Marketing can be a very powerful thing. It can persuade, draw upon your deepest emotions, inspire you, and even bring you to tears. However there is one thing that even marketing may not be able to do. That one thing - get Men to WANT to drive a minivan. That however did not stop Honda from trying. A unique ad utilizing Van Halen (pun intended?) and a van that transforms into a panther is clearly designed to target men, and men only. The rock music echos as sparks fall from the sky behind the Man-Van.
Now I do appreciate the fact that Honda is trying to market this soccer mom-o-mobile to the everyday Dad. However I am not sure this campaign is going to work. In fact I am inclined to argue that though Honda will get some props for these great commercials, the more standard "utility vehicle" advertising campaign may actually work better. Lets face it, it is easy to appeal to the ego of Men, however there are going to need to be a lot of changes to the mini van before it becomes something men want to be seen driving. The only way you will ever catch this marketer driving a mini is if I end up with 12 kids and have no other choice.
However, I do not think it is impossible to change the image or preconceived notions of a product, in this case a car. Another car on the market that has often appealed more to women than men is the VW Beetle. They too have taken a new male-centric approach to their marketing. However as you can see below, it took a total overhaul.
If you would like my opinion I think this newly designed VW beetle just might work. They certainly took the "barbie" out of the bug and it really came into its own, dare I say, sports car? I will keep my eye on these transformations - it will be interesting to see in the future if these brands stick with their new approach or graciously fall back to their old methods.
Images via Autoblog and Facebook
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