Lucid ads and commercials

[hmp10]

Yes more advertising whether niche or mass market that emphasizes the dynamic superiority . . . .

Yes, especially as Edmunds wrote that the Air's handling was "not up to class standards". Some of Lucid's ads need to mention winning the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb and a couple of quotes or two from Ben Collins (Top Gear's "The Stig") about the Air's superb handling.

I also wish Lucid would back away from all the focus on "designed in California" in their advertising. I lived in California, and I love California. But I now live in Florida -- the second hottest EV market in the U.S. -- and, believe me, going on relentlessly about California credentials isn't the best way to broaden appeal down here these days. It really reflects a serious blind spot in Lucid's marketing strategy.

The ads also ought to say "Built in America" instead of "Assembled in America". I know they were implicitly acknowledging that many components are foreign-sourced, but "built" can also mean "assembled", and "built in America" is a buzz phrase that other manufacturers who also source parts globally use and that resonates with the buyers who want to "buy American". "Assembled" actually invites attention to the fact that not everything in the car was made here.

Lucid's marketing efforts are really rather myopic and clumsy.

 

[xponents]

Yes, especially as Edmunds wrote that the Air's handling was "not up to class standards". Some of Lucid's ads need to mention winning the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb and a couple of quotes or two from Ben Collins (Top Gear's "The Stig") about the Air's superb handling.

I also wish Lucid would back away from all the focus on "designed in California" in their advertising. I lived in California, and I love California. But I now live in Florida -- the second hottest EV market in the U.S. -- and, believe me, going on relentlessly about California credentials isn't the best way to broaden appeal down here these days. It really reflects a serious blind spot in Lucid's marketing strategy.

I'd just argue staying away from ANY state affiliation is good in terms of advertising, as you don't want an unintended political party split in terms of who gets the car and who doesn't. Then again, Arizona literally has an official "Lucid day," so I'd argue there's pretty much no going back.

 

[hmp10]

I'd just argue staying away from ANY state affiliation is good in terms of advertising, as you don't want an unintended political party split in terms of who gets the car and who doesn't. Then again, Arizona literally has an official "Lucid day," so I'd argue there's pretty much no going back.

I think the situation with Arizona is somewhat different. Local government was instrumental in getting the Lucid plant built there, with tax incentives and other forms of assistance. Every state or local government that does such invariably touts this as a win for their economy, and I don't think it's much taken amiss by the public.

This California thing Lucid has going, however, is much more attitudinal, as in "California design is better than other design aesthetics", "our cars are cooler because California is cooler", etc. It annoys even me, and I'm much more aligned personally with almost all aspects of California life than Florida life.

 

[xponents]

I think the situation with Arizona is somewhat different. Local government was instrumental in getting the Lucid plant built there, with tax incentives and other forms of assistance. Every state or local government that does such invariably touts this as a win for their economy, and I don't think it's much taken amiss by the public.

This California thing Lucid has going, however, is much more attitudinal, as in "California design is better than other design aesthetics", "our cars are cooler because California is cooler", etc. It annoys even me, and I'm much more aligned personally with almost all aspects of California life than Florida life.

Agree, only used AZ as an example. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't really think of Lucid as a Californian company as they seem MUCH more focused in Arizona. I get the "aesthetic" they are going for, in addition to the fact that the interior names tie in with locations in CA, but even I think the bears are one step too far.

 

[PhotoEye]

Agree, only used AZ as an example. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't really think of Lucid as a Californian company as they seem MUCH more focused in Arizona. I get the "aesthetic" they are going for, in addition to the fact that the interior names tie in with locations in CA, but even I think the bears are one step too far.

I don't recall any of the television ads for MB, BMW, Polestar, Audi, etc. EVs referencing where they are made. They focus (directly and indirectly) on style, performance, comfort, interior space, and range, all with polish and energy. Architectural Digest is fine for a micro-marketing effort, but I suspect many target buyer demographics watch March Madness, L/PGA tournaments, Formula 1 broadcasts, and other seemingly 'plebeian' venues, as well -- especially if the interest is setting the stage for more Pure sales now and Gravity sales to come.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

I don't know anyone who can afford a Lucid. I'm not about to rub my good fortune in the faces of the 99%.

I'll tell the curious it's a Chevy Volt.

 

[PhotoEye]

I don't know anyone who can afford a Lucid. I'm not about to rub my good fortune in the faces of the 99%.

I'll tell the curious it's a Chevy Volt.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

 

[borski]

This California thing Lucid has going, however, is much more attitudinal, as in "California design is better than other design aesthetics", "our cars are cooler because California is cooler", etc. It annoys even me, and I'm much more aligned personally with almost all aspects of California life than Florida life.

works for Apple.

 

[xponents]

works for Apple.

