Volvo C70 T5 - The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions

When I first became a (radio) program director I believed naively, that transforming what I felt was a stodgy, old sounding radio station into a vibrant, energetic, young, fun, hip sounding juke box would lead to a huge boost in the ratings. Without the benefit of any research nor anyone telling me to do so, I changed literally everything on the station making it sound very different from what it had been and what it had been known for.

 

  

While many at the station thought the station sounded great, the rub is that not only did ratings not improve, they got worse. It was a humbling if not humiliating experience since the last thing in the world I wanted was for things not only not to improve but to get worse. I righted the ship restoring most if not everything the radio station had been known for after my General Manager told me frankly, "The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions".

 

  

Volvo's move to more contemporary and arguably "hipper" designs  had similar effects. In the late '90's in a well intentioned attempt to increase sales, Volvo began introducing "sexy" or hip designs; suddenly boxy was out and curvaceous was in. In that light, the Swedish Automaker introduced the C70 and cars of similar ilk that made one remark, "that's a Volvo?" Volvo also abandoned its decades old marketing initiative of promoting how safe their vehicles where instead relying on the styling of their vehicles to sell cars.

 

The C70 had its fans but it came at the expense of Volvo's traditional customers. Just like what had happened to me at that radio station. Similarly styled sedans also followed leaving core fans, those who appreciated past Volvo attributes that emphasized safety along with Scandinavian styling with little choice. Volvo had become just another expensive aspirational automobile in a market that is nothing if not clogged with them. Sales of Volvos have shrunk over the last 10 years with only a cadre of conservatively designed cross over SUV's have kept the lights on.
 

 

Volvo built their reputation on manufacturing acceptably offbeat, stoic, solid, sensible and most importantly safe automobiles. In the '50s and '60s when Volvo first began pushing safety they found a lane, literally, all to themselves here in the United States since the Big Three believed safety unsellable. Safety, marketed correctly, does sell. Remember the 1990 Dudley Moore film, "Crazy People" and this ad campaign from that movie? When what you're known for becomes a pop culture reference point and it's not a negative why would you abandon it?  

In the near future Volvo will attempt a return to their glory days of yore with vehicles that are more Scandinavian in design and their marketing emphasis will be on safety and traditional Volvo attributes. Not unlike my returning that radio station to the sound that it was known for. Results where mixed when I did that by the way.

With regards to Volvo, does this mean a return to "Boxy But They're Good"? Volvo has even gone as far to say they want "zero deaths" in their cars by 2020. That ambitious goal enough to right the ship? Time will tell.

 

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