Considered the flagship model of Shanghai General Motors-owned (SGM) brand, Park Avenue skews towards the upper end of the market, where it competes against the Audi A6, the BMW 5 Series and the Toyota Crown.
The new BatesAsia-created ads mark the first time that Tiger Woods has been used by Buick in a local Chinese campaign, although the golfer has been a General Motors endorser in the US for over five years. The Rmb 60 million (US$7.7 million) campaign includes TV, along with print ads in business, lifestyle and automotive magazines.
“The car market in China has been very competitive in the past decade,” said BatesAsia Shanghai business director Ronald Sun. “We are facing key competition from Honda and Toyota, which are doing well in China, although Buick is a niche luxury market and not for the mass.”
The new campaign comes as BatesAsia also launches a 45-second brand-building spot for Buick, running on news, movies, and sports TV channels in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. “We want the TVC to enhance the brand image and deliver the brand essence of ‘the perfect unity of motion and quietness’,” said BatesAsia Shanghai senior account director Janet Shao. “And also add a bit more of a modern touch, to appeal to young, successful car buyers.”
Buick sold more than 300,000 cars in China last year, out of total SGM sales of almost 900,000. Its Buick tally exceeded US sales last year, pointing to the marque’s aspirational image on the mainland. In China, SGM markets the Buick brand to an upper-middle-class demographic. Approximately 35 per cent of Buicks sold in China are chauffeur-driven vehicles.
