Avis takes a wrong turn

Today after 50 years, Avis stopped trying harder.

The perennial underdog in the rental car category is launching a new campaign under the auspices of their new CMO with the tagline, "It's your space." You can see how this tag buttons up their new message and positioning here...



Why make the shift from such an iconic and meaningful position to one that focuses on vehicles, something every rental car company has? Avis' new CMO, Jeannine Haas explains thusly in Ad Age:

"Consumer-centric brands must always evolve in order to keep pace with ever-changing customer needs and preferences. Avis is evolving as a premium brand to better meet those needs. It's Your Space is reflective of our ongoing mission to be a customer-led, service-driven company, and presents the brand in terms of the customer experience and the advantages inherent in renting from Avis."

Now I'm not one to shy away from change and move in a new direction when the market requires, but I have just one question...

How is "It's your space" – and its application in these generic commercials – more consumer-centric and service driven than "We try Harder?"

It seems to me (and my friend Rick Rusch) that Ms Haas, while I'm sure well intentioned, is leading Avis into no-man's land where they will wander for a while until they realize they'll have to try a lot harder to differentiate themselves from Hertz, National and the others.