Lotus Marketing opinions?

[ADC]

I get their marketing and find it neither amazing nor self-deprecating. Just competent.

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Which might be deliberate and the right strategy--a sign of confidence in the cars to stand on their own without heavily relying on marketing as a crutch. Don't overpromise or underpromise, no puffing your chest or tooting your own horn. Just get out the way of your own noise and let the cars show and prove through press and social media.

The marketing feeling slightly off from expectation could be a cultural thing. I didn't notice at the time but there's stark bravado in the Z06 announcement special compared to the Emira reveal which was more a celebration of heritage and bright future outlook. Jenson Button played the role of sales man and it was just what you'd expect--not overly exaggerated (meaning not scripted for dramatic effect like in the Z06) but not botched up. Maybe Brits aren't as boastful as Americans culturally? I worked for a Taiwanese smartphone company called HTC and the slogan in all lowercase was "quietly brilliant" (confidence in letting the product speak for itself) and imagine a Chinese company like Geely could follow similar culture.

So basically, we can put this down to a bunch of quietly confident Brits (and their Chinese bosses) hiring some highfalutin American ad/brand agency, being as horrified (or meh) as the rest of us, but being too polite or embarrassed to ask for changes...

 

[eclat2emira]

If you watched the progress in the threads where @eclat2emira was painting images of the Emira in an artistic style, they were a lot of work, they were stylistic, they were beautiful.

A much better ad would have been to have snippets of Russell, Gavan and maybe Matt talking as a background vocal, about their dreams and goals for Lotus and its future; while watching a slide show of eclat2emira's paintings evolve to the finish product. At the end as he is done, the Emira on his painting comes to life and drives off down the highway.

This would illustrate the artistry, the hard work, the results, and appeal to anyone in the arts as well as anyone who likes cars. It would be classy, elegant, and refreshingly different. Artistry you can get in and drive.

Well I am flattered @Eagle7 and it's nice to think it could be one strand of a campaign, especially if they are trying to hang onto the hand-built artisan angle, but I didn't mind the ad, even if it was a bit high brow - will reply to the initial post with my thoughts on that....

 

[Eagle7]

I wish they'd focus more on the car. I'd love to see a commercial/ad about introducing KEF to the automotive world, and what went on behind the scenes to make that happen. There are SO many great things they could talk about! Find another ad agency, preferably a U.K. one if the current one isn't. They need somebody who 'gets' what Lotus is all about.

 

[ADC]

I re-watched it again... I just can't muster enough concern to get bent out of shape about it. They're trying to appeal to a younger generation of (upmarket) consumer, who don't have any link to "the good old days". There are enough teases of cars in there to know it is about a car company, and talk of "evolving but staying the same" suggests some illustrious heritage, but I get why that would not be the focal point for capturing the attention of the yoofs / the YouTube generation.

I appreciate where you're coming from, Eagle, but detail-oriented people like us who want something more cozy and boutique are going to have to stand aside and let Lotus/Geely try and make some real return on their investment... and that means appealing to people not like us.

 

[Eagle7]

I re-watched it again... I just can't muster enough concern to get bent out of shape about it. They're trying to appeal to a younger generation of (upmarket) consumer, who don't have any link to "the good old days". There are enough teases of cars in there to know it is about a car company, and talk of "evolving but staying the same" suggests some illustrious heritage, but I get why that would not be the focal point for capturing the attention of the yoofs / the YouTube generation.

I appreciate where you're coming from, Eagle, but detail-oriented people like us who want something more cozy and boutique are going to have to stand aside and let Lotus/Geely try and make some real return on their investment... and that means appealing to people not like us.

Yeah, that's definitely the case for the SUV demographic. They're also aiming at the Chinese market, which is very different from ours.

It's not going to have any effect on the Emira market, so I suppose it's mostly for the Eletre which is going to be built in China anyways.

 

[switchlanez]

Lotus is branching out to the mainstream. The type who don't frequent forums, let alone post (at this moment, about half the people browsing this forum are guests, other half are members). We in this forum are hyper-focused and geek out on every feature and status update. Their traditional customer base has been that low volume special breed where the broader world has had decades of opportunity to attune to but still rejected for mass adoption. The shift to a broader audience comes with an SUV, another SUV, and a sedan. To give Lotus credit, they delivered on fan service by prioritizing at least 3 videos (design with Russell Car, aerodynamics with Richard Hill, and driving dynamics with Gavan Kershaw) for us geeks before shifting mainstream.

Unless they're familiar with and already love Lotus, most people (remember "most people" aren't car enthusiasts) won't have the attention span to sit through more than a minute of technical details--what we enthusiasts crave. If you start going even a little into the weeds on the Evija, Emira, and Eletre all in the same ad, the message can get fragmented and incoherent real quick. That's because buyers will have different interests specific to each car type. So for blanket coverage, the ad abstracts a brand image common to buyers of all 3 car types. Or at least it tries to. It's still a bit fragmented but I guess it's a tough pickle to solve when there's already radical diversity in a tiny 3-car lineup.

 

[GetawayDriving]

The very idea of getting offended or annoyed by any marketing campaign cracks me up... they don't need to attract anyone like us. We hang around like a bad smell, even in the face of passive-aggressive discouragement and misinformation

Marketing companies exist to concoct all kinds of "aspirational" nonsense (perfume ads, anyone?), and I'm sure this stuff resonates with some cool, rich, young, hipster audience somewhere, but I sure ain't gonna waste my time fretting about whether "Lotus gets me". Do they have a sweet sports car to sell me? Yes? I'll take one to go please... no, I don't need a carrier bag, I'll put it on right now

Exactly this.

