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Even if you’ve never actually said, “I’d rather have a Chevy” you have most likely seen it on a bumper sticker or window decal. If your roots are set in American culture you probably enjoy saying ‘Chevy’ more than ‘Chevrolet’ for many reasons. It is a word that has become a social icon and also is easier to say than Chevrolet. The nick-name has proved invaluable to Utah Chevy dealers. In a different country, however, Chevy most likely means nothing. This single cultural difference makes the ideology behind GM’s recent attempts at increasing the usage of ‘Chevrolet’ instead of ‘Chevy’ hold a little more water.

In a memo sent to the corporate employees (not to Chevy dealers in Utah), Chevrolet management wrote, “We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward.” Much to the chagrin of Chevrolet, the New York Times caught wind of this memo and started rumors that the nick-name was going to be ditched completely. What the journalists at the Times failed to give attention to the part of the memo that explains the request from management. GM executives apologized gracefully and said that the memo was “poorly worded,” but I think it’s more likely that the memo was poorly understood.

Like I said before, other countries have not connected themselves emotionally to the word Chevy like Americans have. In, fact, shorting words like we do in English doesn’t make sense in many other languages. They haven’t grown up riding around town in their daddy’s Chevrolet or gone mud bogging in Uncle Jim’s Chevrolet. There are no Utah Chevy dealerships showing commercials with the word ‘Chevy.’ Calling an automobile by the nick-name in most countries will only get you blank stares. But let’s just say that they do identify the nick-name with Chevrolet for the sake of argument. Unless there is some sort of emotional connection with the name (which there isn’t in other countries because of language barriers), it is a bad idea to adopt two names for one product from a marketer’s perspective. Focusing all marketing efforts on one brand identity will help customers identify with the brand in their own language.

The part about this whole fiasco that is so ridiculous is the comment labeled “P.S.” at the end of the memo. It reads, “We put a plastic ‘Chevy’ can down the hall that will accept a quarter every time someone uses ‘Chevy’ rather than Chevrolet! We’ll use the money for a team building activity.” That sounds like incentive training that the salespeople at any one of the Utah Chevrolet dealerships are offered. It hardly sounds like the executives at GM are serious about eradicating the popular nick-name from the culture of GM. In fact, a vice president for Chevrolet sales and service named Alan Batey stated that the memo was a rough draft and was meant for “a bit of fun.”

After reading a lot of articles associated with this topic, and reading the comments on the articles, I noticed that the issue has caused many to lose respect or faith in management at GM. On the contrary, this should be evidence of their competence in basic business practices. Of course they would never get rid of the nick-name where it has been built up. Utah Chevy dealers would have their heads on a pike! However, just like its lame for a person to give themselves a nick-name, GM cannot presume that Chevy will be as big of a hit in other markets. GM can, however, concentrate on building the equity of the Chevrolet brand, and let the consumers name them as they will. Let’s just hope it’s as positive as the American one has been.

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