Super Bowl Commercial?

[THil08]

Do we think Scout will do a Super Bowl Commercial? I think it would help with sales and keeping the company growing. It’s been pretty well aware that Rivian is struggling not only because of its stock price but it’s over all sales and financials are down, they are pushing commercial on YouTube out a lot more than I have ever seen. If VW drops the partnership Rivian will likely go down.

 

[J Alynn]

I think at the price commercial spots go for I’d rather see them spend the money on smaller campaigns that get nearly the same attention. I see stories constantly on LinkedIn, Facebook and IG. I think this is a much better strategic approach versus $$$$ on a Super Bowl commercial.
I’d rather see that $$ spent on road tours and even non traditional events. As dumb as it may sound, sponsoring something that gets them on HGTV would be better for the main stream market. That station drives me nuts but tons of folks watch. I also think Pinterest might be a way to get focus. And cross-marketing for various demographics. Like my daughter competes in archery-most families are well off and MANY drive teslas and hybrids. Showing up at a national event or major event-small sponsor opportunity and you could be in front of 1,000’s of people in one event for very little money but have a huge captive demographic.
@Jamie@ScoutMotors there are two major events coming up-one in Lancaster PA in late January with close to 2600 folks and one in March in Vegas with close to 4000 archers. Just saying!! You get perfect mix of EV adopters, hunters, outdoorsy folks and international (to drool and dream). Have contacts and much bigger ideas which I’ve mentioned before

 

[THil08]

I think at the price commercial spots go for I’d rather see them spend the money on smaller campaigns that get nearly the same attention. I see stories constantly on LinkedIn, Facebook and IG. I think this is a much better strategic approach versus $$$$ on a Super Bowl commercial.
I’d rather see that $$ spent on road tours and even non traditional events. As dumb as it may sound, sponsoring something that gets them on HGTV would be better for the main stream market. That station drives me nuts but tons of folks watch. I also think Pinterest might be a way to get focus. And cross-marketing for various demographics. Like my daughter competes n archery-most families are well off and MANY drive teslas and hybrids. Showing up a lot a national event or major event-small sponsor opportunity and you could be in front of 1,000’s of people in one event for very little money but have a huge captive demographic.
@Jamie@ScoutMotors there are two major events coming up-one in Lancaster PA in late January with close to 2600 folks and one in March in Vegas with close to 4000 archers. Just saying!! You get perfect mix of EV adopters, hunters, outdoorsy folks and international (to drool and dream). Have contacts and much bigger ideas which I’ve mentioned before

HGTV the absolute worst lol. I completely understand the whole waste of money on it. I do have to say my social media platforms have been filled with ads from Scout but i believe thats an algorithm thing of the phones listening in and watching every move you make on your phone. And then the cross-platform algorithm pushes the ads that go with what you purchased to make you feel good of the purchase. (Which we all feel good about our reservations so idk why the phones would need to reinforce our decision(s).) I learned this in a Marketing class.

I have loved seeing the approach Scout is taking by doing community events by showing up, I feel its probably the most effective since its shows that Scout cares about its community. But thats how Rivian does it and look at how good it did them (now with stocks falling and them not being able to purchase new factories, having to do more partnerships to be able to continue moving forward, and finally pushing out ads on youtube and TV). Commercials might be expensive but they can help in a-lot of ways in the long run.

 

[Mousehunter]

Honestly, I don't see the need to spend huge amounts in advertising before a product is ready for sale. In a perfect world, the product should advertise itself.

 

[THil08]

it was honestly just an idea but also last super bowl BMW did it for the i5 and well how many of those do we see on the roads, not many because they only sold a few thousand, but they waisted a few million. So its probably better off Scout Motors keeps the Advertising and Marketing how it is.

Great Discussion, Till my next stupid idea rises.

Lets Lead the way and go first, go farther!

 

[Chaparral]

I’m sure they’ll spend the advertising money wisely.

I loved the part of the reveal when Scott said their contractor wanted to build a roof over the reveal area just in case it rained but they decided it would be too costly so took the risk of a wet reveal. This gives me some confidence that the people making decisions are not going to waste money.

I think a Super Bowl commercial would be a very inefficient use of money. I want them to be able to keep the vehicle prices as low as possible. It’s such a great product, I think a light hand in advertising will be all that’s needed.

If they could get on a t.v. show like Rivian did with Long Way Up that would be powerful. I believe that was a big catalyst for Rivian sales.

 

[Scoutsie]

I’m sure they’ll spend the advertising money wisely.

