Honda's Employee Discount

Our family has two Hondas; one’s been going strong for over a decade. What Lutz and the other Detroiters don’t get is that many like us buy Hondas precisely because the brand doesn’t go on fire sales all the time.

The cost of owning a car isn’t just about purchase price. It also is about running costs and resale values. American makes are now in the process of inflicting massive damage on whatever resale values their products have left. What they’re doing mimics the concept of deflation: Why buy now when you can buy later for even cheaper? With such a mentality, they continue to drive their resale values–and consequently their brand equity–into the ground.

Honda maintains its brand equity by avoiding these shenanigans. Savvy owners understand that Hondas make better long-term investment propositions, and this can only become clearer as the employee discount fad continues.

Detroit still, after all these years of being beat up by the Japanese, doesn’t get it. These ads create a small blip in sales on a downward curve headed towards oblivion.

But, I can see the ad agencies patting themselves on the back.

Blip Advertising for mediocre products is nothing new. Then again, neither is syphilis.