« Andy Grove: Only the Paranoid Survive - 45 | Main | The Jack Welch Management Mystique - 90 »

Jan 6
General Motors Claims Cars that Drive Themselves will be here in 10 Years

On my marketing blog I just mentioned the power of marketing the future, and what it means to a company. With that in mind, I came across another announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show by General Motors (GM) CEO Rick Wagoner that illustrates and underscores that strategy.

The idea of driverless cars is a great case study in marketing the future. Immediately most people will respond with a "wow!". Another thing that happens is a picture immediately is placed in your mind of the possibility and what it would look like being in a car without a human driver.

What I want to talk about here is how things like this can position a company in the minds of consumers and customers.

Let's take GM itself. It's reeling and struggling in the global automotive market at this time, as are all U.S. automakers. They need people to start thinking of them as a forward-thinking, innovative company, rather than a dinosaur, which the American automotive industry is starting to resemble.

rick-wagoner%20announces%20driverless%20vehicles%20in%2010%20years.jpg

To that end the announcement of a driverless car is a good move. Other companies already own the hybrid car vision, and going that route as a marketing and differentiation strategy is pretty much sown up and taken. So to announce a driverless car vision of the future, is a good attempt at getting people to think of GM as cool and interesting, rather than stodgy and yesterday's news.

By making the announcement, they're attempting to leapfrog over their competitors in the minds of consumers, and get them to start looking to them for what's coming next. Other than a declining core base, most people don't look to GM for market leadership in the auto industry any more. That's what this announcement is all about.

Anyway, this is definitely a smart strategy and something we all need to consider, no matter what industry we're in. The battle for the present has already been one by whoever is the leader today. Marketing and providing the vision for the future is what the battle is about now.

Whoever wins the battle of envisioning the future, and is able to deliver the promises made, will be those who win the eventual present coming down the line. The present isn't the only place there is to market to. This is another great example of that reality.

Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith


1 Comments/Trackbacks




» Related News Stories from Connecting News, Commentaries and Blogs at NineReports.com
Earth Fare gets new chief executive ...Blogged about at General Motors Claims Cars that Drive Themselves will be here in 10 Years - managersrealm, GROCERSMichael Cianciarulo, longtime chief executiv... [Read More]

submit a trackback

TrackBack URL for this entry:

post a comment

Name, Email Address, and URL are not required fields.





Comment Preview

« Andy Grove: Only the Paranoid Survive - 45 | Main | The Jack Welch Management Mystique - 90 »

Advertise

Related Resources

recent comments

    sponsored ads



    subscribe


    Prefer Email?
    Subscribe below-

    Enter your Email:


    Powered by FeedBlitz What's this?

    Current News

    Support This Blog

    blogroll


    My site was nominated for Best Business Blog!

    I'm a C-list Blogebrity

    business social media

    Use these fast growing business social media sites to promote your business, feature your products, spotlight your business leaders, create links, and drive traffic back to your company site, all for free!

    BIZZlogos - Add your logo - free link to your site
    BIZZphotos - Add photos of your products and people
    BIZZprofiles - Submit your profile and build your online visibility
    BIZZspotlight - Spotlight your business with free links
    BIZZvideos - Videos about businesses, products and business people.
    BIZZbites - "Digg" for Business - Submit your articles and posts

    Know More Media - Management / Operations

    know more media network

    View Network Map

    Network Feed List (OPML)

    Know More Media Network
    Feed


    we support unitus

    PRWeb

    Influencer



    ManagersRealm is a member of the Know More Media network of business related blogs.

    Here are some current headlines from some of our business publications:

    ProductivityGoal

    CallCenterScript

    AdHurl

    TheBizofKnowledge

    LandingTheDeal

    CustomersAreAlways

    HealthCareVox

    BrainBasedBusiness

    TheInsurancePolicy

    MarketingBlurb