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Saabosphere – links we liked this week

It’s been another week of waiting in Saab land.

I know you’re all getting antsy. I can’t sit still and I’m worn through to the scalp from scratching my head so much.

Here are some links from this week…..

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It’s good to see some video posted for the Snap up a Saab competition. The competition is about to enter its fourth and final week for regular entrants.

I hope some readers of this website have jumped on board because it really is a great opportunity to share some of the Saab Spirit around, and if you work hard enough for a week or so, you’ve got a very good chance at winning yourself the new Saab of your choice.

Here’s the video. It’s “Vote for me” rather than the vehicle itself, but good to see some expanding their reach, which is what the competition is all about.

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Back when Saab were being sold by General Motors, we sold off some old technology to Beijing Automotive, or BAIC.

BAIC are reportedly ready to unveil their new Saab-based sedan to the Chinese market at the upcoming Guangzhou Motor Show.

China Car Times has the article and some photoshop guesswork as to what the car will look like. This model is based on the previous generation Saab 9-5 and I’m sure Saab fans will find it interesting to follow the direction this particular branch of the family tree ends up taking.

There are also some mule spyshots here. The interior is certainly quite different to the original.

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It’s not the greatest article, but the headline raises an interesting thought – Could the Saab 9-4x become the rarest new vehicle in the world?

I think it will be one of the biggest injustices ever if that comes to pass and I hold out hope that this will be proven to be just another piece of smart speculation.

The Saab 9-4x is an absolute cracker of a vehicle and with a chance to properly market it, it would be a big hit for Saab. A friend of mine in Germany got to drive the Saab 9-4x Aero recently, as part of the German Saab dealer tour. You can read his thoughts here.

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Whilst we’re talking Saab dealer tours, I’m reliably told the next market to host the tour will be Spain. I’m still waiting on getting dates and locations and will bring those to the site as soon as I get them.

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Finally, a couple of absolutely fantastic Saab 99 advertisements from the 1970s.

They’re featured along with a number of other automotive advertisements from the period and they look fantastic.

My thanks to Fredrik T via Twitter.

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A thought on Saab marketing and service

From the people I talk to, I know there’s a lot of interest in Saab’s marketing and advertising. As a prelude to our Q&A part 2, where one of the questions related to this, I can foreshadow the answer by saying that the marketing plan we will follow won’t be a shock and awe saturation TV campaign. Put simply – it costs a kings ransom and just won’t have that sort of money. We’ll have to be smarter.

I’m not posting this article to have a crack at people who think we should do this. It’s a natural thought, especially if you live in parts of the world where massive campaigns are the normal thing. All I want to do here is get people used to the fact that we will have to do things different.

Again, not having a personal crack, but the following was written in comments by Bryan S:

BUMP UP THE MARKETING. Im sorry to say, but i havent seen SAAB “try” to sell any of their cars since being pulled from the hole, that they fell back in. SAAB needs to shove its product to the consumers face, and over do it. Start making commericals and ads…. alot of them, something sassy, informative, something targeting the 25-60yr old crowd. You know why other brands are doing so well? AD’s AD’s AD’s.

As I said, it’s a normal thought in a culture where companies do this sort of thing as a matter of routine.

The problem is, we’re not in the same situation as most companies and we just won’t have the budget for massive TV-based campaigns.

Another commenter, named Tom, responded as follows and I couldn’t help but nod my head.

OK, Bryan. Since I work for a small, humble family owned dealer in New England and we aren’t advertising, I thought I’d start a direct marketing campaign, starting here with you!. I hope this will get you up and bring you into our Saab dealership.

-I can’t offer flashy, in your face advertising.
-I can’t overdo things, like the cars I sell and drive, I tend to be understated.
-I can’t be gaudy and trendy but rather timeless with an understated cutting edginess (again, like the cars I sell and drive).

Here’s what I can do….

-I can offer a product, a Saab vehicle, that arguably represents the most car for your money compared to everything else on the market even though we don’t like to be compared to anything else on the market. (our cars, our style and our views are rather unique)
-I can make the case for my statement above
-I can offer extraordinary service, before, during and after the purchase
-I can promise you’ll be treated with decency and respect.
-I can offer an individualized sales process tailored to you.
-I can work on your terms and at your pace without pressuring you.
-I can offer as much product information as you can handle.
-I can promise easy, stress free pricing.
-I can’t offer BS

We WILL be advertising and marketing the Saab brand and Saab vehicles. It’s not as if we’re not going to do marketing at all. But I think you’ll find that what we will concentrate on is more personal than a big, broad scattergun approach. And, accounting is another big thing I need to focus on. You know, accounting for your marketing agency is crucial when the budget is an issue.

Tom’s writing, above, is typical of how we’re going to rely on our dealerships to do a lot of person-to-person promotion for us. We will need to package our vehicles appropriately, arm our dealers with the appropriate knowledge and passion, and reach the right people to drive them into dealerships and make the connection.

I don’t know Tom, or the name of his dealership, but if you can find him, he sounds like the sort of guy you might want to deal with.

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And again, Bryan, I can understand where you’re coming from and you’re not alone in your thoughts. I’ve heard similar pleas from people all around the world for several years now. I’ve only used your comment here because it prompted the response from Tom in the same thread.

