Saturn Poor Marketing???

[brk_05]

Does anyone else think saturn did a terrible job of marketing the RL? I'm not complaining b/c like everyone else, I like having a car that is pretty rare, but a lot of people have not even heard of them. My friends didn't even know that they exixted before i started talking about them. Before recently, i dont think i ever saw a commercial or print ad for the RL. Just curious about what everyone thought.

[tonymorales26]

Hey yo! I brought my R/L in Jersey & only saw 1 commercial & thats all. The dealer said they wanted "word of mouth" instead of marketing which hasen't made sense w/ me. I also remember seeing them on a show on MTV & thinking "damn" what kinda car was that?! Glad I made my choice!

[jpapa]

Yea I never really saw any commercials or ads for this car at all. I found out about it because I'm a car guy that reads into all the latest stuff coming out, so I heard about this from the internet, not ads.

[IeatRice]

The Ion itslef seems to be a fairly popular car. With such a competitive market, I imagine Saturn wants to appeal the car to as many individuals as possible. The Redline is one of several trims available for the Ion and is manufactured for a more specific market. I understand what you're saying, but I mean how many ads do you see specifically for focus SVTs, Civic Sis or Srt-4s?

[jpapa]

Good point. There really aren't any ads out for the other cars in our sport compact group. I guess they probably figure that the people that want them are all into cars and have heard about them one way or another and will most likely be buying one, but since their such limited production as compared to the base models, the what could be millions to be spent on marketing wouldn't even be worth making the car.

[IeatRice]

I agree. I know I did a hell of alot of research and test driving before I bought the RL. But before looking into the market, I hadn't even heard of it. It's kind of hard not to stumble across a car when you're trying to explore all that a specific market has to offer.
I'm sure by now many more people are aware of the RL or at least have heard of it. But I still hate getting the grimace from someone when I tell them I drive a Saturn. Then I have to explain to them their misunderstanding, and all I usually get in reply is an "Oh."

[violakat03]

But that grimace is why it's so fun when you beat the pants off of them.

I love it when I tell people I have a Saturn and they're like "oh." Most people don't realize first gen SC2s are Saturns, because they're so different looking from anything else Saturn has produced. I tend to get lots of compliments, and then blank stares when I say it's a Saturn.

You should see the reactions to our Red Line VUE. People are always like "that's a beautiful car, what is it?!" "It's a Saturn." "REALLY?"

Yes, it's a Saturn. And it's fast too!

[Chazb]

I had never heard of the RL until I was car shopping on the net and ended up on a cobalt site.I was looking for a SS cobalt and someone mentioned the RL as being about the same so I bought one.

[magikal_dragon]

In the past year I have seen maybe 3 commercials for the RL. Last week my husband seen the one with the BMW lined up next to a RL that people were talking about on this forum awhile back.

But Saturn really needs to up the marketing on the RL. I mean for the Cobalt I see at least 5 commercials in a 1/2 hour!

[BluStreak]

They have done some marketing...

I have seen print ads in maxim.
Web adds on Yahoo.
The Unforgettable BMW Bashing ad.
The center piece at the GM Bowl.

That seems like a lot of marketing for the number of cars that they actually have available to sell.