What does it take to build a brand people will love? On my recent, much-dreaded car shopping excursion, I made the usual rounds to dealerships, both U.S. and imported, looking for the right fit for our downsized, but still active lifestyle. Lots of handshakes, promises, and the usual “what will it take?” That is, until we walked into our local Subaru dealership.
I must admit, I’d seen the ads for years: LOVE…It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru. But was that promise genuine or merely a unique brand positioning?
The Subaru Love Promise is our vision of respecting all people. This is our promise to show love and respect to our customers and to work to make a positive impact in the world.
Every aspect of our consideration and purchase process proved this to be true. Right from the start, our sales associate educated and informed us. He respectfully followed up. He made it easy to talk price and value. No “see my manager” pressure. No long waits in an empty office for “the deal.” He owned a Subaru himself…as did the other employees in the dealership. They believe in the brand.
But then it got better…when we did decide to purchase, the paperwork for turning in our lease with another dealership as well as the new Subaru purchase agreement and warranty were all ready for our signatures. Sign and go. No sleazy finance guy twisting our arms.
Our associate drove us back to our home in our new Outback, demonstrating all the features, helping us program both our phones into the system and even programming our garage door opener. He offered to come back to redo it if we had any issues ever. And it got better…
When we needed to take the car in a week later for a quick check-up, a beautiful Outback loaner was brought to our home with the paperwork already complete. They took our new car back to the dealership and continued that high level of communication, care and concern, assuring us about all the car’s systems and performance.
To top that off, we even got to donate a science book in our name to a local student as part of the Subaru Loves Learning partnership, on Subaru’s dime.
I’ve now owned our Subaru for three weeks and I can honestly say I’m in love. And that’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru…it’s for real. And I’m hooked. #LoveMySubaru #Subaru #LoveIsOutThere @subaru_usa