What you’ve suggested is actually quite accurate and if we can do what you suggest, I’m sure we will. BUT……..Nothing I know about our potential budgets indicates that that will be possible at a re-launch. The dollar amount involved is mind-boggling and you’re paying for a lot of eyes connected to brains that just won’t register what they’re seeing.

We need to be a lot more targeted and personal than that. And we need to make sure the experience is as good as possible, so that you as a customer will tell others about it.

A tall order, but that’s what we’re facing.

Saabosphere – links we like this week (big weekend edition)

Forgive the lack of postings here over the weekend but it was a BIG three days on the road, travelling 1,140kms in a Saab 9-4x between Friday and Sunday afternoon.

I’ll be writing about it all in the coming days, but we took in the Midnight Sun Rally in Västerås on Saturday and then some time in Stockholm on Sunday. I tried to call in on a few friends to give them a test drive but they seemed to be on vacation and wouldn’t answer the door:

Note to editors: That is what’s referred to as subtle humour. Please ensure that you’re knickers don’t get in a twist.

I’ll have all the action from Saturday morning’s rallying and some great Saab pics from both Västerås and Stockholm coming later on.

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Must Read – I think I’ll do a “must read” every week from now on. if you’re only going to hit one link on this entry for further reading, the must read is the one.

Today’s Must Read is from Autoweek. Their editors have recently noted their thoughts on the Saab 9-5 Aero they have in their long-term test fleet and they make for some good reading. There are six editors thoughts recorded. Here’s a sample from just one of them:

I find the car’s styling is attractive in a classic sense. I suspect it will still look good once the last payment is made. Inside, the car is functional and offers just the right Saab-style appointments and extras, such as the Saab-centric center-mounted ignition button and mandatory turbo boost gauge, the clean center stack, the huge sunroof covered by a linen sunshade, the well-bolstered leather seats, and flat-bottomed thick leather-wrapped steering wheel. I still miss the artistic Transformer like pop-out cupholders, but I can forgo that stuff for this overall better car.

If you only read one article here, make it this one.

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Speaking of long term test vehicles, CAR Magazine have just picked up a Saab 9-5 TTiD in Laser Red. Because fire engines are cool, OK?

There are no long-term test drive thoughts, yet, just the specifications (and boy, did they ever have a good time with the options list!)

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A reader of the Globe and Mail writes in to them and asks “Can Saab Survive? Should I buy one?” Many jokes follow (it’s part of the columnist’s schtik) before they conclude that No, the reader shouldn’t buy a Saab, or a Volvo, for that matter.

My advice – check out the cars for yourself. You wouldn’t go to a butcher to get your shoes repaired so why go to a newspaper to get a definitive answer on what car you should buy? Newspapers are to there to provide opinions, but your own opinion is just as valid as theirs and the only way to make your mind up is to check the car out for yourself.

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The Motor Report recently tested the Saab 9-5 Vector in Australia. They complained about the price of the vehicle but found it to be a good driver, over all.

What got me confused was their comparison at the end, comparing the 9-5 Vector to a BMW 325i (amongst others). They concede that the BMW feels asthmatic and cramped compared to the 9-5, but feels more ‘planted’ on the road. The last comment is fair enough because that is BMW’s forte, but it just seemed like a strange comparison to make given the different emphasis each vehicle has.

As I said, check them out for yourselves, according to your own priorities and tastes.

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The last few years have taken their toll and we have some work to do in Australia when it comes to customer satisfaction levels.

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It was nice to see our batch of Saab 9-6 images got picked up by a few motoring websites. There are a lot of interesting stories to tell here at Saab and I’m looking forward to sharing more of them – especially from the Saab Museum.

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And finally, for those with an interest in advertising…… Business Insider has a study into which parts of an advertisement get the most viewing time from both men and women.

There are three ads used in the study – a woman in a bikini, a woman in a pair of sneakers (yes, just sneakers) and an ad for the Saab 9-5.

Check it out and see some of the finer details that ad people have to think about. (link is to the 9-5 pages only, if you want to look at ladies in bikinis and sneakers then you’ll have to do so consciously 🙂 )

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The end of the weekend saw my wife and I attend the conclusion of Fallens Dagar here in Trollhattan. The fireworks were something to behold as they go off right above your head. There’s also the release of water from the Göta älv, which is quite picturesque at 11pm.

Video by zaibase, on Youtube.

If you want suggestions for a good time to visit Trollhattan, either during the Saab Festival or during Fallens Dagar are pretty good, and occasionally those two events are on at the same time.

Saab wins gold, silver medals at World Media Festival

The World Media Festival is an event held in Germany to honor excellence in corporate communications productions. It covers film, TV, web and print productions.

Here at Saab we’re very proud to acknowledge the Gold and Silver medals awarded for two of our communications films in association with our agency, Valentin and Byhr.

Saab was awarded a gold medal in the category ‘Advertising: Online’ for Introducing the new Saab 9-5:

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Saab also won a silver medal in the category ‘Corporate Communications: Press Conferences’ for Introducing the new Saab 9-4X.

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