I’ll add, This is a brand piece. It’s not meant to sell us the car, it’s meant to sell us the brand. And by us I don’t mean us, because we are not the type of customer they’re chasing.

This piece tells us exactly who they’re chasing, and no surprise it’s strivers and rebels. The reason it seems like so many other luxury ads is because they too go after strivers and rebels.

Those arguing that the people in this ad are a very niche group are missing the bigger picture: if Lotus can attract the type of customer in this group, however relative few of them there are, that customer also defines the brand. Basically if you can get the cool kids to drive your car, everyone else will want to drive it too, because those in the mainstream think they’re a cool kid or secretly want to be.

This is a story as old as cars. It’s why Chevrolet leased Corvettes to astronauts in the 60s for $1. Strivers and rebels are always the core of cool. What it means to strive and rebel is what changes with each generation, and I think that’s what is really drawing the ire of folks.

Lux cars are fashion, and so they’re playing the fashion brand game. They have to if they want to grow. Us lot are generally not fashionistas. We wear sensible shoes and keep our cars forever. We’re actually closer to Volvo customers. (I mean technically now we are?) Ha!

 

[GetawayDriving]

I wish they'd focus more on the car. I'd love to see a commercial/ad about introducing KEF to the automotive world, and what went on behind the scenes to make that happen. There are SO many great things they could talk about! Find another ad agency, preferably a U.K. one if the current one isn't. They need somebody who 'gets' what Lotus is all about.

They will. This is a brand piece, not a car ad. Different pieces of content serve different purposes in an ad campaign.

I just wouldn’t get your hopes up too high on “getting” what lotus is about. They’re telling us what lotus is about. This is who lotus wants to be.

 

[switchlanez]

This ad reminds me of mid-20s hipsters in the 2010s meeting up at boutique cafes in a gentrified part of town (used to be rough and dangerous, now transformed and hip) to hard park their cafe racers for all pedestrian foodie artsy hipsters to see. Now those same hipsters are rolling in C4 Corvettes in the same town where housing prices have since quadrupled. That's a caricature of who Lotus is targeting .

 

[freefall_junkie]

For everyone who thinks the current Lotus marketing is bad, may I remind you that it has been far worse in the past. For me this was the sign that the lunatics really had taken over the asylum during the Bahar era: Swizz Beats is Now a Lotus Vice President

 

[TomE]

So basically, we can put this down to a bunch of quietly confident Brits (and their Chinese bosses) hiring some highfalutin American ad/brand agency, being as horrified (or meh) as the rest of us, but being too polite or embarrassed to ask for changes...

They used a European agency for the brand strategy and the brand advert, as well as the Eletre launch:

 

[GetawayDriving]

They used a European agency for the brand strategy and the brand advert, as well as the Eletre launch:

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Brand exec: "So what do you love about Lotus so much?"

Average Lotus buyer: "Well, what I love most is how I know exactly where the limit is, and I have tremendous control to be able to push past that limit a bit and then reel it back in".

Brand exec: "So you're saying Lotus is L I M I T L E S S "

Average Lotus buyer: "Well I don't know about--"

Brand exec: " L I M I T L E S S "

 

[TomE]

I’ve been on the receiving end of some of these agency pitches. The worst ones are like tipping a bag of Scrabble letters on a table and having someone throw words at you.

 

[Pegasi]

Brand exec: "So what do you love about Lotus so much?"

Average Lotus buyer: "Well, what I love most is how I know exactly where the limit is, and I have tremendous control to be able to push past that limit a bit and then reel it back in".

Brand exec: "So you're saying Lotus is L I M I T L E S S "

Average Lotus buyer: "Well I don't know about--"

Brand exec: " L I M I T L E S S "

Wonderful post!

 

[EspritGuy]

I’ve been on the receiving end of some of these agency pitches. The worst ones are like tipping a bag of Scrabble letters on a table and having someone throw words at you.

And that letter scramble resulted in ELETRE.......

 

[~el~jefe~]

once battery powered EV's have a large market share, no one will care about the car industry ever again. Get woke go broke, every time, never not.
Appeal to those who do not actually buy anything, or have any sense of style or taste or moral system or universal aesthetic and you will be asking croc shoe wearing iphone vegetating generation to spend $120k on something they do not have a license to drive.

 

[DJS]

How the long winter evenings must fly by.

 

[emiraspain]

I’m wondering whether I should just go and have a look at Taycan CrossTurismo instead….. for the same reasons.

i had the porsche cross tour ordered and cancelled it, not because of the car, but more the price and my use of the car, ie just to take the dogs around and the odd trip to the UK and France. From the side I think the porsche is a better looking car, the lotus looks like every other SUV out there from the side until you get close and see more aero. From the front it looks good though and from the back, apart from the KIA EV similarities, its quite good. However, the interior is fantastic! I just hope the actual end quality is up there where it should be.
I have the ionic 5 top of the line and I am quite happy with it, especially the option to use the batteries to power the house in the winter.. haha.
I have pt a deposit down on the EV, but am not 100% sure I will take it, one for price, and two for the side view, especially rear quarter window area, and three, if I am allowed three, its not as practical as its counterparts. Unless the back seats slide forward, I am not sure my 2 dogs will be too happy in that boot area......