Hummer Adventure Magazine

[Steve R]

Hey Gang,

As some of you may know....GM has a publication that comes out twice a year, it's called "Hummer Adventures" and is sent to all known Hummer owners for free. Please help by polling the following:

As far as your knowledge and thoughts of the magazine:

For your participation in this survey you will be entered to win $1,000,000 and a night with your favroite movie star! (see details below)

details: There is no contest, it's all hype, there will be no winnners. Now stop reading the humor-part of this thread and answer the poll please.

As far as the Hummer Adventures Magazine (NOT to be confused with The Hummer Club's "Hummer Tracks" magazine).

My opinion of the Hummer Adventures Magazine is:

[Steve R]

Hey Gang,

As some of you may know....GM has a publication that comes out twice a year, it's called "Hummer Adventures" and is sent to all known Hummer owners for free. Please help by polling the following:

As far as your knowledge and thoughts of the magazine:

For your participation in this survey you will be entered to win $1,000,000 and a night with your favroite movie star! (see details below)

details: There is no contest, it's all hype, there will be no winnners. Now stop reading the humor-part of this thread and answer the poll please.

As far as the Hummer Adventures Magazine (NOT to be confused with The Hummer Club's "Hummer Tracks" magazine).

My opinion of the Hummer Adventures Magazine is:

[NCHummerman]

Heard of it but "Never Received it" ..... I guess this response does not fit into any catagory

Michael
---
Pewter Hummer H2
Northern California

www.zootsuitstore.com
------------------------------------

[Buckeye Hummer]

Steve,

They need more PHOTOGRAPHS of people using there Hummers in the desert, woods, towing, camping, tailgating, at Moab and more. I relate to pictures more than text and I just don't think people know what their H2's can do. They need to see it live in photos or on-line to see what can be done and also that it is cool, ok, not red-neck like, to go to places other can't. We need photos of adventures where H2 groups got to interesting desert spots, streams, mountains and more. The Hummer magazines I have received have been boring at best. The magazine needs to plant seeds so peoples minds can wonder and become more creative with their vehicles. There are so many reasons to use an H2 and just as many reasons to buy one but the people need to know and thus far Hummer Adventures has done a mediocre job of getting the word out.

[Jerry]

I am a new H2 owner in Phoenix and am anxious to see what it can do and also go out with a group. I am 65 years old and not so willing to take great chances any more. I want to take it for some challanging trips but want to know it's limits first and the proper way to drive it. We had a Jeep when we were kids and did things we shouldn't have. I am alittle more cautious now.
03 H2, Yellow, LUX, Rear Tire, Chrome Wheels & Tubular Steps.

Love it. 4 weeks old and 4K already.

Jerry Parr

Jerry

[DRTYFN]

Welcome Jerry.
You're going love it more and more every day. I'm envious of your location. You've got a lot of great 4xing within hours of you.

[MAC]

That magazine is mailed to Hummer owners only, it is an image builder, exactly same as the Mercedes or Jaguar magazines. Hummer magazine lacks beautiful pictures, lacks contents and lacks frequency, paper is lesser quality too.

If your job is to promote Hummer and sell more Hummer(which is the only goal), what would you do? do you spend your money and effort on 5% of the customers, or do you take care the other 95%? This is not a question about off-road of not, but a very simple and elementary business question. Do you aim at 5% or 95%?

[MAC]

Let’s do some basic calculation, no need for calculator, you don’t even need a pencil.

1- Assuming 40,000 H2s sold.
2- 5% go off road is 2,000 H2s.
3- Allot 10% sales to the big 5 states, CA, TX, FL, IL, NY/NJ. 200 off road H2s each big state.
4- LA/San Diego is double of Northern Calif. Size, so LA/San Diego has 120 off road H2s.
5- There are only so many spots you can go off road down there, plus Steve is well connected so he should know about every Hummer group or event.
6- Has Steve seen 120 H2s (accumulated) off road in the last 12 months? 100? 80? 50? Steve had 4 in the last run.

