Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

subearu

no survey here either. Maybe something to do with your recent purchase? :shrug:

-Brian

p0926

Yep it was a type of new owner survey but definitely wasn't your typical one though. No questions about whether you were satisfied with the buying experience but lots of questions asking what you like to do for fun, what type pets do you have, what TV channels and shows do you watch, and lots of quasi psychological questions (what emotion do you equate with BMW etcetera). My favorite was the question about how frequently do you take you pet for a joy ride!

-Frank P.

lucien2

lotsa fun, but time consuming-

"what NONautomotive brand/company would you associate with your Subaru?" Stuff like that takes some thought, and fair chunk of time to answer well.

locke2c

Starbucks?

~c

ateixeira

LL Bean? Birkenstock?

-juice

lucien2

There was another question that went the opposite way, Master Locke, and for THAT I almost put Starbuck's. Then I changed it to MacDonald's. then I changed it Clear Channel, since that's MacDonald's for the ears.

lucien2

"I would be very careful about this. LL Bean works on the OB, no doubt- my 60 year old parents bought one. But my friends and I tend to be wary of brand marketing of any kind. I mention Apple only because they appeal to the same receptors- function, style, quirky, independent. Too bad there's no AUX input on the OEM stereo for a freakin' i-Pod!
   that could be an incindiary choice though, given how many tech/computer types are in your demographic- Apple is a polarizing topic.

Swiss Army though....that could be cool. Function, stylish, rugged, yet sleek.....That logo would look pretty good on the fenders. they have luggage, watches, knives....and it's a premium brand. That could work."

locke2c

I don't associate any other brands with Subaru.

Actually-- I really doubt I would've taken that test.
 
~c
profile this! gestures

c_hunter

I get JD Power surveys every so often. They include a nice crisp $1 bill to guilt you into filling out the whole thing. Funny thing is, 90% of the survey has to do with dealer service. Since I do my own maintenance, I answer accordingly and it directs me skip most of the survey, to the few questions at the end about the car and tires. Last survey was for my WRX, which has been the first zero-defect Subaru I have owned. It's a real gem. Our other Subarus had a handful of defects each.

Craig

p0926

Colin- Whether you acknowledge it or not we all fit one profile or another but no one is forced to participate so there's no reason to be rude. shakes head sadly

-Frank P.

lucien2

I'm not exactly a supporter of brand marketing. In fact I'm not a supporter of brands, generally. I sell the wines of Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant for chrissakes; that's about as far from Kenall Jackson (and Starbuck's) as it gets.
   If I don't tell them I don't like the McDonald's/Clear Channel/Wal Mart-isation of marketing in the survey, then all they're going to get are repondents who say "Ooooh, how about Caramel Macchiato instead of Java Black Pearl?" And if I tell them I'd rather see them align with well designed, non-cheezyball brands, I'd like to think I've helped avoid a Pottery Barn edition or a Williams-Sonoma edition or a Bed Bath and Beyond Baja.

I told them they screwed up the FXT launch by not affixing a definable image to the vehicle. I told them they should have given us an FXT-specific handling package. I praised them for the teaser Flash animation at the launch if the Need-Desire site. I told them they're dropping the ball on marketing, and letting VW and now Mazda get all the "sport/design" attention, so they better launch the Legacy properly. I told them I don't watch TV so how would I know what shows to target? I don't have cable or a dish. And I told them I would hunt them each down one by one if they gave up the goods to that stinking Chevy Burrito or whatever it was called.

I told them everything they wanted to know about me, in the hope that SoA doesn't leave us all behind.

ateixeira

We were talking about this in the Honda/Acura styling thread, marketers wanting to profile customer groups, specifically Gen Y, in order to market cars to young folks.

Thing is, that's a tough generation to define. Being unique is one key characteristic, how to you profile uniqueness?

