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Putting company executives in corporate advertising is always a tricky business.

Low-budget small businesses do it all the time because they can't afford actors, scripts, film crews (shooting speeding cars in deserts), etc. Bigger businesses don't do it so often because they can afford those things, but it has worked for some companies. I can still recall the Remington shaver guy who liked his shaver so much he bought the company. And Aussies will all be familiar with Gerry Harvey, who fronts the ads for Harvey Norman, a very successful homewares and electrical retailer here in Australia.

You rarely, if ever, see company executives in automotive advertising. It's more about scenery, vehicle demonstration and generating an emotional response. But there have been some car company ads with executives that have been both necessary and effective.

Lee Iaccoca's ads for Chrysler back in the 1980s come to mind (and they were so effective that even I'm familiar with them, despite being a teenager at the time and in a different country). Here's a sample. Don't make the convenient mistake of thinking these ads were crappy because Chrysler's almost dead in the water now. Back then, Iacocca's input helped save a company that was on the brink and it brought them back to a place of relative success.

So what of Saab and Victor Muller?

The reason I'm asking this question today is because I believe Saab have a core message to get out to some of its biggest markets right now. That message is "we're still alive".

Anybody who sees Victor on video gets an instant snapshot of a guy who's passionate, intelligent and has an aura of confidence about him. (And by the way, don't bother commenting on this post if you haven't watched the Autoline video yet).

The big question is whether or not he could project that message of survival, new product and confidence in a 30-second ad. Maybe a series of them.

Something like this could be especially important in the US market. There seems to be a lack of real knowledge about Saab's situation amongst the motoring press - again, watch the Autoline interview and see the looks of surprise amongst the panellists as VM spells out various truths of the Saab situation. If there's such a lack of knowledge amongst the people who are paid to know things about this industry, imagine the lack of knowledge out there amongst the customers.

Making a few VM videos doesn't have to be overly expensive and thanks to the reach of the internet, you don't even have to pay big money for expensive TV time anymore. All you need is a good story to tell (check) and the right person and setting to tell it (check, check).

Personally, I think it'd be a great campaign and a good way to get Saab back in people's minds. VM and Jan-Ake Jonsson have done a great job convincing people of Saab's survival wherever they've been in the last few months. Dealers all around the world have come out of meetings feeling very confident and fired up. Members of the press who meet them are as one in relaying the confidence these men and the Saab story inspires.

Perhaps it's time to take that story to the streets?

A long, self-indulgent one about the love of driving. Sorry.

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Early April, 1988.

Earlier in the day, I was driving in some small 4-cylinder car listening to the two other people in the car set a date when one's family would come over and visit the other for a BBQ lunch. I just listened and turned when I was told to turn and let them carry on their conversation. The more they talked, the less they were thinking about me and the more I could think about the task at hand - and more importantly, what I'd do later. Later that day, later that week. Every day for the rest of my life, probably.

I was 18 years and three weeks old, and this was my driving test. And I could. not. wait. to start driving.

This is not my Holden Gemini. Mine was baby blue and didn't come with a kangaroo.

Later that day, licence in wallet, I got into my 1977 Holden Gemini and drove around to my mate Jeremy's house, picked him up, and the first thing I did as a licenced driver was head to the newly constructed Greensborough Bypass and break the law - as fast as I dared - with my little 1.6 Isuzu motor flying along at 160 km/h.

It was reckless, irresponsible and totally, addictively empowering. I was 18 and free. The only limits to my geographical freedom were the depths of my wallet, the reliability of my car and the law telling me how fast I could get there, wherever 'there' was.

There hasn't been much in terms of advertising and branding coming out Trollhattan since Saab were sold back in February. Whilst there's a good story to tell, they haven't started telling it yet. This is most likely due to the Saab 9-5 launch, which will happen - in an official marketing and production sense - late this month. Why tell the story too far in advance of that?

That makes sense.

What I've been prompted to think about today, however, is what form that marketing message will take. That prompting came from the AutoExtremist, Peter De Lorenzo:

No, I don't care how Chevy's brand minions try to spin it - [Chevy's new ad slogan] "Excellence for All" is a non-starter. It smacks of people who don't understand the brand, don't understand the history of the brand, and who don't understand the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is staring them in the face. You don't get to re-launch an iconic American brand very often. And when you do it requires a fundamental understanding of that brand - where it has been, where it is now, and where you want to take it - before one creative thought can be put to paper or rendered on a computer screen.

The bit that slapped me across the cheek is the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" bit.

