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With the announcement today that AutoGeek now has the new consumer-line products in stock, I zipped over to their website to read their blurbs on the products. I do not know if they were written by the Megs' marketing people or by AG's marketing people.
I was particularly intrigued by the promotional text for SwirlX. We are told that it is a "nonabrasive" formula that "cleans and brightens the paint to remove swirls without cutting." At the same time the product is said to be one step above M83 in terms of aggressiveness.
I understand, despite the fact that SwirlX is based on Meguiar's new micro-abrasive technology, that at the popular level it is important to use the codeword "nonabrasive" in order to differentiate the product from traditional "abrasive" compounds that do in fact mar and haze paint. Yet when it is stated that SwirlX removes swirls without cutting, well, that just seems darn misleading to me. All newcomers to MOL are quickly taught that scratches and swirls are only removed by the abrasive removal of paint. A product that doesn't "cut" doesn't remove paint.
No one is harmed by this advertising copy. SwirlX will no doubt remove swirls just as the copy promises, but if a new SwirlX customer should ever subsequently visit MOL, he will quickly learn that he needs to unlearn what he was initially taught. Is this a good thing? Is consumer trust strengthened or undermined?
Cheers,
Al
I was particularly intrigued by the promotional text for SwirlX. We are told that it is a "nonabrasive" formula that "cleans and brightens the paint to remove swirls without cutting." At the same time the product is said to be one step above M83 in terms of aggressiveness.
I understand, despite the fact that SwirlX is based on Meguiar's new micro-abrasive technology, that at the popular level it is important to use the codeword "nonabrasive" in order to differentiate the product from traditional "abrasive" compounds that do in fact mar and haze paint. Yet when it is stated that SwirlX removes swirls without cutting, well, that just seems darn misleading to me. All newcomers to MOL are quickly taught that scratches and swirls are only removed by the abrasive removal of paint. A product that doesn't "cut" doesn't remove paint.
No one is harmed by this advertising copy. SwirlX will no doubt remove swirls just as the copy promises, but if a new SwirlX customer should ever subsequently visit MOL, he will quickly learn that he needs to unlearn what he was initially taught. Is this a good thing? Is consumer trust strengthened or undermined?
Cheers,
Al
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