[ARSCLIST] GM "historians"--was: Vanguard Classics reappears in 2 cd sets

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Quick case to illustrate the point. I found in a box of
> tapes a radio distribution dupe of a series of 1968 Chevrolet commercials.
I ping'd GM's investor
> relations and offered to GIVE them a digi-copy for their archives. They
replied there IS NO
> ARCHIVES. What could be more valuable to a company that makes its bread
from advertising a somewhat
> generic product -- where the main point of difference is marketing -- than
an archive of marketing
> so today's attention-challenged marketers might learn from past successes
and mistakes? But, alas,
> very few companies have any corporate archives. One big exception is
Coca-Cola, BTW, which has a
> paid corporate historian. If GM does have an archive or a historian and
the investor relations
> people -- to whom most random e-mails are funneled -- do not know about
it, then that's totally
> dysfunctional.
>
Well, I live in Oshawa, Ont'o., Canada...and Oshawa is pretty well GM-
dependent. I'm also personally interested in Oshawa's history...which,
from 1916 on, is to a great extent GM history! The sad fact is that GM
has very little interest in their history, except for those small bits
that can help sell current product and/or gain publicity! They DO use,
on occasion, historic GM vehicles ('57 Chevys, 48-53 Chevy pickups, etc.)
to catch the eye of potential customers...but otherwise they are totally
disinterested in their history, to the point that it is effectively
impossible to find out when a plant was built, or what it looked like
before they called in the demolition crew (vacant lots are taxed at a
much lower rate than no-longer-used buildings!)

The difference is that Coca-Cola, being an essential part of US history
and, as such, appealing to nostalgia-driven folks...makes a lot of moola
selling, or licensing, stuff that relies on the history of/nostalgia for
Coke "way back when!" A recent promotion saw a supermarket chain offering
6-packs of 6-ounce bottles of the stuff, complete with crown caps (oddly,
they didn't think of reproducing old bottle caps!).

Go figger (or let the accountants...)

Steven C. Barr