True, except Apple doesn't make a whole logo around California and only has a small "Designed by Apple in CA" logo on their products (which even now are only on boxes, not phones). In addition, Apple has far more to do with CA than Lucid does given the company's history.

 

[borski]

In addition, Apple has far more to do with CA than Lucid does given the company's history.

What? Atieva was founded in CA in 2007, by former Tesla VP Bernard Tse, co-founder of Astoria Networks Sam Weng, and inventor Sheaupyng Lin. The company was originally focused on building electric vehicle batteries and powertrains for other vehicle manufacturers. It was based in CA from inception.

It wasn’t until 2016 that they rebranded to Lucid and announced the building of a factory in Arizona. Lucid’s roots are *entirely* in CA.

At least part of the reason they are so adamant about “designed in CA” is an explicit response to Tesla’s insanity of moving the HQ to Texas and then back again, along with a pride (and marketing effort) in building an EV in Silicon Valley. For those of us who remember “the good times,” Silicon Valley wasn’t always looked at as “tech bros” and “Twitter douchebags.” It’s a cycle, and that perception will change again, as it always does; it’s already starting to thanks to AI.

The other piece of is it California is still seen as the bedrock of “good technology,” as compared to Michigan, Florida, Texas, or anywhere else. Being associated with “tech” for a car that is trying to lead the pack in EVs is a good look.

This is one of those rare times I think @hmp10 and I disagree

 

[hmp10]

works for Apple.

No harm in disagreeing, but . . .

Apple became an iconic brand long before the divisions in this country took such a grip on so many aspects of our lives.

Lucid is in the early stages of evolving brand recognition, and Florida is awash in anti-blue-state rhetoric these days, with California a particular punching bag. There are now actually restaurants we avoid because of political messages embedded in the names of menu items or photos of Joe Biden glued inside urinals. A recent TV ad on a local CBS affiliate for a kitchen remodeling business ended the ad by showing the business' phone number with a message underneath: "If you're a Biden supporter, don't call." It's honest to God gotten that bad.

Florida is also Lucid's second-largest potential market based on registration data of EVs.

If Lucid wants to get out a message about how sophisticated "California design" is, fine. But if Lucid is more interested in selling cars, they really should quit hyping the California thing to the extent they are. It may make Californians feel better, but it's not going to broaden Lucid's appeal in many parts of the country.

For better or worse -- and I vote "worse" -- the climate in our country these days should tell businesses to stay as far away from regional identities as they can.

 

[xponents]

What? Atieva was founded in CA in 2007, by former Tesla VP Bernard Tse, co-founder of Astoria Networks Sam Weng, and inventor Sheaupyng Lin. The company was originally focused on building electric vehicle batteries and powertrains for other vehicle manufacturers. It was based in CA from inception.

It wasn’t until 2016 that they rebranded to Lucid and announced the building of a factory in Arizona. Lucid’s roots are *entirely* in CA.

At least part of the reason they are so adamant about “designed in CA” is an explicit response to Tesla’s insanity of moving the HQ to Texas and then back again, along with a pride (and marketing effort) in building an EV in Silicon Valley. For those of us who remember “the good times,” Silicon Valley wasn’t always looked at as “tech bros” and “Twitter douchebags.” It’s a cycle, and that perception will change again, as it always does; it’s already starting to thanks to AI.

The other piece of is it California is still seen as the bedrock of “good technology,” as compared to Michigan, Florida, Texas, or anywhere else. Being associated with “tech” for a car that is trying to lead the pack in EVs is a good look.

This is one of those rare times I think @hmp10 and I disagree

Yes. Lucid's "way back" roots are easily in California. However, with the rebrand from Atieva to Lucid, I would have thought that the old location history would have followed with that rebrand. In addition, with the move to AZ, Lucid is still *less* prevalent in CA than Apple, although they do have some history as you stated.

I guess I just think it's odd that given Lucid's ties to Arizona (even officially, as evidenced by the holiday), they are still so adamant on pushing the CA narrative. California is associated with high tech and sublimely designed products, but at least among my generation, it isn't such a huge point that a whole logo and an advertising campaign needs to be based around it. In fact, I don't think ANY state should be in the advertisement, given that on my visit to Texas last month, somebody called Lucid a "damn democratic company" (please don't debate politics in the thread) JUST based off of me telling them about the CA bear's relation.

The only reason I could see Lucid needing their CA (or Arizona, for this matter) advertisement is to let people know it isnt a "damn chinese company" (also the texan's words before I told him, hilariously). It is does not go so deep that Lucid needs a logo about it, however. Therefore, you'll have to add me to the list of people you disagree with on this matter

 

[joec]

What? Atieva was founded in CA in 2007, by former Tesla VP Bernard Tse, co-founder of Astoria Networks Sam Weng, and inventor Sheaupyng Lin. The company was originally focused on building electric vehicle batteries and powertrains for other vehicle manufacturers. It was based in CA from inception.