I loved the part of the reveal when Scott said their contractor wanted to build a roof over the reveal area just in case it rained but they decided it would be too costly so took the risk of a wet reveal. This gives me some confidence that the people making decisions are not going to waste money.

I think a Super Bowl commercial would be a very inefficient use of money. I want them to be able to keep the vehicle prices as low as possible. It’s such a great product, I think a light hand in advertising will be all that’s needed.

If they could get on a t.v. show like Rivian did with Long Way Up that would be powerful. I believe that was a big catalyst for Rivian sales.

Call me crazy, but I would be tickled to see a Scout end up in the next/last Fast and Furious movie. You’d sure introduce a whole lot of folks to Scout who probably have no idea what Scout is in the context of other classic and contemporary autos being used to do preposterous things.

 

[J Alynn]

HGTV the absolute worst lol. I completely understand the whole waste of money on it. I do have to say my social media platforms have been filled with ads from Scout but i believe thats an algorithm thing of the phones listening in and watching every move you make on your phone. And then the cross-platform algorithm pushes the ads that go with what you purchased to make you feel good of the purchase. (Which we all feel good about our reservations so idk why the phones would need to reinforce our decision(s).) I learned this in a Marketing class.

I have loved seeing the approach Scout is taking by doing community events by showing up, I feel its probably the most effective since its shows that Scout cares about its community. But thats how Rivian does it and look at how good it did them (now with stocks falling and them not being able to purchase new factories, having to do more partnerships to be able to continue moving forward, and finally pushing out ads on youtube and TV). Commercials might be expensive but they can help in a-lot of ways in the long run.

I second your distain for HGTV

 

[Chaparral]

Here’s an idea. What about having a documentary producer come in and make a documentary about the process of testing the prototype trucks to validate the design?

That way potential customers can watch the trucks tested in various ways to ensure they are tough, capable and reliable. This could dive into many technical areas.

I think this would be worth a thousand Super Bowl commercials. Editorial control of the documentary would be independent of Scout. The show would have value to a streaming service. It might not cost Scout anything other than the hassle of having a documentary team to host and coordinate with.

Customers would also get to know some of the team members and see that it is not being designed by VW in Germany, which is what some people will imagine.

 

[LastDayScout]

Here’s an idea. What about having a documentary producer come in and make a documentary about the process of testing the prototype trucks to validate the design?

That way potential customers can watch the trucks tested in various ways to ensure they are tough, capable and reliable. This could dive into many technical areas.

I think this would be worth a thousand Super Bowl commercials. Editorial control of the documentary would be independent of Scout. The show would have value to a streaming service. It might not cost Scout anything other than the hassle of having a documentary team to host and coordinate with.

Customers would also get to know some of the team members and see that it is not being designed by VW in Germany, which is what some people will imagine.

I love a good documentary.

 

[Chuckles]

A 30 second Superbowl ad is $7 million. Scout won't be on sale for at least 2 years. It's a colossal waste of money to advertise a product that can't even be ordered. It would only serve to annoy people.

 

[Chaparral]

A 30 second Superbowl ad is $7 million. Scout won't be on sale for at least 2 years. It's a colossal waste of money to advertise a product that can't even be ordered. It would only serve to annoy people.

There would be no point with a big ad campaign until the vehicles are closer to shipping.

Just think of the other publicity stunts they could pull with $7,000,000. They could give away 100 free trucks for far less!

 

[R1TVT]

Here’s an idea. What about having a documentary producer come in and make a documentary about the process of testing the prototype trucks to validate the design?

That way potential customers can watch the trucks tested in various ways to ensure they are tough, capable and reliable. This could dive into many technical areas.

Agreed 100%

This was a big part of Rivian's playbook and what they did very intentionally with the Rebelle Ralleye, and with the Transamerica Trail (Long Way Up could qualify, but was a full blown series). They beat the living hell out of their vehicles before & after launch... Wading them, freezing them, rallying them through the desert, climbing Hell's Gate, etc. And some things broke. And they made them better.

Imagine if Rivian had launched without the pandemic or the supply chain mess?

Timing is everything, especially when launching a new business. There are so many external variables that are uncontrollable. Despite all of the incredible headwinds they have faced, I wouldn't count Rivian out. No doubt, the stock has been a scary ride, but the stock decline also reflects a ton of necessary spending, which has enabled Rivian to build something great. The challenge of balancing demand, production, quality, cost control and spending is no easy feat on the road to reaching profitability. We have seen this story play out once already. Also, Rivian can scale its fleet and last mile business beyond Amazon, that will be huge! Electric delivery vans are 100% the future, especially in cities and densely packed areas.

