Call it "Chevrolet" Not Chevy!!


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350Z

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Chevrolet recently issued an internal memo for its employees to call the brand as “Chevrolet” not Chevy for the sake of consistency in branding. Read the full article below.

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In the memo Alan Batey, vice president for Chevrolet sales and service and Jim Campbell, the G.M. division's vice president for marketing said, "We'd ask that whether you're talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising, or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward." It looks like a literal turnaround, going back to Chevrolet from Chevy, a perilous journey which requires erasing years of pop culture references to Chevy; embedded in American psyche. Though the current vogue is to go short - such as Coca-Cola turned Coke, Federal Express turned FedEx and Kentucky Fried Chicken turned KFC - Chevy turns Chevrolet, just like when other manufacturers made fuel efficient cars, GM manufactured guzzlers.

The argument forwarded by the memo is that "The more consistent a brand becomes the more prominent and recognizable it is with the consumer." The idea is to reduce confusion especially as GM has gone global whereby the brand is addressed as Chevrolet in most other countries. The move is similar to USAir's decision to change its name to US Airways in 1996 and it continued to maintain US Airways as its name even after being acquired in year 2005 by America West Airlines. The decision was based on studies that showed that the US Airways name had better brand recall globally than the America West name. Though training its employees to eschew using Chevy would be easy but taking it off public parlance would be herculean - climbing out of bankruptcy would be easier.

In an official statement issued via Facebook it said "feel free to use the name "Chevy" to your hearts' content" but not so for its employees as a postscript to the memo says a sort of cuss jar - a plastic "Chevy" can - has been placed in the hallway. "Every time someone uses 'Chevy' rather than Chevrolet," the note said, the employee is expected to put a quarter in the can. The move attests that GM is in a serious branding phase and is willing to do away with historical baggage as affirmed by its offloading of key brands such as Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac. And with new brands in the stable such as Volt and Cruze - the timing of the memo is quite crucial. (News Courtesy: IBTimes)

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350Z
 

Arun

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Absolute stupidity! I have heard absurd pronunciations of the word 'Chevrolet'. It ranges from 'Chair- vo -let' to 'Sher- wallet'.


Chevy, is easier to pronounce and relate to. Whatever this is, won't work.
 
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Yeah i agree with Arun but this is the case only in India. They are serious about their brand image it seems but i don think this move will reap rewards for them!
 
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Last week's lame business page flapdoodle focuses on a GM memo instructing the company's employees, dealers, and salesmen to use Chevrolet rather than Chevy.

Fighting the headwinds of deflation, GM is making hard branding decisions (like dropping Pontiac) to rebuild comprehension and trust in American and overseas consumers. Asking its employees and dealers to use consistent and slightly more respectful language to refer to the brand makes sense.



The memo doesn't suggest in any way that GM hopes to convert consumer usage from Chevy to Chevrolet. Being smarter than a turnip, GM managers know it's impossible to replace a brief, handy word with a longer one in everyday usage.

But as headwinds cut newspaper and magazine revenues, seasoned business page reporters have been replaced by cut-and-paste turnips who think "cute" is journalistic acuity.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Source: Namelab
 
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i think this act by chevy is understandable. chevy is seeing overall aspect and then doing something and not only because of people who cant spell chevrolet they will let the name chevy go.
 

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