It wasn’t until 2016 that they rebranded to Lucid and announced the building of a factory in Arizona. Lucid’s roots are *entirely* in CA.

At least part of the reason they are so adamant about “designed in CA” is an explicit response to Tesla’s insanity of moving the HQ to Texas and then back again, along with a pride (and marketing effort) in building an EV in Silicon Valley. For those of us who remember “the good times,” Silicon Valley wasn’t always looked at as “tech bros” and “Twitter douchebags.” It’s a cycle, and that perception will change again, as it always does; it’s already starting to thanks to AI.

The other piece of is it California is still seen as the bedrock of “good technology,” as compared to Michigan, Florida, Texas, or anywhere else. Being associated with “tech” for a car that is trying to lead the pack in EVs is a good look.

This is one of those rare times I think @hmp10 and I disagree

Also worth noting: Despite Detroit being the “Motor City” and Michigan in general being synonymous with the American Auto Industry, California has a long and storied history of being a car-lover’s paradise. Just watch American Graffiti, for crying out loud. Hot rods, cruising. The Beach Boys. All those glorious open highways. The PCH.

Every car collector I know is a Californian.

Not to mention, California is outpacing every other state by orders of magnitude in terms of EV sales. As California goes, the rest of the country follows a decade later as far as trends go.

Marking your car company as being grounded in California is no bad thing at this point. I totally understand and agree with the branding decision.

And I say that as someone who doesn’t even live there.

 

[xponents]

No harm in disagreeing, but . . .

Apple became an iconic brand long before the divisions in this country took such a grip on so many aspects of our lives.

Lucid is in the early stages of evolving brand recognition, and Florida is awash in anti-blue-state rhetoric these days, with California a particular punching bag. There are now actually restaurants we avoid because of political messages embedded in the names of menu items or photos of Joe Biden glued inside urinals. A recent TV ad on a local CBS affiliate for a kitchen remodeling business ended the ad by showing the business' phone number with a message underneath: "If you'r a Biden supporter, don't call." It's honest to God gotten that bad.

Florida is also Lucid's second-largest potential market based on registration data of EVs.

If Lucid wants to get out a message about how sophisticated "California design" is, fine. But if Lucid is more interested in selling cars, they really should quit hyping the California thing to the extent they are. It may make Californians feel better, but it's not going to broaden Lucid's appeal in many parts of the country.

For better or worse -- and I vote "worse" -- the climate in our country these days should tell businesses to stay as far away from regional identities as they can.

100 percent this. Back when Apple was founded, I believe "made in America," or any state for that record, was a pride point. At this point, sectional politics are very divided, up to the point where we are approaching pre-civil war levels of division.

Also sorry, but that ad sounds hilariously terrible. I literally cannot even imagine that happening in a news channel, which says a lot.

I'll tell you one thing: the people Lucid is hoping to appeal to with the bear branding do not give a sh*t. However, people on the "other side" (not calling out specific groups, think its pretty clear) absolutely do care and WILL associate Lucid with the opposing side. It is a lose-lose situation, to me.

 

[xponents]

Also worth noting: Despite Detroit being the “Motor City” and Michigan in general being synonymous with the American Auto Industry, California has a long and storied history of being a car-lover’s paradise. Just watch American Graffiti, for crying out loud. Hot rods, cruising. The Beach Boys. All those glorious open highways. The PCH.

Every car collector I know is a Californian.

Not to mention, California is outpacing every other state by orders of magnitude in terms of EV sales. As California goes, the rest of the country follows a decade later as far as trends go.

Marking your car company as being grounded in California is no bad thing at this point. I totally understand and agree with the branding decision.

And I say that as someone who doesn’t even live there.

I'm not even remotely from that era, so correct me if I'm wrong (which I probably am), but isn't that narrative mostly exaggerated? I mean sure, in CA you did have the cruising lifestyle, sunset drives, drive in movies, hot bell-hops coming to serve you in your car (not only restaurants, there were other services focused on cars), etc, but isn't most of the automobile's rise (and higher dependence on it) in America mostly down to the interstate system? Therefore, by extension, wouldn't the rise of the car be "focused" all across the nation?

 

[borski]

No harm in disagreeing, but . . .

Apple became an iconic brand long before the divisions in this country took such a grip on so many aspects of our lives.

Lucid is in the early stages of evolving brand recognition, and Florida is awash in anti-blue-state rhetoric these days, with California a particular punching bag. There are now actually restaurants we avoid because of political messages embedded in the names of menu items or photos of Joe Biden glued inside urinals. A recent TV ad on a local CBS affiliate for a kitchen remodeling business ended the ad by showing the business' phone number with a message underneath: "If you're a Biden supporter, don't call." It's honest to God gotten that bad.

