Does color matter when leasing

[Brucelee]

Jim,

Think about this. At no time in history has there been a broader array of products and services available to us to purschase and use. Although you deplore the lack of the individual, we as consumers have more choices than ever before.

To wit, when I was a teen, the only real "brand" of jeans to buy were Levi's and you had two colors to choose from, no variety of fit or cut.

Go to the mall, today, and look at your choices.

Same with autos.

The array of autos, SUVs, etc. is dizzying.

Sorry, the fact is that as much as the ad companies would LIKE to have the power you ascribe to them, they do not.

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

We live in a Mass Marketed Society. Any thought that we are Individual is an Illusion.

We wear the same clothes, eat the same foods, drive the same Cars, read the same Newspapers and Magazines, see the same Movies and watch the same TV Shows. How many out there are wearing Levis or Nikes right now? How many started their day with a Sip from Juan Valdez and a Munch from Pillsbury, General Mills, Pepridge Farms, Smuckers, or Quaker?

Advertising and Marketing Firms have only one Product - US! They deliver US to their Clients - the Manufacturers. They do this by giving us what we want... after telling us what that is.

The Color Charts for Porsche Cars are determined long before the Buyer is even in the equation. It has to be in order to get bids from Suppliers and allow time for them to produce their Paint stocks.

To be sure, Focus Groups and Marketing trends are used in this selection process, but this is merely a small sampling which is then used as being representative of the Market as a whole. Whether it is accurate or not is immaterial, because once decided, this is what we're stuck with, like it or not.

Just look at Cars through the years. In the early 90's everything was either Pearlescant White or Metallic Earth Toned Browns. Did people like them? Well, they bought them in droves. In the '60's and '70's, Red, Blues and Green Metallics were the rage (oh and let's not forget Gold).

In time, in order to stand apart and capture a little greater Market Share, Companies will produce alternatives and a whole new wave of Colors gets a Run.

I'm afraid that to a LARGE extent, we are buying those colors which Porsche WANTS us to buy.

This may all sound a bit depressing - that we have so little control in our lives, but Mass Marketing and Mass Production is the only way to efficiently provide for the 6 Billion or so Souls existing on this Spinning Rock. It is not to Like or Dislike, it is simply what IS...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Jim,

Think about this. At no time in history has there been a broader array of products and services available to us to purschase and use. Although you deplore the lack of the individual, we as consumers have more choices than ever before.

To wit, when I was a teen, the only real "brand" of jeans to buy were Levi's and you had two colors to choose from, no variety of fit or cut.

Go to the mall, today, and look at your choices.

Same with autos.

The array of autos, SUVs, etc. is dizzying.

Sorry, the fact is that as much as the ad companies would LIKE to have the power you ascribe to them, they do not.

Bruce,

I have to respectfully disagree. I think you're confusing SELECTION with CHOICE.

To be sure there is a much Broader Selection than in day's past, but our Choices are still limited to those goods and services which producers produce. Our input is becoming increasingly Limited and often limited to after-the-fact.
If the product doesn't sell, it fades away, but that didn't prevent it from being produced in the 1st place.

Consider for example, that even many of the selections (the Automobile World in particular) are simply thinly disguised base units with different wrapping. Cars today are manufactured using standadized components ranging from Chassis to Engines, Interiors, Ancillaries, etc. Wrap it all in different Sheet Metal, slap a different Badge on it and advertise it to different Market Segments and you have a New Product (but underneath it all, it's largely the same thing).

I am not some sort of LUDDITE, I recognize this is the way it HAS to be. I merely pointed out how illusionary it all is.

The vast array of selections merely means that there are fewer Individuals EXACTLY like us out there. And, the higher the price of the Goods, the more limited the Number of Customers. The Guy wearing a Breitling has many fewer compatriots than those wearing a Timex. I guess many take Comfort in that fact...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Brucelee]

We will have to disagree on this one.

Frankly, just using color as an example, there are more colors available in autos today than one can comprehend.

In the end, if the consumer walks away, no marketing in the world matters.

[Dr. Kill]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Bruce,

I have to respectfully disagree. I think you're confusing SELECTION with CHOICE.

To be sure there is a much Broader Selection than in day's past, but our Choices are still limited to those goods and services which producers produce. Our input is becoming increasingly Limited and often limited to after-the-fact.
If the product doesn't sell, it fades away, but that didn't prevent it from being produced in the 1st place.

Consider for example, that even many of the selections (the Automobile World in particular) are simply thinly disguised base units with different wrapping. Cars today are manufactured using standadized components ranging from Chassis to Engines, Interiors, Ancillaries, etc. Wrap it all in different Sheet Metal, slap a different Badge on it and advertise it to different Market Segments and you have a New Product (but underneath it all, it's largely the same thing).

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I see where you are going with this, but I don’t fully agree with you here.

Back in the day, selection may have ruled – Henry Ford successfully made all of his Model T cars black because that paint color dried faster and could reduce his costs. However, the market place has matured much since then. Yes, our choice is subject to selection, but market forces (the invisible hand if you will) dictates that if people want yellow roadsters, and Porsche doesn’t make them, they will take their business elsewhere, and the market will put Porsche out of business. This is why corporations spend so much money on forecasting.

Personally, I bought a black 987 because I think black cars look great. I do like yellow cars though. My boss has a yellow Ferrari 348 challenge car. He insists that yellow is the new red. He can turn serious lap times at the Pocono raceway and I am convinced that his car being yellow has a lot to do with it.