Why GM's Latest Product, OnStar For My Vehicle is a Marketing Disaster

Needless to say, GM has been in financial turmoil for a long time. In addition, pressures from investors- who forever consider only their own short-term gains- have forced them to become a very different company than they were a decade ago. What drove their early success was a corporate focus on improving the quality of their vehicles and services; now, they've shifted that focus to the quality of their quarterly earnings reports.

Recently, they invested a good sum of money to manufacture and market their renowned OnStar systems, à la carte for installation on all vehicle brands. Of course, this was in an effort to maximize profit sources by increasing the width of their product offerings.

At the same time though, they take away from the depth of their product experience. While producing OnStar à la carte may raise profits for a little while, allowing all car brands to have the sense of security that is unique to GM, takes away a huge differentiating factor for the struggling company. This was one of the few aspects that were definitively different (in a positive way) in GM vehicles; it was an excellent piece of technology that improved the brand’s experience exponentially.

Now, they are selling this beautiful innovation. Too often, companies favor short-term profits over long-term brand equity and this is what has happened to General Motors.