Florida is also Lucid's second-largest potential market based on registration data of EVs.

If Lucid wants to get out a message about how sophisticated "California design" is, fine. But if Lucid is more interested in selling cars, they really should quit hyping the California thing to the extent they are. It may make Californians feel better, but it's not going to broaden Lucid's appeal in many parts of the country.

For better or worse -- and I vote "worse" -- the climate in our country these days should tell businesses to stay as far away from regional identities as they can.

My point is that it’s a cycle, and it will come back the other direction at some point too - I agree with everything you said, but I don’t think that Lucid should base its marketing on the political state of Florida and their whims. Nor do I think they should base it on CA politics. It has nothing to do with making Californians “feel good.”

Whether Florida likes it or not, CA is the tech capital of the world, and has a deeply ingrained car culture. From that perspective, the marketing makes perfect sense, as that aspect isn’t changing. It’s not a commentary on politics.

Just because everything gets politicized these days doesn’t mean it should be, and I for one applaud Lucid (and others) for focusing on what matters, rather than the *current* political whims of any one individual state.

 

[xponents]

My point is that it’s a cycle, and it will come back the other direction at some point too - I agree with everything you said, but I don’t think that Lucid should base its marketing on the political state of Florida and their whims. Nor do I think they should base it on CA politics. It has nothing to do with making Californians “feel good.”

Whether Florida likes it or not, CA is the tech capital of the world, and has a deeply ingrained car culture. From that perspective, the marketing makes perfect sense, as that aspect isn’t changing. It’s not a commentary on politics.

Just because everything gets politicized these days doesn’t mean it should be, and I for one applaud Lucid (and others) for focusing on what matters, rather than the *current* political whims of any one individual state.

I think you summed it up well, except your response also does ironically prove our point. What I think we are trying to say is not that Lucid should be aligned with another state, far from it; it is that Lucid should not be partnering with ANY state to reduce the risk of politicizing everything, as you said.

Although it’s obvious Lucid is not making it about politics themselves, it is inevitable that somebody will do that (as I stated in my Texan example). There are little plus sides to the Californian marketing, as I stated in my previous post, but there are negative sides. Therefore, the point here is that Lucid should not be partnering with ANY state.

 

[PhotoEye]

Interesting exchange, but my view is there is a dearth of advertising -- period. Might there be a strategic decision to suppress demand at the moment? Thought we had cars in inventory ready to go out. Is that not the case?

 

[borski]

Yes. Lucid's "way back" roots are easily in California. However, with the rebrand from Atieva to Lucid, I would have thought that the old location history would have followed with that rebrand. In addition, with the move to AZ, Lucid is still *less* prevalent in CA than Apple, although they do have some history as you stated.

What “move to AZ”? This is the part I think is not clear to you - their HQ is still in CA. Always has been. AZ contains the factory where the things they design in CA are built. KSA contains another.

That doesn’t make Lucid a KSA company.

Apple is also not “prevalent” in CA; I’m not sure where you got that idea. They exist in Cupertino, and have grown to own or lease many of the buildings in Cupertino. But it didn’t start that way, any more than Lucid started in Newark.

Apple’s products are built and assembled in China. That doesn’t make them a Chinese company.

I guess I just think it's odd that given Lucid's ties to Arizona (even officially, as evidenced by the holiday), they are still so adamant on pushing the CA narrative. California is associated with high tech and sublimely designed products, but at least among my generation, it isn't such a huge point that a whole logo and an advertising campaign needs to be based around it.

Your generation isn’t buying cars yet. And by the time they are, that opinion may change.

Also, it’s not an advertising campaign; it’s literally in the very ethos of the brand.

In fact, I don't think ANY state should be in the advertisement, given that on my visit to Texas last month, somebody called Lucid a "damn democratic company" (please don't debate politics in the thread) JUST based off of me telling them about the CA bear's relation.

Cool. You can’t walk down the block without seeing six political banners in four coffee shops on any street in the US right now.

That doesn’t mean Lucid needs to whitewash its brand to make it soul-less, just to appease idiots who assign political value to every goddamn thing around them.

The only reason I could see Lucid needing their CA (or Arizona, for this matter) advertisement is to let people know it isnt a "damn chinese company" (also the texan's words before I told him, hilariously). It is does not go so deep that Lucid needs a logo about it, however. Therefore, you'll have to add me to the list of people you disagree with on this matter

Again: the bear is not Lucid’s logo. It happens to represent its California roots, but it’s not a political statement. Anyone reading it as such is caught up in their own drama, and I don’t think Lucid should be trying to straddle the line as a brand with no soul.

If Lucid ever makes a political statement, then we can talk. A bear on the car is not a political statement.

 

[Neurio]

with the move to AZ

Lucid moved to Arizona as much as Apple moved to China. Both are HQ'ed in California and have their products built elsewhere.