867-5309*.I was reading a copy of Forbes the other day when I ran across a piece on Ford highlighting the 2006 Fusion. Imagine my surprise when I read the first paragraph of the piece and saw the buyer Ford targeted for the car was a young woman in her 30s named "Jennifer." Could this be true? Jennifer? Had she grown up that fast? Why only six years ago she was Honda's 20-something target for the 2000--2005 Civic. Now she's moving up to sporty mid-size cars, though sticking with four doors for practicality. And--even more amazing--she's abandoning Honda for Ford. Those familiar with this column--which includes a multitude of Honda personnel more than ready to hang me in effigy EFFIGY, crim. law. The figure or representation of a person. 2. To make the effigy of a person with an intent to make him the object of ridicule, is a libel. (q.v.) Hawk. b. 1, c. 7 3, s. 2 14 East, 227; 2 Chit. Cr. Law, 866. 3. [at the very least]--will remember the fictitious young Jennifer (http://www.autofieldguide.com/columns/0304dud.html). Just a short mention of this virtual buyer was enough to deluge my inbox with missives from tuner companies in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of an unpleasant "Aha!" moment. They now understood what had happened to their beloved Civic, and why so many formerly loyal customers had abandoned Honda--and them--for car makers with more exciting wares. I had excoriated Honda for not being more adventurous with the Civic, and completely missing the opportunity to build on its street cred street cred n. Slang Acceptability or popularity, especially among young people in urban areas. [street + cred(it). . Hindsight now suggests I should have saved my vitriol My Vitriol are an alternative rock band formed in late 1999 in London, England. The band takes its name from "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene. In the story, the main character carries a bottle of vitriol (an idiomatic name for sulphuric acid) for self protection. for Jennifer herself. Or maybe the real villains are Jennifer's creators. This is, after all, a "woman" who exists only in virtual space as a composite of marketing studies drawn from countless interviews, psychographic In the field of marketing, demographics, opinion research, and social research in general, psychographic variables are any attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. They are also called IAO variables (for Interests, Attitudes, and Opinions). profiles, and demographic trends. Interpreting this information is, in many ways, more important than the information itself. It takes experience, an innate understanding of the market, and the ability to determine which nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
n. Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect: to the process while shaping the kind of car it knows the buyer wants, all the while making the "temperature takers" feel as though their contributions are invaluable. One need look no further than the 2006 Honda Civic The Honda Civic is a compact car manufactured by Honda. It was introduced in July 1972 as a two-door coupe, followed by a three-door hatchback version that September. With the transverse engine placement of its 1169 cc engine and front-wheel drive, like the British Mini, the concept (http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/wip/0405wip01.html) to realize that Honda learned its lessons from the "scientific" approach used to develop the present Civic to know it must trust its gut, and only look to the marketing studies for validation. I even suspect that Jennifer herself might appreciate what the 2006 model says about her personality and how she wants the world to see her. Only she's since gotten older and gone to ford. I hope this new, domestic (as in her citizenship, not her personal status) Jennifer variant is allowed to show some of the spirit the previous iteration lost in the move from data to personality profile. A smart, confident person with a sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour and a streak of mischief would be the perfect analogue for a vehicle that's both practical and memorable. It's unfortunate that ford didn't latch on to Jennifer a few years back when the 500 and Montego were in gestation, or when Mercury was honing its ad message. Had that happened, a fine package would have turned into much more interesting cars, and half the population interested in Mercurys wouldn't have been elevated at the expense of the other 50%. It's just more proof that it's not only the information that's important, it's how you interpret it and put it to use. *With apologies to Tommy Tutone Tommy Tutone is a rock band, best known for its 1982 hit "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although they are usually referred to as "a San Francisco band", they were actually based in Willits, California at the time that "Jenny" was released. (www.tutone.com). By Christopher A. Sawyer, Executive Editor, csawyer@autofieldguide.com |
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