Slate's Entire Marketing Campaign is Completely Wrong

[Firstevexcited1]

Just get the factory going.....the truck will sell itself.

 

[SCUDDOG]

Nothing markets better than seeing one in person and possibly driving one. Fortunately, if you live near the Space Needle in Seattle, the Cleveland Science Center, or Ember Goods Coffee Shop in Olympia, you're in luck! You can see one of these animals in the wild. For the rest of us living below Lake Erie, you're s*&t out of luck.

 

[Luxrage]

It matches the Low-T Meep Meep Horn.

Someone once told me a long time ago that the pitch of the horn was intentially matched to the size of the vehicle. Bigger cars always had the deeper horns and smaller vehicles always had the high pitched horns. Probably coincidence but I've noticed that in my own car ownership. My Fit and Geo both have little single eep eep horns. I replaced the Fit's with a low-tone horn from an Accord.

I've got a set of Cadillac Four-Notes I pulled from a Junkyard that could potentially go into the Slate...

 

[Imhotep]

Someone once told me a long time ago that the pitch of the horn was intentially matched to the size of the vehicle. Bigger cars always had the deeper horns and smaller vehicles always had the high pitched horns. Probably coincidence but I've noticed that in my own car ownership. My Fit and Geo both have little single eep eep horns. I replaced the Fit's with a low-tone horn from an Accord.

I've got a set of Cadillac Four-Notes I pulled from a Junkyard that could potentially go into the Slate...

That makes so much sense that I hope it is true.

 

[AZFox]

Just get the factory going.....the truck will sell itself.

Hear, hear. 📣

My interest in the truck is despite the online marketing , not because of it.

 

[AZFox]

I've got a set of Cadillac Four-Notes I pulled from a Junkyard that could potentially go into the Slate...

Four notes! I didn't know you could get that many notes. 😄

My purpose for upgrading horns is a practical one.

People are driving around with the windows up, air conditioning on, and radio playing.

That, or even worse they're wearing earbuds.. or using their smartphone.

Distracted driving is a thing.

It's easier to notice riding a motorcycle because you're more vulnerable and need to be more aware for survival's sake.

 

[B1050]

To me the Slate does not scream "work truck" anyone showing up to a construction site in this will get laughed at the first time it gets stuck in a mud puddle or the first time they need you to pick something up and they tell you to take a real truck. It needs bigger dimensions, AWD, and more towing to be a real work truck. It's not a commuter though it can be configured to be better at it. If it had 4 doors like a Maverick or Rivian the price would climb real fast and it would put it in competition in a segment that is about to get real crowded. Slate will be a first brand new vehicle for a lot of people, it will also be a first EV for a lot of people.

 

[AZFox]

For construction it depends on the trade. Framers, Painters, Electricians, Plumbers, Roofers, Landscapers, etc. all have different needs.

An Extended Cab version would make a better work truck because you can put your tools behind the seat and still have the full bed to work with.

 

[Luxrage]

To me the Slate does not scream "work truck" anyone showing up to a construction site in this will get laughed at the first time it gets stuck in a mud puddle or the first time they need you to pick something up and they tell you to take a real truck.

It'll be like 1972 all over again!

Although these had 6 ft beds

 

[OldGoat]

They in a roundabout way told me I was getting old. I reminded them sales are down 30% in the last 5 years. My idea request were denied and one Friday I just went home never to return.
[/QUOTE]
Best advice I got many years ago was "the one's with gray hair have all the money". Hopefully Slate (who have some really sharp young talent aboard) will take this advice as well. For now, their cost effective "hipster" vibe is getting the job done. Spending money on advertising now is like farting up a rope since there are a LOT of details that need to gel before expensive ad campaigns are considered. For my part, I've love to NOT see any TV ads from Slate at all as I know they have to be baked into the pricing of the vehicle. As for the folks down south who are feeling slighted about not touching a Slate (yet) it's likely because Slate is able to hold their reveals nearer their various HQ's cost effectively. They will get to you...be patient.

 

[SichuanHot]

Slate needs to bring their truck out to actual car shows normal people can attend. I'll be attending the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix that's going on. Typically the big vendors have a section there like VW and BMW. Slate being close to Pittsburgh would make for an awesome opportunity to show it off to people in a non trade show environment.

 

[SCUDDOG]

Pittsburgh is too far south for Slate demonstrations. Gotta keep it above an imaginary line extending from Seattle to Detroit.

 

[Daemoch]

Distracted driving is a thing.

It's easier to notice riding a motorcycle because you're more vulnerable and need to be more aware for survival's sake.

That's why I replace my motorcycle horns with air horns for trucks and boats. Quiet pipes, freak'n loud horn. Scares the sh!t out of people.

 

[Daemoch]

I'm not so sure the marketing is as far off as we all think. I'd 100% do it different, but hear me out...

1. We are in the echo chamber and terrible judges of this.
2. They are a small company (for a car company) and will have limited initial inventories/parts.
3. They need initial buyers that are willing to work with/around a 'new' concept and hopefully are already familiar with EVs at least a little.
4. The after-sale stuff is all up in the air - ignoring costs and 'what' - does Slate make it, do they license it to 3rd parties, do we all turn to our 3D printers and they never see us again?
5. Where do you think the person in charge of the fleet accounts (VP-F/CFO) hangs out... Car shows? Construction sites? Or coffee shops downtown by HQ? Think about it.
6. This isnt a truck for the guy hauling around a backhoe. It never will be - tiny wheelbase.
7. Most your small businesses in the country are in cities. Cows and corn stalks don't buy cars.
8. I'm exactly their type of fleet target and so are most my clients. Florists, medical supply, janitorial, PC repair, food delivery, home repair, catering, farm-to-table, local gov vehicles, etc. I just saw Wholefoods is experimenting with direct delivery.....

Until I see production numbers and specs, I'm not spending my business's budget on a Slate. I don't want to buy the next Daewoo. No business will (not small ones). But I will buy one for myself (or as a one-off company car) and if I like it well enough it will be the first thing I do consider later. I'll tell all my clients about it too. Most those clients have aging fleets they are postponing replacing atm.

I'd bet Slate's budget for marketing so far has been just about nil. Not enough details hammered out yet. Most the stuff they have showcased is just cheap glitz, like wraps and lens covers, so what are they going to show off exactly? Major car shows will get dink for ROI at this point. A track would be even worse; this isnt a race car, torque monster, mudder/crawler, etc. so why is it there? Heck, we don't even know what motor/battery its actually going to have yet.

 

[KevinRS]

As long as they can successfully launch, the current marketing seems to have been good enough that they don't have to worry much about having too much inventory for some time. They had 100k people put down $50 each in the first month.
Just going as they are, they probably are going to have everything presold for months after launch. Businesses aren't going to want to commit money for a vehicle that might not arrive a year and a half in the future. Once they have shipped trucks, word of mouth will probably keep the supply sold for a while longer. That said, they probably will shift to showing it off in other places, at the latest in a year or so. The business targets likely aren't showing up at auto shows, or fairs, etc: those will still be consumer customers seeing it there.