Ford displays it's JD Power awards on a very shiny table. Maybe Pledge could co-sponsor...
by Eli Altman
So I was watching bad television last night and I saw a commercial for the Nissan Altima. It was a pretty standard car ad complete with professional drivers on closed circuits, screeching tires and paid actors pretending to be engineers. The commercial reaches a head when the narrator uses all of his gravitas to tell us that the Altima was ranked by J.D. Power and Associates as the 2009 Highest Mid-Size Sedan in Initial Quality. To prove it, Nissan shows us the accompanying metal and glass plaque that was designed in the 90s.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know too much about J.D. Power and Associates. After a quick look on their website and Wikipedia, I now know they’ve been around since 1968 when they were founded by James David Power III (quite a name). Being an avid SportsCenter viewer, I also know that I’ve been seeing ads featuring their awards forever. They clearly have quite the racket going. While I’m not an expert on automotive manufacturer awards, I do know a little bit about product naming. And at this point, I would like to kindly suggest to Mr. Power and his Associates, that it might be a good idea to change the name of this award.
Let’s start with the phrase “initial quality.” Apparently a car with high initial quality is supposed to be problem-free during the first 90 days of ownership. While this is a worthwhile thing to test for, “initial quality” makes you wonder what happens when the “initial” time frame expires. Do the tires blow out? Does it steer itself into the nearest telephone pole? Without an explanation, most people would probably think the word “initial” refers to a time period much shorter than 90 days. It makes me think of the used car salesmen you hear about who puts sawdust in the engine so the car makes it off the lot and falls apart ten miles out of town. Maybe “off-the-lot” quality, or “original quality” might make a little more sense.
The other issue is the word count. This award has a really long name. The J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Highest Mid-Size Sedan in Initial Quality. See if you can say it in one breath. (I know the guy with the gravelly voice in the commercial can, but he’s a pro). A shorter name would make it much easier to talk about and also take up less airtime. Everyone wins.
No matter what they call it, it’s pretty hard to believe that Ford won five of these things this year. At least Detroit has something to cheer about…
4 Comments
July 8, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I think it’s funny they bother telling us about the award at all. Most people have no idea what a J.D. Power award is, never mind who won it. It’s like an ACE (the Award for Cable Excellence) but for cars. What’s funny though is what this says about their outlook on the consumer. They know most people don’t know or care about their inside trade awards, but they know people like winners. All they have to do is dangle some trophies in front of the camera like bits of foil for the impulsive magpies who don’t care why they won the trophy, but that they did win a trophy.
July 17, 2009 at 7:48 am
I noticed the same thing about my 10 year old daughter’s co-ed softball team. Each player got an award ( her’s was was the “No Quiter” for being hit in the head by a line drive and continuing to play).
July 22, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Couple of years back we were cross shopping for a car for my parents. First was the Toyota dealership there the sales manager try to convince us by adding that Toyota received high marks by JD Power and consumer reports. So i was quick to reply that we do not buy our cars based on those companies recomendation. Any way after cross shopping Toyota Honda and VW they ended up taking the VW Passat. To bad for JD Power in my family we don’t buy cars to keep for 90 days only.
July 28, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I would just like to say thank you to the above comments made. You are all correct in the fact that many awards are lost on the general public, and by stating a car (or company) has a trophy-all of a sudden it lends credence to what they are selling. Unfortunately, many people (myself included) do not care about what the award is- only that a car has an award. Heck even if it a car is “the second best car company deemed by……” it does sound impressive. So you do need to respect the genius of advertising companies for exploiting the ignorance of the masses. Lastly, it has been my experience the longer the title, the more impressive it seems. That in a specific grouping, this one car was considered the best. Afterall, stating one car is the best out of every car there is: first, it is an impossible claim and second, many people are only looking for one type of car and it might not be “the best car overall” in competition with all makes and models.