Cayen Porsche
Porsche had always been one of the most successful and influential brands in the world. The Carrera 911 is the dream car of many ambitious men. Before Cayenne launch, there is only one lower price Porsche Boxster had been added as a new product line to the brand in 1996 . Throughout the years, Porsche had successfully built up a strong high-end sports car identity. The Cayenne news was shocking for consumers, as they could never imagine such a product. In this paper, I am going to identify problems and issues about the Cayenne launch regarding the HBS case.
The Cayenne Problem
Two major problems had been rose from the Cayenne launch. The most direct problem is negative feedbacks from the online community, enthusiast were angry about Porsche’s decision of launching a SUV. Porsche must consider the impact of online community and decide whether to take action or not. Secondly, the brand manager should also considerate the Cayenne impact on the overall brand name. Brand extension is an extremely risky strategy and could end up as brand dilution. Last but not least, Porsche had to summarize the knowledge they gain from the Cayenne incident and come up with best launching plan for the up coming Panamera.
Rennlist: The Porsche enthusiasts’ online community
Initial response of Rennlist to the Cayenne launch was extremely negative. Disappointments and Criticism were all over the place. Enthusiasts were claiming that Cayenne is not a sports car and criticizing the manufacturing partnership with Volkswagen deteriorates the product quality. According to case facts (case ex.7), more than half of the Cayenne-related posts during the launch period were negative. The population of the Rennlist community is large enough to generate sizable impact to the company. 36,000 active posters and 200,000 lurkers are three times more than Porsche 2002-2003 vehicle sales . Nowadays, more than 90% of customers will do online research prior to purchasing a product . (Appendix 1) Even if
The Cayenne Problem
Two major problems had been rose from the Cayenne launch. The most direct problem is negative feedbacks from the online community, enthusiast were angry about Porsche’s decision of launching a SUV. Porsche must consider the impact of online community and decide whether to take action or not. Secondly, the brand manager should also considerate the Cayenne impact on the overall brand name. Brand extension is an extremely risky strategy and could end up as brand dilution. Last but not least, Porsche had to summarize the knowledge they gain from the Cayenne incident and come up with best launching plan for the up coming Panamera.
Rennlist: The Porsche enthusiasts’ online community
Initial response of Rennlist to the Cayenne launch was extremely negative. Disappointments and Criticism were all over the place. Enthusiasts were claiming that Cayenne is not a sports car and criticizing the manufacturing partnership with Volkswagen deteriorates the product quality. According to case facts (case ex.7), more than half of the Cayenne-related posts during the launch period were negative. The population of the Rennlist community is large enough to generate sizable impact to the company. 36,000 active posters and 200,000 lurkers are three times more than Porsche 2002-2003 vehicle sales . Nowadays, more than 90% of customers will do online research prior to purchasing a product . (Appendix 1) Even if