Terrible marketing
#41
04-14-2006, 05:32 AM
Many possible scenarios, but my bet is Honda is counting on a lot more people walking in and looking at a Fit but buying a Civic or Accord than vice versa. Nothing wrong with that in the least as both cars are an excellent product. Also, it is great that the Fit provides are very attractive option in it's own right, just as does the the utterly fantastic S2000. Can you imagine being 16 and Dad takes you in to look at a Fit and you wind up with a S2000?
Hondaboy, I hear you about the bigger car thing. Back in 1997 when I bought my mid-size V-6 Maxima and Camry, Accords and Altimas were mostly I4 compacts, the Maxima did for the Nissan line-up just what you are talking about. But now, I don't see any more upsizing on the horizon.
Hondaboy, I hear you about the bigger car thing. Back in 1997 when I bought my mid-size V-6 Maxima and Camry, Accords and Altimas were mostly I4 compacts, the Maxima did for the Nissan line-up just what you are talking about. But now, I don't see any more upsizing on the horizon.
#42
04-18-2006, 05:15 PM
Originally Posted by frossie
Engine output was off by a small amount (244 hp v 249 if I remember correctly) compared to advertised values in the previous months. I hardly cared, but Mazda clearly did - when they realised they gave me $500 cash plus free service for the 4-year warranty period (and this is for a car than needs service every 3,000 miles). I am not crying 
Plus, I hate to tell you, but the US Fits are on a boat with the owner manual inside the glove compartment - they are not going to print them on April 20th. It really should be on the web by now.
I can't contradict you if you say that it is deliberate Honda strategy not to release information in advance of the car being at the dealership. But it would have cost them a sale from me. We waited 5 months for the RX-8 (after a major disagreement with a Pathfinder trashed the MX-5) because we had enough information to know that we wanted that car, and were willing to put up with the incovenience of a single car for a long time to get what we wanted.
Now that I am looking to replace our second car, I can tell you that if the Fit wasn't hitting my dealer next week but instead was out in late May, I would not wait for it even for a month because there is not enough information on the Honda website to make it worth my while, when I know there are other vehicles in this class that are acceptable to me. Even if I was a college student, the same thing would apply - I don't recall being (much) stupider back then. Lucky the Fit is a Jazz and there is some information about it already worldwide and when I heard about it I was only a couple of weeks away from launch. Otherwise I would have bought a car last wekeend.
If Honda think they are generating "excitement" by being coy I am sure they think they are getting something out of it to make up for those "lost sales" in the previous months. I just don't know what it is. Mind you, I had to talk to three people at my dealer before I found somebody who knew what month the cars were coming in, so I don't know where the launch excitement exactly.
Now that I am looking to replace our second car, I can tell you that if the Fit wasn't hitting my dealer next week but instead was out in late May, I would not wait for it even for a month because there is not enough information on the Honda website to make it worth my while, when I know there are other vehicles in this class that are acceptable to me. Even if I was a college student, the same thing would apply - I don't recall being (much) stupider back then. Lucky the Fit is a Jazz and there is some information about it already worldwide and when I heard about it I was only a couple of weeks away from launch. Otherwise I would have bought a car last wekeend.
If Honda think they are generating "excitement" by being coy I am sure they think they are getting something out of it to make up for those "lost sales" in the previous months. I just don't know what it is. Mind you, I had to talk to three people at my dealer before I found somebody who knew what month the cars were coming in, so I don't know where the launch excitement exactly.
#43
04-18-2006, 05:35 PM
Originally Posted by DewaltDakota
I think Honda should do a commercial, where they start off, showing a couple, getting ready for a trip. They just keep shoving more and more stuff into their (what appears to be) minivan or SUV. You don't really see the vehicle, just the tailgate, and it's filmed really close up and from the ground, making the car seem huge. Of course, it MUST be huge, because look at all of the crap they're putting into it!
As they drive, they emphasize the sport's paddle shifters, as they pass an 18-wheeler ... show them enjoying music, using their iPod music link, etc. All shots are set up, so you have no idea how big the car really is. You just see the driver and passenger, enjoying their trip, in their big, roomy (suggested) SUV/Minivan (heh-heh).
They get to their destination, where all of the spots are marked "COMPACT." Glancing at each other, the driver shrugs, and says "Good thing we Fit!", and as the camera zooms out, you notice that they're in a Honda Fit, which of course "fits" into the space, with ease.
As they drive, they emphasize the sport's paddle shifters, as they pass an 18-wheeler ... show them enjoying music, using their iPod music link, etc. All shots are set up, so you have no idea how big the car really is. You just see the driver and passenger, enjoying their trip, in their big, roomy (suggested) SUV/Minivan (heh-heh).
They get to their destination, where all of the spots are marked "COMPACT." Glancing at each other, the driver shrugs, and says "Good thing we Fit!", and as the camera zooms out, you notice that they're in a Honda Fit, which of course "fits" into the space, with ease.
That is a fantastic idea!!! You really should get in touch with someone at Honda US marketing and suggest it. Man, that would be a great commercial. I hear they are just doing 5-second spots with just shots of the car...I know they're going for the "fast-food, easily-distracted" generation of consumers and all, but seems as though they could go with the more ingenious, smart, fun commercials and marketing instead of just silly, stupid Atari characters and "micro-machines" packaging.
#45
04-18-2006, 06:19 PM
[QUOTE=watermelonman]Compensation and care are irrelevant. You were trumpeting the glory of having your information months before your car, so I'm pointing out the downside. Accuracy suffers.
hey, watermelonman, what kind of car do YOU have? and why are you coming here to harass everyone?
hey, watermelonman, what kind of car do YOU have? and why are you coming here to harass everyone?
#46
04-18-2006, 06:27 PM
Actually, I think watermelonman made some interesting observations as to everyone's pure speculation regarding Honda's marketing campaign.
I don't feel that he's purposely trying to bust someone's chops as much as contributing to the discussion.
Cheers!
I don't feel that he's purposely trying to bust someone's chops as much as contributing to the discussion.
Cheers!
#47
04-18-2006, 06:42 PM
Originally Posted by Green Lightning
Actually, I think watermelonman made some interesting observations as to everyone's pure speculation regarding Honda's marketing campaign.
I don't feel that he's purposely trying to bust someone's chops as much as contributing to the discussion.
Cheers!
I don't feel that he's purposely trying to bust someone's chops as much as contributing to the discussion.
Cheers!
#48
04-18-2006, 07:23 PM
Originally Posted by watermelonman
Well, "I hate to tell you", but the specifications have been available on the web for days if not weeks now. Also, feel free to grab the official brochure from your local dealer, they've had them for some time as well.
If you are happy with the information you have been able to get from your dealer or the official Honda website on this car, I am delighted for you. I am clearly a pedantic old lady that wanted to know for the last few weeks whether to hang on and wait for this car or not. Equally clearly, you are not in the same category. Apples and oranges, man.
PS. I'll tell you one bit of the "hip" marketing I wish they had followed through with - funky colours. Bah.
#51
04-18-2006, 09:36 PM
This article descibes the new Fit Ad campaign that will start Thursday.
It's weird like the website.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/bu...5EUwz4l/JwwcXQ
It's weird like the website.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/bu...5EUwz4l/JwwcXQ
#52
04-18-2006, 09:36 PM
Originally Posted by DewaltDakota
I think Honda should do a commercial, where they start off, showing a couple, getting ready for a trip. They just keep shoving more and more stuff into their (what appears to be) minivan or SUV. You don't really see the vehicle, just the tailgate, and it's filmed really close up and from the ground, making the car seem huge. Of course, it MUST be huge, because look at all of the crap they're putting into it!
As they drive, they emphasize the sport's paddle shifters, as they pass an 18-wheeler ... show them enjoying music, using their iPod music link, etc. All shots are set up, so you have no idea how big the car really is. You just see the driver and passenger, enjoying their trip, in their big, roomy (suggested) SUV/Minivan (heh-heh).
They get to their destination, where all of the spots are marked "COMPACT." Glancing at each other, the driver shrugs, and says "Good thing we Fit!", and as the camera zooms out, you notice that they're in a Honda Fit, which of course "fits" into the space, with ease.
As they drive, they emphasize the sport's paddle shifters, as they pass an 18-wheeler ... show them enjoying music, using their iPod music link, etc. All shots are set up, so you have no idea how big the car really is. You just see the driver and passenger, enjoying their trip, in their big, roomy (suggested) SUV/Minivan (heh-heh).
They get to their destination, where all of the spots are marked "COMPACT." Glancing at each other, the driver shrugs, and says "Good thing we Fit!", and as the camera zooms out, you notice that they're in a Honda Fit, which of course "fits" into the space, with ease.
#53
04-18-2006, 09:44 PM
I laughed when I picked up the US brochure, only to see the cover shows an arial view of a parking lot (all spaces marked "compact"), with a Fit, heading to the one open space... which just happens to be sandwiched between two (Hummers?), taking up every inch of their spaces.
#55
04-18-2006, 10:04 PM
Originally Posted by DRum
Must be those new compact Hummers.
#56
04-18-2006, 10:30 PM
Here's the front view from Honda's website, of the same parking space shown from the air on the brochure cover (with the Fit parked, of course)...
Looks like Hummer H3's on each side to me...
Looks like Hummer H3's on each side to me...
#58
04-19-2006, 01:34 AM
We had the llama discussion at work and my co-workers are not sold on the llama idea . They are all looking for a car that can fit two sheep or one overweight Shetland pony!!
#59
04-19-2006, 01:56 PM
Originally Posted by frossie
Dude, don't pick a fight with me. I, like everybody else here, is a target of Honda marketing, and can tell you what works and doesn't work for me. If it works for you, more power to you. As far as I am concerned, the official level of information on specifications is very poor. The fact that the owner manual is not officially available means I had to come here (not that I mind being here, carry on chaps) to find information that is important to me so I can decide whether I want to wait for this car to come out, or do I take the safe option of plonking my money down for a Toyota Matrix or a Mazda3 hatch. Honda should have been providing me with that information without me having to pester you people. It's only because there's so many non-US owners who have their cars that I have been able to get the information I wanted.
Deciding for or against the "safe option" of buying a car that is already available is in no way unique to Honda or the Fit. It happens every time a new car (or any other type of product, really) is on the horizon.
If you are happy with the information you have been able to get from your dealer or the official Honda website on this car, I am delighted for you. I am clearly a pedantic old lady that wanted to know for the last few weeks whether to hang on and wait for this car or not. Equally clearly, you are not in the same category. Apples and oranges, man.
#60
04-19-2006, 02:13 PM
To build your own FIT you can try the Canadian Honda site: http://www.honda.ca/HondaCA2006/Mode...efault.asp?L=E
or the UK Jazz site: http://www.honda.co.uk/
or the UK Jazz site: http://www.honda.co.uk/
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