I don't envy the marketers, they have a tough job ahead of them. Subaru's web group was asking us how to attract new and different buyers, i.e. conquest sales. Every brand plans to grow, but surely some will lose market share.

Having said that, Subaru's demographic has probably gotten younger, and with all the Rally video games out there I'm sure a lot of young folks aspire to own a Subaru of some sort, so they're in good shape, IMO.

For the record, Bed Bath & Beyond Baja is hilarious!

-juice

rob_m

BB&B-B LMAO! Rob M.

stever

I was just talking to Mod Bob (chat tonight!) and he found an interesting theory:

Most advertisements are not to get a person to buy a car initially, but to keep them from having buyer's remorse in realizing that they just made the most stupid investment.

Pop quiz at 9 EST tonight :-)

Link's on the left.

Steve, Host

locke2c

Frank, I didn't mean anything more abrasive than my usual self, but I do think the pervasiveness of information gathering has gone way too far.

I suppose they did ask for your feedback instead of just installing stuff on your computer when you visited mysubaru.com

~c

ateixeira

I think I know what you're talking about. I did a survey for my new Nokia phone for a 3rd party marketer, they asked all kinds of strange questions, like how it makes you feel about certain things.

It's a *real* stretch, some of those surveys.

The phone either has signal, or doesn't. It either has features, or doesn't.

How do I feel? Happy if the answer is Yes, peeved if it's No. Pretty simple.

And I hate the idea of Spyware all over my computer tracking my interests and purchases. I have major privacy issues with that.

-juice

grahampeters

G'day

When I did my marketing degree, one of the really useful bits was an understanding of how advertising works. All advertisements (well all marketing effort) is directed at AIDA. That is not the loud opera with camels and pyramids, but
Awareness
Interest
Decision
Action

If you look at an ad and think about its purpose you should be fit it into one of these categories. Typically, Subaru advertising is directed at the Awareness or Interest end of the spectrum. Beer ads durin ball games inspire action (open that fdige and get one down now!)

The ads that don't fit this are brand reinforcement, making their existing customers feel good. there ws a lovely Mercedes ad using the Janis Joplin song "Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz" that just had images of hundreds of Mercedes elements.

It is an interesting topic.

Cheers

Graham

p0926

I'm a big fan an individual's right to privacy but the Subaru survey was anonymous (received an email which directed you to a web site). Yes some of the questions were a little out in left field and yes it took a while to fill out but I took the time because I like Subaru. Similar to Loosh, I'm not a big fan of either brand or mass marketing (wouldn't be caught dead in a McDonalds, a Starbucks or a Wal-Mart) but I make an exception for Subaru. So if my input can help keep Subaru on its present course then I don't mind.

-Frank P.

subaru_team

Meet the Members!!!! I wonder if that's some kind of record?

Patti

rob_m

Is there a prize for post #20,000?

c_hunter

Hey, do I get a prize ?!?

Craig

subaru_team

subaru_team

should we come up with something for post number 20000 as Rob suggested?

Patti

c_hunter

Actually, I handed in a big proposal this morning and am just glad it's Friday! Adoration and worship would be too much, I couldn't take it.

How's this for a prize: the poster of message 20000 can win this kid!



Craig

bat1161

What a prize that would be:-)

Mark

Karen_S

You get to choose the upcoming features for the Town Hall!!!!

Uhh..okay, no big deal, but you can vote for your favorite features now!

Vote here!

p0926

Did you see the vote results? Talk about evenly split across the board. I would have thought that threaded view would be the hands down winner.

-Frank P.

ateixeira

That and photo albums.

-juice

nygreg

we just crossed page 1000.

Greg

rsholland

OK, what's a blog? 

Threaded View? Is that quoting a previous thread, via highlighting the passage being quoted?

