Comments on: GM REINVENTION? http://www.justinpowelldesign.com/blog/2009/06/gm-reinvention/ Interaction Design and Digital Strategy Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:39:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Craig Bittner http://www.justinpowelldesign.com/blog/2009/06/gm-reinvention/#comment-13887 Craig Bittner Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:09:44 +0000 http://www.justinpowelldesign.com/blog/?p=212#comment-13887 I completely agree with your critique. When I first saw the commercial, I really was moved by it. There is this part of me that empathizes with GM. We've all had those moments where we haven't done the right thing (sometimes over a prolonged period of time), and the motive we have for change is that we hit rock-bottom. However, once we hit that low something clicks. This commercial to me, at first, was about that ah-ha moment - that light switch that leads to better things. But I watched it again with different lenses. This time, I watched it through the lens of history of how GM has done things in the past. And from that perspective I didn't hear the tone of a recovering alcoholic. I heard the arrogant fat-cats creating a new spin - talking about innovations that other companies have already adopted without hitting rock-bottom to get there. With this spot, I feel like GM is touting this new era of thinking - not humbly, but with arrogance. So, to me, this begs another question: how could GM approach this new era? Do they just let media spin rule the public perception? I believe the short answer is that they become transparent. They could embrace the notion that we own 60% of their company and that they're going to be as candid as possible with their taxpayer "shareholders." Maybe they take the steps of a recovering alcoholic and admit the greedy mistakes of the past - not to dwell on it, but to validate their hope for better things to come. Maybe GM says, "You know what, we know that we've been given another chance because of you, the American Taxpayer. And we don't take that lightly - we know we don't deserve it. But we're going to make the most of this new opportunity and we could use your support and your participation." I'm not sure if that's what their trying to do with their new microsite (http://www.gmreinvention.com). You'll have to be the judge of that. I completely agree with your critique. When I first saw the commercial, I really was moved by it. There is this part of me that empathizes with GM. We’ve all had those moments where we haven’t done the right thing (sometimes over a prolonged period of time), and the motive we have for change is that we hit rock-bottom. However, once we hit that low something clicks. This commercial to me, at first, was about that ah-ha moment - that light switch that leads to better things.

But I watched it again with different lenses. This time, I watched it through the lens of history of how GM has done things in the past. And from that perspective I didn’t hear the tone of a recovering alcoholic. I heard the arrogant fat-cats creating a new spin - talking about innovations that other companies have already adopted without hitting rock-bottom to get there. With this spot, I feel like GM is touting this new era of thinking - not humbly, but with arrogance.

So, to me, this begs another question: how could GM approach this new era? Do they just let media spin rule the public perception? I believe the short answer is that they become transparent. They could embrace the notion that we own 60% of their company and that they’re going to be as candid as possible with their taxpayer “shareholders.” Maybe they take the steps of a recovering alcoholic and admit the greedy mistakes of the past - not to dwell on it, but to validate their hope for better things to come. Maybe GM says, “You know what, we know that we’ve been given another chance because of you, the American Taxpayer. And we don’t take that lightly - we know we don’t deserve it. But we’re going to make the most of this new opportunity and we could use your support and your participation.”

I’m not sure if that’s what their trying to do with their new microsite (http://www.gmreinvention.com). You’ll have to be the judge of that.

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