Last year, automotive companies spent more than $20 billion dollars on advertising.

And what did they get for all that cash?

Endless shots of sports cars speeding through S-turns, SUVs bouncing up rocky trails or through deep snow, and pretty cars posed in gleaming show rooms. And interior shots of polished wood panels, cool-looking dashboards, and comfortable leather seats with plenty of head- and legroom.

The ads look so much alike partly because the cars look so much alike.

If you’ve seen one, you’ve just about seen them all. If it weren’t for the logo, you’d be hard pressed to identify the car.

It’s not that these are bad ads. They look great. They sound great.

But they all look the same. Cadillac. Infiniti. Lexus.

There’s rarely a story. So it’s tough to make an emotional connection.

They’re all about features. No real reason to buy. So they don’t break through.

Good auto advertising is hard. When cars look the same, share the same price points, and try to appeal to the same consumers, it’s no surprise that the advertising is so similar. And forgettable.

But not all car advertising is bland.

Occasionally a brand breaks through the clutter with a compelling story that drives home a unique brand position and reason to buy.

Check out this spot (it’s a few years old) that beautifully tells a value-based story about the VW Jetta.

Beautifully shot, nice soundtrack, and a great story.

More recently, Toyota did a good job breaking through the mini-van clutter with it’s Swagger Wagon campaign. Each individual spot is a unique twist on how one of the car’s features makes life better for the self-centered owners. I like the back-up camera spot:

The campaign was supported with longer-form videos online, including this hip-hop video featuring the Sienna parents.

Note that video has more than 7.5 million views on YouTube. Not bad for a car ad (compare that to the Cadillac ad above which only has about 170,000 hits). Want the MP3 for your iPod? Me neither, but it’s available here.

And speaking of hip-hop videos, there’s the KIA Soul Hamsters.

It seems you either love it or hate them.

I hate them.

Partly because I don’t get it. Partly because the music is bad. And again, what’s the story? Where’s the reason to buy?

But then I’m not a hamster or a hip-hop artist, so clearly I’m not in the target demo. I’d rather get with a toaster that drives.

It does deserve some credit, though, for being different enough to get noticed. Now if KIA would get to work on the story…

A short excerpt from Baked In by Alex Bogusky and John Winsor:

“Marketing people like to say that product is more than a physical object. As in a cup of coffee is more than a cup of coffee. A pair of sunglasses is more than a pair of sunglasses. A car is more than a car. There’s a story that the car represents. A promise. And that’s what we’re really selling. That’s what the brand is made of.

“Sometimes this story is true, and sometimes, unfortunately, it’s not. Sometimes a car really is just a car. So the process of marketing is to uncover, coax out, and tell a story that is buried inside the product. Most of the time a story can be found, but too often the story is only tenuously connected to the product, and in some cases the story is just wishful thinking on the part of all the marketers around the table. Perhaps the product was created without a clear narrative and audience in mind or is just another me-too product with nothing new to offer. What happens next is too often the sad state of affairs that passes for marketing. A battery of focus groups, ethnographies, brain scans, and more are arranged to go forth and uncover what the consumer wishes the product really was. Then the marketing budget is spent telling lies about the product.”

I think we can all agree, there’s a better way.

It’s a little pricey for its length, but it’s a quick, worth-while read. 
You can buy Baked In here.

But that won’t stop them from trying.

Take canned tomatoes.

I buy Hunt’s Canned Tomatoes instead of Del Monte Canned Tomatoes. Why?

Let’s just say it has nothing to do with either product’s Facebook page or twitter feed. (Yes, they’re both on FB.)

But is there really a difference between these products?

Both are cans filled with cooked tomatoes. Both feature tomatoes on the label. Both will make decent spaghetti sauce, salsa, or casseroles.

But I reach for the Hunt’s. Why?

Not because they have a compelling brand story (if they do, I don’t know it). Rather it’s what mom used to buy. The same reason I choose laundry detergent, toothpaste, and dishwashing soap.

Habit drives a lot of purchases. Maybe most of them.

But that doesn’t stop brand managers from trying to attract customers with a story.

Hunt’s talks about flash steaming.

Del Monte talks about savings.

Does it make you want to buy?

Maybe.

A lot of commodity brands struggle to create a compelling reason to buy their product. They try positioning (fresh, cheap, easy to use, quality, natural, new and improved!). They publish recipes that call for their brands. They run coupons and promotions.
But in the end, there’s really no real story to share. And who wants a conversation with their canned tomatoes?

Selling tomatoes (and most other commodities) comes down to creating familiarity—seeing the cans in the pantry and on the store shelf—becoming a trusted member of the family.

There may still be a story there, but can Hunt’s own it? Can they tell it in a way people will pay attention?