My buddy said that it looked like there was a G8 on display for NYE so keep an eye out for it

Also, check out the TV broadcast. Just about everyone in Times Square is wearing a Red Hat which has Pontiac G8 written on it.

Yea just saw that, theres a nice red one on display. My buddy is a cop there and I told him to steal it for me, he wont get in trouble... haha

The one on display is the 50 Cent G8 that was at SEMA. There was a webcam setup which showed a pretty good shot of it being setup in times square.

Is it normal for GM to advertise like this with G8 production set at just 30k units?

This was posted over at LS2GTO.com

http://www.ls2gto.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3576551&highlight=g8#post3576551

I just wish they had the other SEMA version on display. I liked that orange metallic.. Woulda shown up nice at night, and been stripe-less.

I was amazed at how much TV time it was getting, Pontiac doing some marketing for the car it seems. I was waiting for Ryan Seacrest to get into it and drive off at the end thru the crowd.

They should have had the grey and SEMA show cars on display instead of Fiddy's terrible looking car.

Was anyone on this board aware that Pontiac was planning a huge marketing blitz for the G8 on NYE in Times Square?
In addition to the G8 hats and the G8 vehicle itself, were those tall red balloons (or whatever they were) also from Pontiac?

Nope. I was unaware they were going to have a marketing blitz.
I kept looking at that black G8 GT on the giant screen thinking that it should have been red or orange so it would show up better. You really couldn't see the details.
I also agree that it's strange to dish out so much cash promoting a car you can't even touch. It'll be some time before any folks can find ONE on a lot, so I think it's money ill spent right now.
I'd do all the marketing online and in magazines and let the folks who purchase the first cars do the marketing by simply driving them and letting the public see them in traffic and parking lots.

I agree that some of the best marketing for Pontiac will come a couple of months from now in the spring when many of us on this board will be driving our brand new G8s down the road!

The hat idea was good. I saw them everywhere.

I agree that some of the best marketing for Pontiac will come a couple of months from now in the spring when many of us on this board will be driving our brand new G8s down the road!

That won't be so good unless we are caught in traffic as most will only see a blurr as we go speeding by. :gr_jest:

They should have had the grey and SEMA show cars on display instead of Fiddy's terrible looking car.

I'd assume that "Fiddy's" (you have to sound stupid to be cool?) car was used because of his name recognition. Some people might think that they can be like him if they buy a car like his. I'm sure it worked when all of those 300C cars started showing up in music vids.

I think they have to start advertising it more. I finally saw it mentioned on TV yesterday. It's a brand new model here and most people won't even have a clue it's coming just yet. Some of you may forget how many people don't read car mags or browse the internet for new cars.

Nope. They see em on the dealer lots when they're looking for a car.

Most people know what brands they're going to look at before they go searching, though. Getting the message out during sports games is probably a great time. Kinda like the Pontiac ad on TV during the Sabers vs Pittsburgh game

I agree. They need to get the word out. A good number of people have no idea the G8 is coming (or what the hell it even is). It doesn't help that Pontiac also has the G5 and G6 and the names are starting to blend together (unlike the Solstice badge which is much more unique). Pontiac needs to get the word out that the G8 is truly something special in their line up.
Still, people WILL stop and stare when they see it in the parking lots and on the streets this spring.

They'll do that just preceding and after release. There is no sense to start advertising a whole lot now, since most people are not in the habit of anticipating cars for 3 months. So putting alot of commercials out now would be a waste of money. You didn't see "The New 08 CTS" commercials out until the car was well into its new model year.

Perhaps they'll have a run or two for the super-bowl commercials. But it would be wiser for them to do alot of advertising closer to touch-down.

Besides, you guys don't think they did a good job of getting the word out last night? You could see it in the background on both Fox and CBS during the televised entertainment. There were alot of hats saying "Pontiac G8" on them. There were thousands upon thousands of people that probably saw it last night. I'm sure more than a few will look it up online.

They are open for order or "tagging". They need to advertise.

You don't understand, its a risky business. Most people don't have attention spans that last a long time. On top of that, the people that drive these things for performance already know about it. People that are just out for a new car could care less about commercials advertising a car that isn't available yet. How many people do you think will be willing to order a car they have only seen on TV?

For a good marketing campaign, you need tangibility. They can't say we're better than them, and then have nothing to prove it with until March. Then everyone would be saying, "Pfft, they do all this bragging and its not even out yet. Way to go GM on marketing without me actually being able to see it."

Teasing can be good for enthusiasts, but bad for people that want to see whats in the commercial now. Then they just get pissed off that they have to wait too long, and forget about it.

And besides, haven't you been watching any TV at all today? I just happened to turn on the TV while they were talking about the Official Performance Machine of the NCAA..... The All New Pontiac G8.

It sounds to me like they're getting the word out. So lets stop inventing new reasons to moan? Eh?

This thread is about advertising the G8 and whether or not it's needed yet. I wasn't moaning, I was supporting. People saying they shouldn't be advertising are moaning.

I was just saying, I think they're advertising enough. There have been a good number of teasers on the Tele to get the word out.