General Motors’ new advertising and marketing czar is Bob Lutz, who until April of of this year headed global product development.  According to CEO Fritz Henderson: “Bob’s responsibilities beyond creative design will include brands, marketing, advertising and communications.”  (I can just visualize Bob at his first meeting with one of GM’s agencies: “I’m not a marketing expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”)

Has respect for marketing fallen so low that the most difficult job in the profession (getting GM out of the ditch) can be given to someone with so little experience in marketing?

Hello, GM… Marketing comes first, advertising comes second.  That’s why Bob Lutz seems to be on the wrong track when he immediately focuses on fixing the advertising.  “I think you will very quickly see a drastic change in the tone and content of our advertising,” said Mr. Lutz.  “And if you don’t, it will mean that I’ve failed.”

I think he’s wrong (and Wendistry agrees with Al).  Advertising at GM is not broken.  Marketing is.

Marketing’s job is to coordinate all the various disciplines inside a corporation in order to develop the right product, the right price, the right position, the right distribution strategy and the right brand name.  Advertising’s job is to position that brand name in the minds of consumers.

Good marketing makes advertising decisions relatively easy.  Bad marketing makes advertising, and everything else related, difficult, if not impossible.

So, what is GM’s marketing problem?  One complaint of commentators in the media is that “General Motors doesn’t build cars that people want to buy.”  This is true.  People want to buy Toyotas, Hondas, BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus and other brands.  People want to buy brand experiences, not just vehicles.

What you park in your garage is your family’s most visible status symbol.  Nobody wants to buy a Walmart V-8, no matter how cheap it would be.

Hence, Bob Lutz’s approach:  “We’re going to go from being very defensive and risk-adverse in communications and become much bolder in getting our story out.”  Bob, I’ve got news for you… you have no story.

Bob, your problem is marketing, not advertising.  I don’t care how good your cars are.  I don’t care that Buick is the most dependable vehicle made in America.  I don’t care that Tiger Woods endorses it, and I like Tiger.  It doesn’t matter.  You have no story.

For that matter, Tiger didn’t really even do much for the brand.  In the eight years of the Tiger, Buick sales fell from 404,812 in 2000 to 137,197 last year, a decline of 66%.  (Why, for the love of Pete, didn’t the marketing people at Buick ask the obvious question:  Is the owner of a $20 million yacht likely to drive a $30,000 Buick?)

Get a real marketer in charge at GM and get a real story.

Al Ries‘ Column:  excerpted from July 27, 2009 edition of Advertising Age.