Saab, even more than Chevrolet, have an opportunity to capitalise on their story and re-create their public image in a manner of their choosing. I'm not saying I'm unhappy with "Move Your Mind" (actually, I love it) or the current Saab graphic presentation or house style.

I'm just hoping that they've been hard at work examining and refining this - making sure that they grab this opportunity with both hands and cast the company in the absolute best light possible.

In the end, it's all about the product. But the message can be crucial in getting people to see the product.

Saab is a company with a fascinating story to tell, from their national heritage to the aviation connection, from their design emphasis to their engineering expertise. There's also the brilliant sale story and the future to talk about as well. There's plenty to draw from and I hope they're planning on doing so.

Wow, I had lots of plans this weekend that have been thwarted by the record rainfall and subsequent flooding here in Nashville, Tennessee. Not only is it decidedly not convertible weather, I can't travel more than about two or three miles in any direction due to road closings due to water standing on the roadway. I live on a little plateau surrounded by the Harpeth River and West Harpeth River valleys. Those valleys are flooded and impassable. Ten inches or so of rain in 48 hours, and the forecast is for another three inches or so today and tonight. That's more than many cities in the world get in a year, and even for a rainy climate like ours, that's more than we typically get in two or three entire months. Strange.

Believe me, Saabs can go in many types of inclement weather, but they make horrible boats! (This one excepted.)

BMW's do not make for good watercraft, either.

Four-wheel drive? That won't save you this time!

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On to the Saabs......

First up, the 1967 Saab 96 Roadster in the Lane Motor Museum collection has been cosmetically upgraded somewhat and is now back on display. As a 1967 model, this car still has the Monte Carlo 850cc three-cylinder, two-stroke, 85 hp engine under the hood, making it somewhat a rarity here in North America on that basis alone. Fold in the drop top and you've got a truly unique beast. This particular example was one of six created under contract to Saab in the 1960's as a prototype. It was deemed too expensive to produce.

Because another event was to take me to this part of town this weekend, I was planning to look in on this car while I was there. Oh, well, I'll go some other time.

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Saab has made a move to improve UK fleet sales of Saab automobiles, hiring a former Vauxhall (read: GM) executive to revitalize sales. Paul Adler has bravely taken on the challenge. The odd twist here is that Saab operations manager Steve Caitlin will assume Mr. Adler's old position at Vauxhall in a direct swap.

I wonder what it's like to be traded? Seems odd. Weird things happen.

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There's always something on eBay.

I wouldn't buy it, but some of you may like it.

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And, a shout out to all of you that voted for my new pup, Rico, in the cover dog contest. He was a finalist. More after the jump.

Edmunds Auto Observer is the first prominent column to come out and criticise Saab's US release of the Saab 9-5.

As you may know, the US release starts with the V6 Aero version, which is priced just short of $50K and on first glance, looks like it costs more than it's Teutonic rivals (until you option them up and completely hoover your wallet clean).

EAO goes with the subtle headline....

How To Say 'Suicide' in Swedish: 2010 Saab 9-5 Is $50 Grand

.....to which I'll come back with:

How to say Kneejerk in American: Edmunds Auto Observer

My emphasis added.

I'm not going to sit here and defend Saab, or Saab Cars North America, and their release strategy but it does pay to look a little deeper when considering these things.

1) Saab are starting from a very small manufacturing base and have to make very delicate decisions about what to send where. The writer calls to mind the pricing of the first Lexus as an example, which I assume must have been priced ridiculously low in order to get attention and make up the money on volume.

Well, Saab can't do what Lexus did and it's dead stupid to think that they can. They can't produce the volumes that Blingoyota produce.

2) From what I can tell, Saab will start the US release with a V6-only, Aero-only lineup for the 9-5. They're bringing the best equipped model they can into the US (with one exception - no sunroof for 2010 apparently). If you're going to get some out there - and it's going to be a small volume, probably less than 1,000 2010 models - then it doesn't hurt to get the best ones you can out there.

3) Focusing on this small volume of 2010 models - which will suit 600-900 customers perfectly - takes one's eyes off the fact that there will be lower priced and more economically specced models coming down the line in a matter of months. The 2010 model run will be very short.

4) Imagine you're a car company and you've got to re-stock your global market, virtually from scratch. You can only build so many models and you can only make the best of the model mix you've got available. Where are you going to send the V6s and where are you going to send the I4's?

To the places where they're most likely to sell. That's where. For the V6, that's the US and for the I4, it's Europe. You can do a broader mix when more options come online in 2011.

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Like I said, I'm not trying to stand here and play defence for Saab or Saab Cars North America. They can fight their own strategic battles.

