"You take care of your family, your work, your life - we'll take care of your car." ~Ray CatenaIn the spirit of full disclosure, I have been a client, customer and vendor of this establishment for years. You cannot drive in or out of New York City without seeing their billboards at all the river crossings. Their TV ads and radio spots are very common. Anyone within 100 miles of New York knows the Ray Catena brand. I am biased, but I would consider Ray Catena a great car dealership. Ray Catena guarantees a great car buying experience the same way that Disneyworld guarantees a great family vacation.
Have you ever heard of anyone going to Disneyworld and having a bad time? I have not.
The famous catch phrase of the Ray Catena organization has become my muse for today's blog. Buying a car - much less a luxury car - has indeed become a major life event. Purchasing or leasing a vehicle with a sticker price of *$60,000 (or more) has somehow become commonplace. Spending $6,000 on a new car was a very big deal when I was growing up. I don't know if anything has been affected by inflation to a larger degree than the automotive industry.
There was a movie which I loved when I was young. It was called Billy Jack (1971). There was a scene where Billy Jack (the hero) made the bully drive his brand new Chevy Corvette Stingray convertible into a lake. The bully's father in the movie: "You drove a brand new $6000 car into a lake because he TOLD you to?"
Six thousand dollars wouldn't even cover the insurance on such a car today!
Here is the classic scene courtesy of YouTube.
*The 2014 Corvette Stingray will start at $51,995, plus $995 in delivery charges, Chevy says.
Now, what about technology? Just as luxury cars have gone from $6,000 to $60,000 in my lifetime, so has the cost of technology. And just as owning a car has become a necessity in the modern world, so has owning and mastering technology become a matter of survival. When I was in college, it was not clear that anyone would ever need to own a personal computer. Damn, I really am ancient.
"You take care of your family, your work, your life - we'll take care of your computer."
"You take care of your family, your work, your life - we'll take care of your cyber security."
"You take care of your family, your work, your life - we'll take care of your network."
"You take care of your family, your work, your life - we'll take care of your social media, SEO, website, Google Ad Words, Facebook Marketing, eCommerce, live chat, customer service, technical support, shipping...."
I believe that the future of technology will follow the Ray Catena business model. The days of doing your own oil changes in your driveway at home are over. What do you do with the dirty oil? It costs more to dispose of the oil than it does to buy new oil. The days of building your own computer at home to save money are long gone (who remembers Heathkits?)
Kids: there are jobs, jobs, JOBS in technology. Careers, not just jobs. In the world of technology, things are going too fast, they are too complex, and everything seems to require specialists. There is no going back to doing it yourself.
Does the Ray Catena business model really work? Google: Ray Catena Yacht and you tell me.
