Holden—noticeably referred to as ‘GM Holden’, as the post-2002 Daewoo became ‘GM Daewoo’—delayed its VE Commodore launch by 20 minutes: first advertised as webcasting at 10.30 a.m., the web page then went to 10.40, and then 10.50 a.m. Australian EST. However, the Calais V, the Commodore SS V and the Caprice were just launched at the Melbourne Convention Centre and over the web at Ninemsn.
   Screen grabs from the event follow.




Official pics follow—interestingly, they were uploaded after the event, so there were no photographs with embargo dates, as are common in the media.



   We have seen so many spy shots of the car that this was not a huge surprise. What was emphasized was that this was a billion-dollar Australian programme, and that the Commodore is a car designed by Australians to world-class standards. (The irony is that this was delivered in an American accent by Holden boss Denny Mooney.) Which perhaps goes some way to supporting my theory that getting the marketing of one product right can push the entire nation’s brand, getting Australia into the new and profitable sectors.
   Nation brand shifts are hard to do without one champion product, but Australia would be wise to piggy-back off this, just as New Zealand piggy-backed off the hype surrounding The Lord of the Rings.
   It might not mean that Holden’s brand itself will find strength—why else have the GM name endorse it (except to indicate the car’s export intent)?—although the Commodore will be a strong halo product. Whether it can overcome the negativity of the Daewoos at the bottom end of the range is another story.

Del.icio.us tags: Holden Holden Commodore VE Commodore cars nation brand nation branding branding Australia innovation marketing Posted by Jack Yan, 01:23  permalink

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