Despite ongoing losses per unit (to be expected for any new OEM in an entirely new category, with an entirely new factory, building the 1st ever electric truck), Rivian's recent shift to produce the R2 in Normal, IL moves them incrementally closer to profitability, based on the Q3 earnings call. There is still a lot of potential, and at last check they had ~100,000 R2 reservation holders already.

As a Scout reservation holder, and based purely on the capabilities and performance of the R1 (and the recent updates to the 2nd gen R1's), I would be rooting very hard for Rivian to do well with the new Gen 2 R1's, the R2 and the R3. Rivian's success will only benefit Scout Motors, Scout's launch and will accelerate delivery timelines (based on the significant VW investment, and Scout Motors ability to leverage Rivian's Zonal architecture, SW and learnings).

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

No, it’s not a terrible idea. Not at all. But…….while I would love to see a Scout superbowl commercial, unfortunately I would rather they spend the money in other ways and try to preserve a lower priced Scout when they finally come to market. I like the other publicity stunt ideas that would hopefully be much, much cheaper and still provide exposure and ignite enthusiasm. I’m in for a documentary as well. I’m not so much for social media campaigns simply because I would personally never see them, but I’m sure they would be effective with how everyone is always on their mind-suck devices all day.

Again it’s a bit early to go hard on advertising though as we’re still very far off from production and holy cow do I hate it when there’s a movie trailer that looks awesome and at the end I find out it won’t be out for another 6 months or even a YEAR!!

Long story short I’d love to see a Scout superbowl commercial, but in reality I don’t want to see SM spending those kind of dollars on ads especially at this point in the game.

 

[THil08]

A 30 second Superbowl ad is $7 million. Scout won't be on sale for at least 2 years. It's a colossal waste of money to advertise a product that can't even be ordered. It would only serve to annoy people.

Thats ridiculous. I thought it was still 2mil. But thats crazy.

 

[THil08]

No, it’s not a terrible idea. Not at all. But…….while I would love to see a Scout superbowl commercial, unfortunately I would rather they spend the money in other ways and try to preserve a lower priced Scout when they finally come to market. I like the other publicity stunt ideas that would hopefully be much, much cheaper and still provide exposure and ignite enthusiasm. I’m in for a documentary as well. I’m not so much for social media campaigns simply because I would personally never see them, but I’m sure they would be effective with how everyone is always on their mind-suck devices all day.

Again it’s a bit early to go hard on advertising though as we’re still very far off from production and holy cow do I hate it when there’s a movie trailer that looks awesome and at the end I find out it won’t be out for another 6 months or even a YEAR!!

Long story short I’d love to see a Scout superbowl commercial, but in reality I don’t want to see SM spending those kind of dollars on ads especially at this point in the game.

You nailed all the point!

 

[Harris005]

Here’s an idea. What about having a documentary producer come in and make a documentary about the process of testing the prototype trucks to validate the design?

That way potential customers can watch the trucks tested in various ways to ensure they are tough, capable and reliable. This could dive into many technical areas.

I think this would be worth a thousand Super Bowl commercials. Editorial control of the documentary would be independent of Scout. The show would have value to a streaming service. It might not cost Scout anything other than the hassle of having a documentary team to host and coordinate with.

Customers would also get to know some of the team members and see that it is not being designed by VW in Germany, which is what some people will imagine.

I'd subscribe to that. I'd love to even see a progress documentary the factory coming together as well.

 

[OleScout]

I'd subscribe to that. I'd love to even see a progress documentary the factory coming together as well.

A documentary would be incredible, so many opportunities to explorer here with the rich traditional the legacy members have kept alive. From first Scout to 1st last Scout in 1980? Sean Barbers Baja truck, Factory in Fort Wayne, IH events (Nationals, Harvester in the Holler, Harvester Homecoming), Design team, factory build, reveal, etc.......

 

[Harris005]

I remember a time when Superbowl commercials were the hit of the night and talked about more than the game the next day. Who thinks that anymore? It is more of a build up and let down for everyone these days. Scout could have that great commercial that gets everyone talking the next day, which would make it worth the money a little more. Unfortunately, that's not likely, leaving them in the bucket of disappointing commercials that are looked down upon the next day at work. Most are craving that funny commercial.

Selfishly I'd still like to see it and strike up the new Scout talk at our Superbowl party.

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

No plans for the upcoming Super Bowl. We are exploring a lot of other options and meanwhile continue to advertise during regular NFL season games.