If it Wants to Survive, Hummer Needs to Focus on Customer Pride

Finally free from the mismanaged shackles of GM, Hummer has a second lease on life. To ensure survival, Hummer's new corporate leadership could learn one huge lesson from Twitter.

Cultivate Pride.

Tweeters have demonstrated immense self-pride about the platform and reinforce its value whenever they can - especially among one another. This has been essential for Twitter "The Corporation" in retaining top Tweeters and marketing (via word of mouth) the advantages of user loyalty to new prospects.

Hummer, a product that Americans either love or hate, needs to do the same. For many Hummer owners, they are not ashamed of driving a gas-guzzling, stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb product around their towns. In fact, many revel in knowing people hate their vehicle. I am personally close to one such owner. He'll defend that thing to the bitter end but at some point, it has get lonely on the soapbox. He could use some reinforcements like marketing strategies to connect Hummer lovers with each other and rewards for continued loyalty.

After all, the more good feeling consumers have about their own product, the more they will talk about it's virtues to others - even if it's in a defensive posture.

This concept was completely lost on GM. They not only took their customer base for granted but missed an golden opportunity to broaden appeal by simply marketing viral pride of existing owners. So when Hummer became the symbol of excess, high gas prices and environmental scorn, GM was totally unprepared to react.

First, they hoped the storm would pass. Then they made a litany of explanations and excuses for the vehicle's shortcomings. Finally, they marginalized the vehicle's appeal even further by promoting an obscure "what if" campaign about Hummer's value in times of emergencies like a hurricane or fire. Knowing a Hummer could survive a natural disaster is all fine and good, but how did that help the "under attack" owner in suburbia (with a socially conscious family) defend his product?

It didn't, and hopefully the new corporate team in charge of Hummer will be smarter than that.