Let's talk about Maserati's Super Bowl commercial. Sure, it's been two weeks since it aired, but it's been on my mind for a while. When the ad featuring Oscar-nominated actress, Quvenzhané Wallis ended with her soft-spoken cry, "...when we walk out of the shadows, quietly walk out of the dark...and strike", it certainly left an impact, but not the impact that Maserati wanted.
The advertising industry more or less thought the ad was brilliant. I, however, was left scratching my head. Now we strike, but then what? After watching it, the first thing I said was, "who watching the Super Bowl is realistically looking to buy a Maserati?" Granted almost everyone in the United States watches the Super Bowl regardless of their income or buying power, but I digress. What this ad was missing was a clear message and call to action.
My perception of Maserati is that they sell cars to filthy rich, international playboys or owners of the rides featured on The Cars of The George Washington University. For a corporation looking to make it's formal debut into the American market, it didn't do a great job in considering how their audience, especially a Super Bowl audience, thinks. Let's take a look at some response tweets form the day after:
It looks like I'm not the only one who has the same view of Maserati's brand, but here's the kicker. Pricing for the Maserati Ghibli, the car featured in the ad, starts at $65,000.
$65,000.
That's by no means cheap, but it's certainly not a fortune for a car. There are middle of the market SUVs that cost as much, if not more. At no point in this ad did Maserti indicate price or much else. No website. No hashtag. No social engagement. As tweets like the ones above came in, Maserti didn't respond to anyone to correct perceptions of their brand or even to let them know that the Maserati Ghibli is relatively affordable. In fact, Maserati's digital communication strategy has been has focused on the ad itself. Until recently, when someone visited Maserati's site, the visitor was greeted by the commercial and in small font in the lower righthand corner was the starting price of the Ghibli.
I will be writing a full analysis on Maserati's digital strategy for class and I will post an excerpt of it in my portfolio when it's complete. For now, the major issue I see in terms of Maserati's communication strategy is that it is taking a traditional, one-direction approach to marketing in social media, which is only effective when brands engage in bilateral conversation with consumers. We'll see if any change happens in the coming months.