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‘Blunder of the Year’ so far / “We try harder” is a promise, “It’s your space” is wallpaper (video)

Perhaps, should use: “We’re #3. We don’t try at all … but, at least, we admit it!” Steve Reichenstein

Avis Drops ‘We Try Harder’ For ‘It’s Your Space’

Aw, bad times. The new CMO of Avis has decided that the company needs a break from trying so hard all the time. They have changed the tagline was first created by DDB copywriter Paula Green 50 years-ago. ‘We Try Harder’ went on to define the brand and became an iconic campaign that every ad student, ever, studies at some point.

The new tagline is ‘It’s Your Space’ and the company is now targeting businessy folk that do business type things.

After five decades, the “We Try Harder” tagline that’s been synonymous with the Avis car-rental brand is being shed in favour of a new one. This week, the company rolls out a new ad campaign and a new tagline: “It’s Your Space,”

Have we at theMarketingblog (who are very anti Avis, for good reason) got it wrong? Is this a space too far or is it a necessary change?
 

4 thoughts on “‘Blunder of the Year’ so far / “We try harder” is a promise, “It’s your space” is wallpaper (video)”

  1. Now that I’ve seen the spots–the campaign is “boys in their cars” making the big presentation, going to trade shows and picking up wifey and the kids in the convertible for a “bizcation.” Two of the spots are positively ‘fratty’.

    What is even weirder is that there were nothing but guys in the meetings (save one woman in each of the spots). Er….don’t women rent cars and attend business meetings? FYI, the new CMO is female, which makes it even stranger.

    Posted by Donna Cusano in LinkedIn

  2. This is a total head-in-the-sand, “get the new marketing guy to fix it” answer to what’s ailing Avis. As a lifelong brander and advertising practitioner, I believe in the power of marketing, but a campaign alone (or the magic of social-digital engagement alone) cannot fix all the issues of a company that has lost its way (the JD Power and Zagat ratings tell the story).

    Convicting itself to what “We Try Harder” means to consumers today and delivering on it, would be a great step forward… a big idea.

    Posted by Rob Calderin in LinkedIn

  3. . I remember the ads in the 80’s pitching Avis as the #2, behind Hertz and they were trying harder to be #1, it really connected… this was more than a tagline it was the way they ran the company….at least in the mind of consumer anyway.

    Throwing this a way is a mad-men style branding campaign gone mad.

    They would have been better working a bottom up branding campaign based on car renter needs they were targeting, than the a disconnected top-down concept from an ad-agency.

    This interview from Bob Ansett (started Budget in Australia and broke the Avis stranglehold at airports) is worth listening to, both on branding…and building a company.
    http://www.behindthewheel.com.au/2012/02/26/behind-the-wheel-interview-bob-ansett/
    Posted by Mark Gibson in LinkedIn

  4. Personally, I use different cars for rental purposes. All of my rentals to traveling view pints for the better luxury and comfort. For every $500 in spend, I get a free off-peak weekend rental day (which is when I rent cars for leisure). As a NYC resident, a weekend day can easily be upwards of $100, so in essence I’m getting as much as a 20% return on my rentals. I have a boatload of miles.

    Reference:http://www.dan-dooley.ie/

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