{"id":25005,"date":"2020-03-21T10:52:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T14:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=25005"},"modified":"2020-03-21T11:00:43","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T15:00:43","slug":"how-the-coronavirus-brought-auto-marketing-blitzes-to-a-halt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/how-the-coronavirus-brought-auto-marketing-blitzes-to-a-halt","title":{"rendered":"How the coronavirus brought auto marketing blitzes to a halt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\"><em>Tucson, Arizona<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 When the last Honda CR-V Hybrid test vehicle was loaded on a car trailer here Friday, the auto industry\u2019s media marketing machine packed up with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">In an unprecedented\u00a0seven-day period, automakers in the U.S. market \u2014 with one significant exception \u2014 shut down their media rollouts of new models to the public to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Like Hollywood\u2019s postponement of new film releases, the delay will stack up introduction of new models and disrupt marketing plans.<\/p>\n<p><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/03\/18\/PDTN\/38867dde-76ca-40f1-8e6e-ded1a690e5f0-2021-Chevrolet-TrailblazerRS-001.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Disruption caused by the outbreak has disrupted the marketing rollouts of vehicles like the 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer.\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><div id=\"module-position-SkOnCRPAPic\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\">Disruption caused by the outbreak has disrupted the marketing rollouts of vehicles like the 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: GM)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Only Tesla bucked the industry trend as CEO Elon Musk downplayed the outbreak as the company\u2019s compact SUV, the Model Y, began delivery to customers. Unlike other carmakers, however, Tesla does not invest in big, media-focused marketing campaigns,\u00a0so its contrarian view did not disrupt the company\u2019s product plans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cOut of an abundance of caution, we have made the decision to cancel the Trailblazer drive program for now,\u201d read the General Motors Co. email to the automotive press\u00a0just four days before the Chevy Trailblazer subcompact SUV\u2019s March 9-14 media test program in Phoenix. GM cited concerns for safety after reviewing recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Cancellation of a California media rollout for the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 luxury sedans quickly followed. Then another big blow the following Monday: the postponement of Cadillac\u2019s first\u00a0all-electric vehicle, the Lyriq SUV \u2014 a product GM hopes will redefine its luxury brand for years to come.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Media reveals and test programs are part of carefully choreographedrollouts to maximize publicity for products that can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to bring to market.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cThey are an important way to get key media to understand the products in a short period of time, then write about them,\u201d says veteran auto analyst Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Kelley Blue Book. \u201cThat helps customers learn about the car as they arrive at dealerships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">GM\u2019s cancellations came at the start of a busy spring of introductions, and sent ripples through the industry. An automaker of GM\u2019s size forced other automakers to reassess their own programs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk was unconcerned, tweeting he same day: \u201cThe coronavirus panic is dumb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Coincidentally, GM\u2019s action came just days after the producers of the James Bond movie \u201cNo Time to Die\u201d delayed its release date from Easter weekend (April 10) to Nov. 25 for fear the film\u2019s box office returns would be severely impacted by the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cThe James Bond movie is a metaphor for auto reveals. Movies are released at a specific time for maximum audience exposure,\u201d said Brauer. \u201cYou don\u2019t want them all jammed together or they will be stepping on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">That reality was a key factor as Ford, Hyundai\u00a0and Porsche all pushed forward with their programs the week of March 16-21. But the pressure continued to mount.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">On March 10 the New York Auto Show, one of North America\u2019s largest exhibitions with numerous product reveals and over 1 million attendees, threw in the towel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u00a0\u201cFor 120 years, \u2018the show must go on\u2019 has been heavily embedded in our DNA, and while the decision to move the show dates didn\u2019t come easy, our top priority remains with the health and well-being of all those involved,\u201d said show organizer Mark Schienberg in announcing the show\u2019s first postponement since World War II.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Like \u201cNo Time to Die,\u201d it got a new date: Aug. 28 to Sept. 6. Auto products wouldn\u2019t be so lucky.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, members of the\u00a0media arrived in Tucson for Honda\u2019s CR-V Hybrid program. Unlike other automakers, Honda had not banned executive travel in the U.S., and its program \u2014 with just 50 media over two days \u2014 would be a compact affair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">It would also be the last for a while.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Friday the 13th opened with Ford pulling the plug on its March 17-18 Bronco plans \u2014 a painful step given the importance in spearheading the Blue Oval\u2019s shift from cars to SUVs. The move came after Washington banned European travel and COVID-19 cases continued to rise. \u201cWe concluded the issue has taken on a different dimension,\u201d said a Ford representative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">With its German-based executives banned from travel to the States, Porsche followed suit \u2014 canceling its March 22\u00a0California media test program for its new 911 Turbo S.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Only Tesla remained defiant as Musk reportedly expanded on his March 6 coronavirus tweet with a March 13 email to employees. According to a copy of the email leaked to Buzzfeed, Musk told employees the evidence \u201csuggests that (COVID-19) is not within the top 100 health risks in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Tesla\u2019s chief followed up with another email, reported by the LA Times, on March 16 saying that: \u201cMy frank opinion is that the harm from the coronavirus panic far exceeds that of the virus itself,\u201d adding that COVID-19 cases \u201cwill not exceed 0.1% of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Model Y deliveries began over the weekend \u2014 ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">By week\u2019s end, it was clear Honda would be the last media event until May. In a Super Bowl ad back on Feb. 2, GM announced its electric Hummer SUV would debut May 20.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">In perhaps a light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel, the event is still on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tucson, Arizona\u00a0\u2014 When the last Honda CR-V Hybrid test vehicle was loaded on a car trailer here Friday, the auto industry\u2019s media marketing machine packed up with it. In an unprecedented\u00a0seven-day period, automakers in the U.S. market \u2014 with one significant exception \u2014 shut down their media rollouts of new models to the public to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25006,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25005\/revisions\/25006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}