Monday, January 11, 2010

US Buick vs. China Buick

When I was in China, I noticed many upper-class people driving Buicks where in America they would probably be driving an European luxury car. In China, Buick occupies a cool, hip mindset while in America, the brand perception is different.

In China, General Motors has done a superb job of pitching Buick as a cool, even sexy, luxury car. It's not viewed as something your grandfather would drive. Instead, GM positioned Buick as an aspirational brand that fits in perfectly with China's national go-go race to modernity.

As a result, the Buick has become a symbol of the country's rising prosperity — a fun, four-wheeled, tactile embodiment of Deng Xiaoping's famous phrase, "To get rich is glorious."

Compare the two commercials below to see a brand that has already established a strong brand image so they can have more daring ads versus a struggling brand image that is trying very hard to portray hipness.


Chinese Buick ad




American Buick ad



Via Globalpost.

3 comments:

cheap Nintendo DS r4 said...

Whats the name of that song. Can anybody tell me ?

David Wen said...

That's a good question. Let me check on that for you.

David Wen said...

The song is Here Comes the Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze

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