So yesterday, purchase while Beg to Differ was breaking up with the Intel brand, ed we got sad news about another old flame: Saturn is dead. Penske threw in the towel on its attempt to revitalize the brand, recipe and GM is finally shutting Saturn down. We’re feeling sad about that today. We remember when Saturn was promising to be “A Different Kind of Company; A Different Kind of Car.”
As you may have guessed from our name, we like “Different”…
You can read the whole sad Saturn history at Wikipedia. We’re going to focus on the Saturn brand, and how the promise changed over time, then died, and what brand managers can learn from it.
“I’m sure if everything I read is true, I won’t be disappointed”
Somewhere out there, this third grade teacher from a 1992 Saturn ad (below) must be a bit down today as well. In it, she says she read about Saturn, and makes a personal connection when workers at the company read her letter. If you ever cared about Saturn like us, you have to watch this (Spoiler Alert: it’s really sad in retrospect).
Different worked… for a while.
And I’m sure she was satisfied, for a while. For her, and for the rest of us that were rooting for the “different” approach from the auto industry, Saturn succeeded at building 1) a “Different Kind of” brand promise, 2) a “Different Kind of” corporate mentality, 3) “Different Kind of” retail experience (no haggling), and 4) a “Different Kind of” tribe of devoted followers. They really did. The vestiges of those things are still around.
For example, Saturn has been much better than most other companies at embracing and building community online. Their fan site ImSaturn u r 2 is really engaging, and their marketing team really gets Social Media. A couple months ago, Beg to Differ was shocked and delighted when @tomfolger and a couple of Saturn marketing folks popped in to a Twitter #Brandjam to correct us when Saturn positioning came up.
Unfortunately the vehicles themselves, the “Different Kind of Car” was only ever marginally different from other cars. But the service commitment became legendary, and at least the cars looked just different enough that you could spot a “Saturn” on the road. If only they had built on their differentness…
But that’s where the story turns sour.
The big problem was, the “Different Kind of Company” was always beholden to the corporate logic of GM – a very un-different automotive behemoth. So as the Saturn competed more and more with GM core brands, and sales never quite matched expectations, GM had two options:
Option A: Think like a bean counter = differ less:
- The approach: try to fix technical, marketing, and customer service problems by applying the same rusty old car industry logic. Gradually water down the promise and file off the edges, so only the most fanatical still hold on to the hope of Saturn rising again.
Option B: Think like and human being = differ more:
- The approach: Keep renewing the vision by continuing to make the cars even MORE different in ways that customers will appreciate, and keep innovating on the corporate, manufacturing, and customer service fronts (preferably by not having it be a GM company any more).
Their choice was clear: differ less
Over the 90’s, the cars looked and behaved less and less different from other cars on the road, and by 2000, the line had expanded to include the same-old range from sub-compact to SUV – diluting the core idea of what a “Saturn” was. The passion and excitement of Saturn customers waned – as did their repeat-purchase loyalty.
So by the late ’00’s, when the really big financial meltdown happened, Saturn was dragged down by the gravity of the GM’s collapse. At Beg to Differ, we can’t help but think that stronger differentiation, coupled with the fierce (and geeky) loyalty of those early believers would have carried them through.
The big questions for brand managers:
- Which option are you choosing for your brand – differing more or differing less?
- Are you thinking like a bean counter (internal logic) or a human being (brand logic).
- Are your corporate pre-occupations hampering your ability to deliver on the human promise of your brands?
- If you disappeared tomorrow, would any third grade teachers miss you?
More nostalgia from YouTube.
Japanese language ad: ordinary American country folk buildin’ cars:
Saturn homecoming – playing on the wholesome geekiness of Saturn owners:
