The Web may seem like a huge part of luxury car marketing to you, but realistically, it's peanuts. The pinnacle of advertising is a Super Bowl ad. That's where you spend your duckies when you want to make a serious splash.

It's a real stretch to say a car is bad because you think a Web page is bad. Be patient! (easy for me to say!) the launch is not 3 months yet!

Maybe it is a marketing ploy to stay vague on purpose. Keep more people wondering and they keep coming back. It's better than a GM move to introduce everything about a car 1 year before you can even buy it.

Hmm, still kind of peddling vagueness, aren't they? This "less than 6 seconds" puts them in a category of mass-manufactured production vehicles available in the U.S. of only, oh, say, 100 different models. Probably more if you include suburban assault vehicles.

Less than 6 seconds... gee, ya' think? Does it come w/ 4 wheels too? Seatbelts?

I'm pretty well in agreement with the fellow who mentioned "trepidation" - which is the perfect word. Sure you want to plunk down your ducats for superbowl advertising, but then every single person watching the superbowl who can afford a $40k car is going to do what, after they see that commercial? Anybody?

GO TO THE WEBSITE!!! D'OH!!! (IMG:http://forums.artofwarcentral.com/images/smilies/26_11_13.gif)

Seriously... ok, websites & web software aren't cheap (yes, this is my profession...) but compared to vehicle R&D, manufacturing, printed advertising or television commercials? DIRT cheap. Dirt cheap. It doesn't take a dump truck full of money to create a good website with all the relevant facts, a slick look & feel, and the sense that SOMEBODY was paying enough attention to this to make it good. To make it make sense. Generally this is a collaboration of marketing gurus and a web development team.

They could do a better job than they have with the amount of money they will spend on the first 1 or 2 seconds of ONE of those superbowl commercials, with the cost of production + air time.

It's a valid point - if the U.S. execs won't spend $50k on a GOOD website... how serious can they be about this model? About its real potential for success? Potential value to the company?

You don't get to roll out a product in 2008 and just kind of shrug off the website. It's just not a conceivable, rational option. NOBODY can be that naive (barb aimed at execs @ Hyundai USA, btw, not fellow forumers :beer: ).

This post has been edited by andyman32: Feb 2 2008, 04:28 PM

andyman I agree with your assessment of the Genesis pre-launch site and lack of strategy. Hyundai's struggle to give their brand lift in the U.S. market begins and ends with a strategic vision. It is apparent they are still trying to find one.

The targeted prospects for Genesis are expecting a slick up market website to match the slick up market message that Hyundai is putting out for Genesis. The mini-site as agreed, fails to deliver. Where it also fails is with the 'Think About It" message.

Because "Think About It" assumes your product transformation is not only apparent in your product but in your presentation. It is quite apparent, at least from the published specs, that the Genesis is a well engineered, technologically capable, quality built car. But what we have yet to witness is the shift in their overall product presentation.

So far, the marketing message has not matched the presentation. Evidence: January sales were off by over 22% compared to January of the previous year, not to mention flat growth in sales over the last two years. Of course we can factor a softening economy in the equation but a drop that wide suggest the bottom end of your market is built on quick sand and there are not enough buyers in the middle (growth) to support your upper end products. Hence, any downturn will wound you severely.

Quality does matter but market perception matters even more because we are visually driven to perceive a brand as either deserving or not deserving of prominence.

Although the quality of Hyundai’s products, have improved, the branding strategy has not kept pace. The jury on the shift to a new marketing strategy is still out but early indicators are it hasn't lived up to their expectations.

There are many owners like us who would like to see the brand value equity rise for Hyundai but when you see a company invest nearly half-a-billion dollars on developing a product like Genesis only to see them bumble their way into one of the most important and competitive markets in the world, it is breathtakingly frustrating.

This post has been edited by acronis: Feb 3 2008, 12:19 PM

There seem to be 2 factions in hyundai management:
1) Engineers who provide a good product
2) Marketing(?) Who sabotage through their ill conceived efforts whatever grp 1 achieved. They seem bent on keeping the make at the perception level of, tried, but couldn't really make it.

Hmm, good point too - where's "Think about it" on the minisite? Man they are going to blow through millions of dollars on ads tonight, and EVERYBODY who says, "woah!..." is going to raise an eyebrow and go look at hyundaiusa.com... which will tell them nothing. It certainly is staggering.

On the one hand, these cars are "our little secret". Maybe there's some exclusivity in being willing to be the guy on your block who'll give ANY brand a try - when they put together a car as nice as Azera or Genesis, and at their respective price points.

On the other hand, stumbling and fumbling into the U.S. market... well, I'm being selfish. It doesn't offer bright prospects for a supercharged or LWB Genesis coming out in a year or two.

I guess I wouldn't be quite as critical if we were having this discussion, mulling over subtle points of marketing strategy in a Marketing M.B.A. class. But this isn't subtle stuff. Bewildering your market and making relevant and precise information very difficult to find is probably not very helpful for the brand's upmarket thrust.

Dunno... thousands of people are going to visit that minisite tonight and be baffled and frustrated at the lack of precise and thorough information. Why can't I "build-my-own"? Where are the prices? Weights, measures & dimensions (wheelbase, track)? Performance figures? Why can't I get on a waiting list? Where's the release date on this site? Is this car 1 month out or 2 years? So I'm that guy - watching the Superbowl - visiting because those commercials raised an eyebrow for me. Then I think... this site is CHEAP and the information is a mess! Typical Hyundai. It's vaporware. That car is made of shredded chinese newspapers and rotten apple cores. No need to "think about it"... I visited their website, and my low opinion of the brand remains intact.

Gosh... I'm so put off by it, I half want to produce a website for them pro bono. If only they could register as a nonprofit organization (VERY tongue in cheek there) and I could use it as a write-off for my firm :-/
:460:

This post has been edited by andyman32: Feb 3 2008, 08:21 PM

It's sad that I have to come to sites like this one in order to find out information with any substance about this car rather than on Hyundai's own dedicated site for the vehicle. Perhaps instead of "Think about it" they should change their slogan to "Figure it out on your own".

I see Hyundai completely Fahking up the launch of what looks to be a stunning car because of their lackluster marketing skills. Just like with the Azera.

So Sad.

:(

Since the launch is JUNE, it's sad you can't give Hyundai at least until MAY to pass judgment on their marketing strategem.

Our uh, mature, members may remember the orignal Mustang commercials. All they showed for a couple of months were glimpses of the car's grill and horses galloping in a cloud of dust. I think THAT turned out OK. :)

This post has been edited by bobad: Feb 4 2008, 04:15 PM

LOL!!!! EXACTLY! Well put, well put my man. Yeah. At least with a little sifting and about an hour's worth of reading on this forum you can learn, more or less, what is probably supposed to be the facts about the forthcoming Genesis. I guess that pretty much has to be largely the extent of it.

So oddly enough, and sadly... I wonder... are we "marketing" the car right now? Are we the sole source of GOOD information for this car on the web? Hmm...

I just came from the Philly auto show. There was a red Genesis with a darker brown/beige interior and a very big crowd around it. All I have to say is WOW! It is everything the photos show and more. I was suprised, it seemed bigger then I though. The lady said it will be arriving in dealerships at the end of August.

I asked her what's going to happen with the Azera and she told me they plan on refreshing it for now and she knew nothing beyond that.

Andyman, maybe this equipment list will hold you over until Hyundai releases the car in June. This is unofficial of course, so the list is pointless. But maybe it will give you some idea of how the Genesis will be equipped when the time comes this summer.

XM and XM NAVTraffic
HD Radio
Electronic active head restraints
Lexicon Discrete Surround Audio Systems (17 speakers; RR Phantom is the only other to have it IIRC)
Smart cruise control (SCC)
Front & rear five-link suspension
Amplitude Selective Dampers (ASD)
Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFLS)
High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps with adaptive leveling
8 inch navigation with backup camera
30 gig hard drive
Push-button start
Electric parking brake
8 ultrasonic sensors
ESC
Eight airbags
Heated and cooled seats
Bluetooth
iPod/USB aux inputs
Automatic windshield defogger with humidity sensor
Rain-sensing wipers
6-speed transmissions (ZF & Aisin)
It also has Hyundai's great warranty, and an amazing price tag
Wow. If this list is accurate, it's very hard to get all those goodies combined on 1 car, no matter what the price.

Maybe because of your complaints, all the car manufacturers will start asking for your approval before they launch their new models. :grin:

My take on it is that they aren't releasing many "specifics" as just about any of it could be subject to change before production begins. They might even produce 100 cars and change their mind on something. Same goes with the major auto magazines, most of the specs they list are estimates because they haven't even gotten a car to test with yet. I bet as it gets closer to production more and more will start to surface on their website(s). HyundaiUSA does have info on their site about it, even the main page has the Genesis in it. No specifics, but it's there.

This kind of reminds me about when the iPhone was being hyped and the mac fanboys were going nuts and ranting about there not being any specifics out on it yet. Yeah, well that's because it's not being manufactured yet. I could see it happening - they announce a feature but drop it before it's released and they probably have 15 class action lawsuits against them for false advertising. The way of the world these days, as sorry as it is.

But you better believe I'm just as excited and anxious as the next person ! :beer:

as far as the price goes,if it is going to be compared to the Mitsu-Eclispe,a loaded V-6 SE goes for around $ 25600.00 (does not have the Brembo brakes). Hopefully Hyundai will not get greedy and jack the price up to $ 29000-31000.That may scare away potential buyers but i am betting on that for their SE version.