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GM to Add Corporate Logo to North American Cars, Trucks and SUVs

GM Wants Customers to Know Its Eight Nameplates are Tied Together

Microsoft, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Nike, FedEx, and Shell Oil, each have easily recognizable logos the world over, but ask the average consumer on the street what branding the worlds largest automaker uses and youll probably get a blank stare, even if they drive a GM vehicle.

Thats because General Motors doesnt sell any cars with the block-letter "GM" logo anywhere on the sheetmetal. According to the Detroit-based automaker, this is about to change. Soon, most vehicles under the GM umbrella, whether sold through its Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, GMC, Saturn, Saab, or Pontiac nameplates in North America, will

Soon, most vehicles under the GM umbrella, will get the GM insignia in a prominent exterior position. (Photo: General Motors)

get the GM insignia in a prominent exterior position.

Pontiac will be the first brand to get the official corporate stamp, beginning this week as new 2006 G6 coupes and convertibles sleave the factory. Other vehicles will get the logo when they get redesigned or when tooling changes are possible.

Ironically, the Saab 9-7X, a vehicle that

Pontiac will be the first brand to get the official corporate stamp, beginning this week as new 2006 G6 coupes and convertibles leave the factory. (Photo: General Motors)

has come under some criticism for appearing too much like GMs domestic sport utilities that share much of its general architecture wont feature the GM badge when it rolls off the line later this year.

GM isnt saying the order in which its various brands and models will get the badge, but in time every car the General sells in North America will wear it.

Why? According to Mark LaNeve, GM

Ironically, the Saab 9-7X, criticized for appearing too much like GMs domestic sport utilities, wont feature the GM badge when it rolls off the line later this year. (Photo: General Motors)

North America Vice President, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing, "The GM badge is a promise of trust to our customers."

A press release states that the move will link General Motors and its vehicle brands more closely, which may be a positive association for Chevy owners but not necessarily something Saab buyers will relish.

Over the last few years the automaker has brought its brands together for advertising purposes and at its main website, www.gm.com, in an attempt to show the

By simply adding the GM logo to future models front fender panels, it will soon be recognized by everyone. (Photo: General Motors)

consumer one cohesive whole, a one-stop-shop for everything from economy cars to luxury limousines.

Why all the fuss over the addition of a simple logo? Theres something to be said for branding, or at least thats what marketers want us to think. In reality branding a product or line of products is an extremely expensive form of marketing, and normally only works for extremely large multinationals, with GM being one of the worlds largest.

But compared to developing a household name for a food product, such as Hersheys, GM has an advantage. Rather than paying big bucks to spread the logo across a range of mediums,

The risk GM takes is that the more brand names a potential customer has to remember dilutes the message and leaves a less potent image. (Photo: General Motors)

from TV to glossy magazines, something the automaker already does to promote its various products, its cars are already rolling billboards. By simply adding the GM logo to each models front fender panel, the GM logo will soon be recognized by everyone.

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