Let’s go back to the original question: if you are a Hummer businessman, do you target 2,000 customers or do you target 38,000 customer?

[Detonate]

It doesn't matter if someone off roads their H2 or not. I promise that is the image they bought.

-Jim March
Arlington TX
2003 Red H2
Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder

[MAC]

A successful magazine has to know its readers.
1- Phil’s 94%, well, Phil is a proven smart man, I don’t think he ever believe that 94%. (LA/SD should have 2,400 H2s going off the road. If you think Sierra Club is picking on us now, wait till them see 2,400 H2s out there in the parks.)
2- If Steve ever seen 48 H2s out there (accumulated), that is 2%, if 24 H2s, that is 1%. Let’s be very generous, say 2% actually go/gone off road.
3- Assuming Detonate's "promise" is 100% correct, everyone bought H2 for the off road image.
4- Hummer magazine then knows its target is that 39,000 (98%) owners who bought H2s but have no intention of ever go off the road.
5- It also knows that 2%(1000) off road H2 owners are irrelevant.
6- The easiest and safest route is to keep on feeding these 98% with off road images to reinforce the illusion.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Mac, I think this one has lost you. You are stuck on numbers of off-road vs. on-road drivers, which completely misses the point. Everyone bought the H2 because it was looked rugged, more people will buy it when they can see it do more rugged adventures. This doesn't mean they will ever take the truck off-road but know that they can makes all the difference. Look around your house and business for certain tools, technology and tell me if you actually use all of them to their absolute fullest or if you bought them because it's just nice to know the functionality is there should you ever need it. We aren't talking rock crawling pictures here, but rather, 22 mile off-road camping trips for the kids, deep snow in the mid-west, remote fishing spots etc. There are certain types of off-road driving that will and does appeal to the Hummer buyer. I have yet to see them market the vehicle with soccer balls in the back or a shopping cart hitting the side to show how tough the panels are.

[H2Norcal]

I will jump in just for fun:

On the direct topic feedback for Mac, I received one Adventures magazine about three weeks after my H2 delivery. I recall my first impression was the magazine looked professionally produced and resembled that of a manufacturers communication magazine such as BMW or GM’s semi-annual owner’s magazine. The problem I found with it and with the other attempts to produce a Hummer focused magazine is they all lack any useable owner content whatsoever because they are all trying to make a boat-load of money stuffing them with ads and marketing.

I think the Hummer Club’s upcoming Azimuth magazine holds the most promise for me because it is geared to the interests of the true user of the vehicle and they really have nothing to sell us. There will be ads but hopefully better content. We will see. But only members will get it.

And for the first time, I have to disagree with Phil on his view on H2 owner demographics (sorry Phil). I sincerely believe the vast majority of Hummer owners bought the H2 because of its fresh and wild image in a field of boring, mass produced SUVs, not for off-roading. I agree with MAC categorically here (did I really just say that? ), I think there are only a few of us out here that plan to fulfill the off-road adventure picture Hummer has painted for us. The rest will enjoy the attention owning a Hummer brings them as they head to the movies, soccer games or just to work.

[Steve R]

MAC,

I have to agree with his devine Buckness on this call: That magazine is NOT about offroading....it's simply about the H2 and Hummers in general, it's about them keeping in touch with their customers.

Yes, they do tend to focus on offroading a bit, but that's because the vehicle is an outstanding offroad vehicle...and whether people use it for that or not...it's a pivotal quality of the vehicle AND most people bought it with that idea in mind.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying: in the back of their minds they want to know they could offroad it.

I have a club because I like goig out with friends. I post pics & videos of offroading because nobody wants to see pics & video of H2's sitting in parking lots and driving down streets.

I sense you feel deeply ostracized by your own sense of not being an "offroader". Some offroad a lot, some twice a year, some won't offroad at all and just bought it to get upto their snowy cabin in winter.

And YES, some even bought the H2 just for the image...they'll never do anything with it that a Honda Civic couldn't do....but ya know what: that's alright! They'd still enjoy reading a good magazine and seeing pics of Hummers.

