Marketing and all things related

Last summer, GM launched a dynamite “employee discount” sales campaign. The technique was quickly imitated by both Ford and Chrysler. Every domestic automaker wanted to offer cars to the public at their “employee discount” price. As you might expect, savvy consumers realized they could already negotiate sharper prices anytime. But still, these campaigns were a monster success. The whole industry sold more cars , but at the lowest margins than anyone in the industry imagined possible. Sales shot up—profits tumbled, and fall inventory sat unsold in auto showrooms for months after these campaigns. Marketing Blurb thought the industry would know better than to repeat this debacle, but according to Advertising Age, Chrysler is using the same pitch again this summer. We think this is a dumb idea folks.