But publications like Edmunds should look a bit harder and a little further down the rabbit hole before firing off like this.

Beijing Automotive are showing their Saab-based vehicles at the Beijing Auto Show starting this Friday.

With that in mind, I'd like to know what you guys think of the Hautai B11? And I'm very keen to know your thoughts on the Dadi Unisonous.

What?

Haven't heard of them?

If that's the case, then you find yourself in the same position as 99% of the non-Chinese population with regard to Beijing Automotive and their use of Saab vehicles as a base for their new products.

I'm seeing a reasonable amount of hand wringing in comments with people proclaiming that they feel devalued by BAIC's efforts, etc. I'm trying hard to sympathise with you, but at the end of the day, I'm struggling.

The fact of the matter is that none of your neighbors are ever likely to know that the 9-5 or 9-3 in your driveway is going to form the base of what will likely be a very good car that'll be sold in China.

You only know about it because you go looking for Saab news on the internet. Heck, the average punter out there in non-Saab land doesn't even know that Saab is still alive and a large proportion of them never GM were Saab's owners to start with. How are they going to know something like this?

"But I'll know about it" I can hear you saying.

Well, yes.

But in regard to that, I'd encourage you to build a bridge and get over it. Your car is still every bit as good as it was yesterday, last week or last year. Whatever BAIC build will be built for the Chinese market only in the near-medium term. It'll be a very long time and a few trade-ins before there's any chance of a BAIC-sourced vehicle having any influence whatsoever on your vehicle's value.

This deal is worth a bucketload of money to Saab in both cash and ongoing consultancies. It's a great deal; one that makes quite a bit out of nothing. It's quite possibly one of the main reasons Saab was still in a position to be sold earlier this year.

These vehicles we've seen are show cars that were made in a hurry. They will change before they're made for real and that won't be for some time, anyway. In fact, BAIC are still building the factory that'll make these cars and it won't come online until 2011. The new 9-5 will be well and truly bedded in by then and a new 9-3 will be very close.

So please..... chill.

Your street isn't going to fill up with Chinese imitations of your car. Your car is still as great as it's always been. And the deal is helping Saab to stick around and bring us all-new cars.

Some legitimate questions have popped up in comments that I thought I'd try and add my 2 cents on here.

The main question is why buy a Saab nowadays?

On paper, there's not necessarily a whole bunch of compelling reasons, to be honest. Fuel economy is reasonable but not necessarily best in class. Ditto for performance. Safety is a given in this class of vehicle. Overall, there's not too many ways to go wrong spending Saab-level money on a car.

But that last statement (and pretty much any notion of buying another brand of vehicle) has an implication that rides along with it. The implication is that the total package - the brand and the combination of elements that make up the vehicle - doesn't matter.

I think for many people, that implication doesn't carry any weight.

Let's face it; Most people who buy anything that represents more than just adequate transportation are being brand snobs to a degree.

A Tato Nano would be adequate to get from A to B. A basic Subaru/Toyota/whatever would be adequate to get from A to B in a safe manner. Any requirements beyond safe, reliable transportation involve choice and that involves the dismissal of choices that are deemed inadequate.

Some of those choices involve genuine perceived 'needs' and some of them involve 'wants'. I'd wager most of the deciding factors are 'wants'.

So, assuming you're looking within your budget, it all comes down to a matter of meeting your desires. In no order of priority:

• Does it look how I'd like a car to look?
• Does it have the equipment that I want?
• Does it gel with my self-image? (this may be sub-conscious, but it's there)
• Does it perform the way I'd like a car to perform?
• Does it speak to me?
• etc etc

For me, when it comes to answering those sorts of questions, there are very few companies that could tick all the boxes - and the #1 candidate is always Saab.

I've said for 5 years now that my Saabs have always given me the best possible combination of comfort, safety, performance and utility for the money and I stick by that 100%.

Comparing lists on paper and numbers on a screen can lead you to draw certain conclusions, but you'll never really know what you want until you get out there, drive the cars, spend your money and live with the consequences.

How important is fuel economy? Do you really need industry-best fuel economy on paper if the real world experience is lots of torque-driven fun and your budget means that you can live with industry-ballpark (rather than industry-best) fuel economy?

How important is it to have the best sound system in the world when a car is a less-than-ideal place to experience top-quality sound?

Does the quality of interior materials outweigh the interior design if the materials are nearly the same?

Comparisons can only do so much. The answers to the nitty gritty questions are up to the individual.

Over the last few years, I've either test driven or bought and sold several cars that are considered cult classics by many people and the main reason is that they never delivered the combination of things that I wanted in a car.