Now...if you'll excuse me, I have to run to my brothers so he can super-compress the new video and post it to his website.

[MAC]

Mathematic and logic is the foundation of all sciences. In this case, mathematic and logic established the foundation, which is “who are the readers of the Hummer magazine?” In business, that is one of the first things you must have the answers to, what you do with the facts is subject to endless debate. The one who follow the right path will be a success, one goes down the wrong path is faced with certain failure, as 95% of the new businesses do.

Steve has an interest in starting a Hummer magazine. If I were his enemy, I shall encourage him and promise him that I will pay to buy his new magazine, and there are tens of thousands of eager H2 owners waiting for his magazine; but I am his friend, I am in fact indirectly showing him the numbers to save him from thousands of hours of agony and financial losses. In the usual Steve tradition, he makes fun of me, which is expected and totally acceptable to me.

As I pondered in my 6th point in the last post, maybe Hummer magazine should pester the 98% non-off-road H2s owners with off road photos to fullfill unmet dreams or whatever Steve feels others are lacking. As such I am in fact in agreement with some of you. But frankly, I don’t really care what the Hummer magazine does, I flip through it a few days after arrival and I toss it.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Mac, I think you fall in the category of "don't care to off-road", which most do but I also think you fall in another category "don't care to see it off-road". This is interesting to me because it makes me wonder why you would buy an H2. If you don't even care to see interesting pictures of the H2's performance in remote areas then why did you buy it? Wouldn't it be better to own an Escalade or even a Range Rover? At least a Range Rover is so refined inside it does pass nicely as a true luxury vehicle that doesn't appear overbearing on the street like the H2 does. I bought my H2 because I liked the thought of what it could do, not necessarily that I would do those things but it makes for interesting conversation and frankly I like the feeling that I could go most anywhere if I wanted to. So, when I wanted to; I did. I went out with Steve in the desert and had a great time. Now I love my H2 even more and have begun planning camping trips with the kids as well as some remote fishing trips with friends of mine from the East coast. You won't see me rock crawling but I am sure you will see more pics of me having fun using my vehicle to at least 50% of its potential. I figure Steve uses his almost to the max but I doubt he wants to totally destroy it just yet. Now, with the Hummer mag Steve is working on it has actually piqued my interest. It can be very successfull so I completely disagree with you. I have had a number of my friends consider trading in their not so SUV's for Hummers after hearing of the fun I've had on my off-road adventures. Of course this doesn't mean they will go off-road but they certainly can if an when they want to.

[MAC]

Buckeye, this is my computer background, think that sort of cancelled your analysis "don't care to see it off-road". Jason should post the credit, who took the photos of the month, who, where, when, how and why. A brief description.

[MAC]

I also like to see photos of wrecked Hummers too, there should be a permanent section for wreck photos. I save over 100 Hummer photos, from parts to worthy photos to wrecks. Other than that, most offroad photos are pretty much the same, take one look and move on.

I read most modern men are information overloaded, we all have to manage our time efficiently with data. I start the morning with newspaper(must read), then 40 magazines a month, there are must reads such as Time, Newsweek, Autoweek, Businessweek, Forbes; and there are flip through and toss magazines, then there are books, such as the economic book "Commanding Heights" is a current must read. Plus 50 emails a day. Hummer magazine is a flip and toss, 99% of Hummer off-road photos are all similar.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Hmmm, inconsistency, strange. My background is "Space". I like to think I will go there someday but most likely will not unless the 2020 H2's come with the Mars package.

How is it this pic appeals to you but the mag Steve is putting together you consider to be a potential flop? I am not sure what to do with that. Please elaborate.

[Detonate]

Mac, you are the minority here. Just face it.

I'd be willing to bet most of us don't have 40 magazine subscriptions.

For example I have 4:
Hummerteam.com's Outdoor Adventures
Home Theater Magazine
Scuba Diving Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine


Hmmmm, none of your MUST READS made my list.

I also don't read the newspaper.

-Jim March
Arlington TX
2003 Red H2
Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder