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I’ve got to apoligise to JPile over at Flickr. I’m using this photo and quite possibly without his/her OK, but it was just sooooooo good and it’s being used for a good purpose – the common appreciation of Saab automobiles.
Of course, if JPile is looking in and wants it removed from here, then that’s fine. Just get in touch. But I hope he/she sees the common good in this exercise.
What we have here is an extraordinarily good photo that I think could be used to say a lot about Saab and the winter capability that was designed into the cars. I’ve lost count of the number of people who mention how great their Saab [insert model here] is and how it’s one of the few cars in the neighborhood that gets through just about anything that a northern winter can dish up.
Here’s the image.
Your assignment: turn this graphic into an ad for Saab. You need a tagline and between 20 and 40 words to sell your message.
My effort:
winter: saab time
Saab stand alone for safety and reliability in winter conditions. After all, they’ve been designing, testing and building cars through over 60 Scandinavian winters. Front-wheel drive or cross-wheel drive, your Saab will always get you home safe this winter.
OK, it’s not perfect, which is why I work in finance and not advertising. But you get the gist of it.
Your turn….
15 responses so far ↓
1 Eduard(Edusaab)
// Dec 29, 2008 at 12:28 am
That remembers me the Liverpool F.C. song
You’ll never walk alone!!
regards
2 Tiago do Vale
// Dec 29, 2008 at 2:29 am
Here’s mine: a bit unpolished, but…
http://i40.tinypic.com/s27jnq.jpg
3 Karen
// Dec 29, 2008 at 5:00 am
Black Ice.
When no other dare challenge the black ice and zero visibility of winter’s rage, your Saab will always get you home.
(Just like my 1987 900 did during the blizzard of January 2006 when every SUV got stopped in their tracks. THAT photo would show eight inches of unplowed snow and a steady line of stuck SUV owners in the right hand lane trying to clear the ice from their windshield wipers.
I always thought that would have been a great testimonial. That blizzard shut down the tri-state area for three straight days, but I got home on a 20 mile trip when NO other vehicle could move. Ok, it stupid to go shopping, but the blizzard moved a lot faster than predicted – when I left the Woodbridge Mall, had to drive through six inches just to get to the Garden State Parkway, and at least eight inches on the jug-handle to I-78. My Saab finally got stuck as I turned into my driveway in Summit because the wheel wells were packed. What an adventure – and I really was the only vehicle moving for that entire trip.)
4 RMinNJ
// Dec 29, 2008 at 7:11 am
Only saab ad I saw with snow was a commercial for the TurboX. They should really show all of them in the snow in winter. Haven’t gotten stuck in a Saab yet.
5 Vorlon
// Dec 29, 2008 at 8:51 am
No excuses.
When the winter storm hits in its harshest form, most drivers have a valid reason, or a good excuse, for staying home. But not Saab drivers. Beacause for Saabs, the winter is in the DNA.
6 Troll96
// Dec 29, 2008 at 8:57 am
How’s this?
“You’re in good company, even on the road less traveled. When you know where you’re going, let Saab get you there.”
7 wilfried
// Dec 29, 2008 at 9:09 am
I do like Karens ‘black ice’.
Considering the year 2009 (9-? introduction) & remembering the year 1979 (900 introduction) Saab should come up with something overwhelming.
Why can’t saab hire one of the clever fiat 500 & alfa MiTo campaigners ? Before those cars ever saw real daylight & hitted the streets the public knew about it and was tricked to be involved somehow.
Hyped, that is.
A bit in the manner of this:
http://www.pronetadvertising.com/articles/images/msaleem_adexpert.png
I believe every saab ad should breath some visual scandinavian atmosphere. So the ad is made up visually. Pretty basic, but that works fine.
So, as I can’t load up pictures straight away over here in comment, I’ve decided to started blogging (but no attemtpt to combat Trollhattansaab.net).
http://9-xbiohybridair.blogspot.com/
8 Karen
// Dec 29, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Thanks Wilfried! Black Ice should be an official Saab color. I kept seeing Saab 9-3 ads today on CNN – just as they got my attention, the end tag was “GM – surprised?” Aagh, so very wrong.
I still think Saab needs to star in a movie. Get a whole new generation excited with an animated (like ‘300′) action-adventure where the hero’s Saab burns through ice.
Re-incarnate a Norse god or, maybe, the goddess Freya…
By the way, since Quebec now requires snow tires Dec 15 through Mar 15 by law, the shortage here in Western Massachusetts was front page news because winter tire manufacture is seasonal and orders had to be placed by summer. Local tire dealers are shipping their stock to independent garages in northern Vermont.
The article noted that “rear wheel drive cars like BMWs and Mercedes are “notoriously” worse in the snow.”
9 Arnold
// Dec 29, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Fog and snow THREATEN others — they BECKON a Saab.
10 Arnold
// Dec 29, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Talking of Saab Advertisements, today, I was attracted by a large beautiful Saab sign outside the Holden dealership in Caloundra. This dealership took over the Saab brand from Cullen motors in Nambour and services the area north of Brisbane for Queensland.
I stopped in, but not a Saab in sight. Finally a salesman approached. I said I wanted to see what Saabs he had on offer. He said they no longer dealt with Saab. So that’s it if you don’t live in Brisbane – no dealership.
I told him he should take down the sign. The thing must be 5 meters tall, yet I had to point it out to him, as he didn’t know it was there.
They are making it very hard to buy a Saab.
11 MarkS
// Dec 30, 2008 at 7:49 am
Wilfried – I can’t believe GM is using that line in a Saab ad!!! YIKES!!! I’ve seen that one featured in a Chevy commercial so far, and even there it’s just the most idiotic thing. It’s the equivalent of saying “Surprised? And you thought our cars were just uninteresting sh*t-boxes”! In the case of Chevy, is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t know they’re made by GM?? What’s the point? And how does that line help to sell Saabs???? To the average person it only serves to take Saab down a peg in terms of brand image.
GM – CLAP TWO BRAIN CELLS TOGETHER FOR ONCE AND STOP THE SAAB ANTI-SALES CAMPAIGN!!!!! YOU-ARE-KILLING-SAAB!!!!!
12 MarkS
// Dec 30, 2008 at 8:09 am
I’m no marketing guru but if I were GM, I’d want to get the word of Saab’s new cross wheel drive system to potential customers at every opportunity!! Consumers in the New England area might respond to something like “New England winters demand more than all-wheel-drive. New England winters demand Saab Cross Wheel Drive”, or words to that effect. Or perhaps something like “Conventional all wheel drive systems are no match for New England winter weather. Saab’s revolutionary Cross Wheel Drive system is”. Anyway, you get the idea.
13 Karen
// Dec 30, 2008 at 9:55 am
@MarkS – that was me agreeing in advance with your more colorful assessment of GM-Surprised? at the end of a Saab ad.
When I first heard about the Cross Wheel Drive, I actually went out same week to look at it, only to get no comment on availability from Pioneer Saab-Volvo. New England is no longer Saab country, but it is not too late. Except now all I see, everywhere I go, are Subaru all-wheel-drives.
I hate to say this, but I do NOT like the new front end of the 2009 Saabs. BRING BACK THE 900 PROFILE!
14 Ken H
// Dec 30, 2008 at 10:25 am
Saab XWD – what exactly is the talk about poor driving conditions?
15 ctm
// Dec 30, 2008 at 7:33 pm
“Saab vs. Winter
When the journey is still the goal.”