| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MARCH 1, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| READERS REPORT
Maybe GM Needs a Refresher Course in Marketing 101 It sounds as if General Motors' Ronald L. Zarella may have fallen out of touch with a basic precept of Marketing 101 as it relates to the nature of the goods he is selling (''GM dealers aren't buying it,'' News: Analysis & Commentary, Feb. 8). It is the task of manufacturers to create product and brand differentiation at their end of the channel through advertising efforts. To pull $500 million in co-op ad dollars from dealers in the cause of more standardization of the advertising message is indeed ''risky,'' as your article correctly declares and as seconded by Mr. Nasser, CEO of Ford Motor Co., who apparently does understand this aspect of marketing from the comments attributed to him within the article. Clearly, the dealers have it right this time in opposing a bad strategy. Barton L. Griffith Crafton Hills College Yucaipa, Calif. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
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