Bob 

ldbricker

but I'd like to be able to quote a portion of a prior post when replying to it. That and quit moving things around like the compare link that is now in at least it's third location.

njswamplands

njswamplands

njswamplands

njswamplands

lark6

Modesty forbids me from repeating it here. ;-)

Ed

p0926

goneskiian

to being a full fledged "Official" member of the crew. I just gave the IMBA a call to get my letters sent out. That GT Ltd. Wagon's got my name all over it! ;-)

Now, what color shall I get?

Of course, I don't have it yet so I guess I'm still part of the OTFC. Guess I'd better get reading that "interior/exterior cleaning" discussion so I can start working on my OCD membership. I have a feeling I won't be able to qualify there though. Just seems like way too much work! LOL! ;-)

Swampy - Great work on getting that post #20000. I was ROTFLMAO!

-Ian

locke2c

postwhore!

~c
--let me live Karen, I went to church Sunday.

volkov

You win a brand new Legacy GT or FXT in the colour of your desire.

{Prize is invalidated if won by a post-wh0re.}

Too bad!

lucien2

miksmi

Has anyone looked at cargo boxes recently? Thule and Yakima have new (2003?) models that are silver/grey. Yakima now opens on both sides, like Thule. I'm considering:

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/product.asp?dept_id=11&sku=67- 2
Thule 672 Evolution 1600, 16 cu ft., 39 lbs., 76" L, 15 3/4" H, 33" W

http://www.yakima.com
Yakima Platinum Pro 16S, 16 cu ft, ? lbs., 68" L, 16" H, 34" W

I want to confirm that the cargo box won't hit the opened tailgate of a 2000 Legacy GT wagon.

Last week, I took my two boys camping for two days in the Shenandoahs (2#176;C/35°F at night, snow on the ground). We fit everything in the GT but just barely.

REI has a 20% sale on Thule now.

..Mike Smith . Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

PS - Loosh, if you follow the Yak link, you'll be happy to know Yakima employs some the same design "features" as Subaru -- yes, Flash (groan). Flash is just dandy, especially when you want to copy text. Not.

rsholland

Long time no see... What's been cookin'?

Bob

njswamplands

c_hunter

Do you have a spoiler? That eats several useful inches.

Last time I looked at Yakima cargo boxes (a few years ago) you could vary the fore/aft position probably +/- 6" (indpendent of what you can also get by moving the crossbars).

I can get 200cm (79") skis on the roof without interfering with my hatch (with spoiler). I just have to bias the skis forward a bit, but it works. SO I'm guessing the Yak box will fit as long as you have some flexibility with the fore/aft position. Best thing would be to find a bike/ski/etc shop that sells the boxes and make some measurements.

Craig

p0926

Glad to see you're still alive and kicking. So is your new routine to post once every 6 months? ;-)

-Frank P.

ateixeira

I think Mike marks his calendar and then posts 1 day before his Edmunds.com account would expire. ;-)

20k posts, wow. Seems we started the Crew up just yesterday.

Color for that GT? What do they call that light blue again?

And of course everything is Pearl now, instead of Metallic.

-juice

miksmi

Craig, no spoiler. I'll measure at the store but was checking for first-hand experience.

heh Frank & juice, I think you're on to me.

Gang, I apologize for being a lamo around here. I became disgusted with Internet Explorer (slow and security holes large enough for a drive truck) and switched to Opera (and Mozilla for some sites). Since Edmunds doesn't support Opera or Mozilla (and I find Edmunds bbs interface tedious), I haven't logged on for a while.

Bob, what have I been up to? I bought a Canon EOS 10D digital camera last year, joined a camera club, and am learning how hard it is to be a photographer. I've been reading every book I can get my hands on.

Can't wait for the turbo GT but my wife wants an Audi A4 <cringe> , I don't think I can win this one.

..Mike

ateixeira

Isn't it your turn, to trade in that Civic?

Wait to see the EPA mileage for the new 2.5l engine, 168hp pulling 180 fewer lbs could make it a decent fuel miser to replace that Civic.

-juice

ladywclass

<sends a shot of virtual penicillin for the kind of love these guys are giving you>