with OnStar is unclear but GM indicated he won't be the only celebrity helping to promote the service.

Woods started as Buick's spokesman in 1999, according to the automaker's Web site.

Organizers of next week's Buick Open at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc are still hoping Woods will put in an appearance, but that's uncertain due to the June 18 birth of his first child, a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods.
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I honestly never liked Tiger as a spokesman for Buick, but didn't we hear just a few months ago that Tiger was going to be played up for future Buick products? Am I wrong?

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I'm not really surprised. Like most advert campaigns, they start getting old and pointless. The same thing happened here and now that Buick is really trying to fix it's image with new products, the best thing to do is showcase them and not a pro-golfer.

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Get rid of Tiger Woods for good, I say. He didn't help move Buick's stuff at all, what makes them think he'll be a better spokesman elsewhere?

Buick needs really ruthless marketing to get back into shape. Its finally getting the products, now it needs to beat into the heads of its target market that it is better than those other guys.

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I like the idea of being more product focused, but I don't think they should drop him from Buick altogether. Lexus was all over the U.S. Open this year...and for a reason. If Buick is going after Lexus, they need to have a strong presence in golf. I do think they can do that while centering on the product, but Tiger can still do a lot of good for Buick...especially if they get some more new products.

BTW, what relevance does Tiger have to OnStar??

Edited by Windy-57
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Get rid of Tiger Woods for good, I say. He didn't help move Buick's stuff at all, what makes them think he'll be a better spokesman elsewhere?

Buick needs really ruthless marketing to get back into shape. Its finally getting the products, now it needs to beat into the heads of its target market that it is better than those other guys.

+1 on the marketing thing.

Chris

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