For me, a Saab always has.

They say that a very high proportion of people who test drive a Saab, end up buying a Saab. I don't know what those magic trolls in Sweden do when they're making them, but in some sort of subliminal way, I feel like I know why.

So to answer that question in the headline - why would I buy a Saab in 2010? - I'd have to say the following:

• First and foremost......Because the cars are fantastic to own and drive.
• Becuase they meet my needs as a driver looking for that elusive combination that speaks to me. I know that sounds touchy-feely, but it's true.
• Because I love the company, its history and philosophy.
• Because I'm an engaged member of the Saab community.
• Because for me, there's very little else out there that would feel as right as a Saab does. That may be snobby, but it's true.

Very few of those things show up in an internet comparison, but they're all there.

This is going to make me look like a bit of a simpleton. I'm not a marketing graduate and I don't know all the fancy terminology. But on the flipside, I have been writing this website for five years now, I've done a number of Saab events and I've seen what people respond to. I guess you call it my seat-of-the-pants marketing plan.

Or a component of it. I'm not positioning this as everything that Saab should do. Just something.

Unwritten in this plan is the omnipresent and supreme marketing element that sometimes gets overlooked in this type of dicussion - build truly great products. The best advertising you can do is to put a brilliant product in the hands of your consumer. If you do that, they'll do quite a bit of advertising for you (whether they realise it or not).

As economists are given to do, I've assumed that this is in place already.

So, my simple three-step marketing plan for Saab:

1. Do stuff.
2. Involve real peolple in the stuff you do.
3. Tell everyone about it.

Amazingly simple, isn't it?

Let's dig a little bit deeper on those, then.

Last night I wrote the following:

It's been a veritable Muller love-fest for the last four weeks - and rightly so because there's been much to celebrate and he's at the heart of it - but today, March 22, is when the rubber hits the road for the new Saab.

.....so it seems fitting that the very next day, we saw the first writeup of the new Saab 9-5 since the Saab sale went through.

It was only a quick review of a pre-production model, but the positivity from Edmunds in that article was undeniably good food for the Saab lover's soul.

If there's been anything more encouraging than that, though, it's the sense of direction we can deduce from VM's comments in recent interviews.

• A bi-turbo 'Viggen' model in the 9-5 range.
• Higher spec trim options for customers
• Better interior materials across the board in coming models.
• A change from 9-3 and 9-5 designations to 93, 95 etc

These are just small insights, but they're indicative of the fact that the wheels have already started turning in VM's quest to give Saab a bit more of the personal touch. It'll cost you something, but I believe it's absolutely essential that Saab go down this path and provide more ways for people to get exactly what they want.

I've always loved cars that are different in some way. It's one of the things that drew me to Saab in the first place. But even within the Saab range, I've always gravitated towards cars that were special in some way. I don't think I'm the only one who acts this way. I've had a 99 Turbo (x2), a 1985 Saab 900 Turbo 16, a Saab 9-3 Viggen and then a Saab 9-3 Monte Carlo (SE Sport in other markets).

People look to these special edition models as hallmarks in a range of vehicles. They get people excited, even if they don't end up buying them.

The last really special car Saab released was the 9-3 Turbo X in 2008. Prior to that it was the Saab 9-3 Viggen, the last model year for which was back in 2002. That's a six-year stretch without one of these really aspirational models in the lineup*.

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I remember the first Saab I drove after moving here to Tasmania in 1995. I was at University for three years initially and in no place to consider a new car. It was around 1998 that I took a mid-1980s Saab 9000 for a test drive. It was finished in Rose Quartz paint with a dark red leather interior. I can still remember the overwhelming sense of luxury I felt in that car with it's magnificent leather aroma and the sense of warmth that the interior gave.

As good as Saabs have been since then, that sense of pure luxury has been missing - for me, at least. The 9-5 has come close on the occasions that I've driven one, but not quite.

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The good news is that Saab seems to be heading back to a place where they're giving people that feeling once again. It'll take more than some trim options to do it, but it's a start in terms of bringing back to Saab something that's been lacking a little.

A sense of occasion.

Some inspiration. Anticipation.

Something to aspire to.

If you want to talk about what the German car companies have over most of their competition, it's stuff like this. Some of it's genuine, some it's marketing, but it all adds up to sales and that means money to invest in new models.

All I can say is that I like the direction Saab's taking in these early days.

Make them individual once again? Make them move our mind?

Yes please.

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* Perhaps you could count the 20th Anniversary Convertible (Cerulean Edition in some markets) as one of these aspirational models, but I'm not sure