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Sweet - more (long ramble)
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Posted by Nervousaaber (more from Nervousaaber) on Wed, 14 May 2003 16:15:30 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: my favorite so far..., Scott Paterson [Profile/Gallery] , Wed, 14 May 2003 15:45:50
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I just see those ones that play up the fact that Saab is a European - and therefore different in a cocktail chatter kind of way - brand. Frankly, they seem more like espresso machine ads than car ads.

Why not play up the fact that these cars do what cars are supposed to do, just better?

I think as Americans we often suspect that Europeans engage in cleverness for the sake of cleverness. (There is an unflattering converse to this observation). We suspect further that Europeans engage in such cleverness at the expense of common sense pragmatism and/or earthy reliability. Americans belive finally that for any product for which there is a domestic price competitor, that the Euro product represents a premium on 'cuteness/cleverness' and the domestic reflects a premium on the practical, with possibly a savings due to a LACK of cleverness.

If anyone else here is or ever was a smoker, Colibri lighters and Zippos are the extreme example of this phenomenon. Colibris are cool looking, light, streamlined, high tech, and are as close to wind-proof as one could imagine. It seems there are new designs every year. Colibris are, however, prone to fail after two years or so of daily use, and are difficult to service. Zippos are familiar, and cool in a clunky, familiar kind of way. They are only marginally windproof and are smelly, and heavy in ones pocket. They do, however last forever, and can be easily serviced, their design having been unchanged for eons. Also, they cost a lot less.

Deep down, Americans suspect that all unknown European products are like colibris. It is on this faith in the prudence of the familiar that Americans justify purchasing inferior domestic designs to superior unfamiliar European designs.


"Familar Euro" brands are in a whole different ball game. What Saab cannot do is get itself into the "familar European" category of, say Bimmer, Merc., et. al. on the strength of an ad blitz. That type of thing takes a generation or more.

What Saab can exploit is that its innovations solve the problem of driving better than the standard bigger car, more diplacement, higher compression solution. Basically, better by being different, not different for its own sake.



posted by 24.173.1...


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