Glory Days

The automobile industry is one of the most capital- and marketing-intensive industries in the world today. Common wisdom states that the keys to sales success in the industry are no different than in any other: brand management, product positioning, and brand imaging. But what do these commonly traded buzzwords really mean, and how do they translate into a successful brand campaign?

In Glory Days, Jim Wangers uses his 45-year career in Detroit as the basis for explaining successful brand marketing for automobiles:

• Why brand management for cars is not the same as for other "branded" products
• How to position a model for the best possible tie-in promotion-and how not to
• What it takes to establish and evolve a brand image

"Any car maker's greatest asset is their perceived image in the marketplace." Wangers knows what he is talking about, for he was part of the most successful brand marketing campaign to ever come out of Detroit. At a time when such automotive legends as "Bunkie" Knudsen, Pete Estes, and John DeLorean held sway in the Motor City, Jim Wangers created and defined the American musclecar image, devising savvy brand marketing strategies to promote the car that started it all and became a cultural icon: the Pontiac GTO.

Jim Wangers television interview on the demise of Pontiac

Watch this June 2009 interview with Jim Wangers for Fox Business News

(click to watch)