DC AutoGeek

May

First and foremost: THIS POST IS HYPOTHETICAL. At no point do I anticipate Apple will turn Siri into a marketing platform, but if they did…imagine the possibilities! That’s what this post is.

A hypothecially look at Marketing with Siri.

You are probably familiar with Siri. If you are not, please Google it. I’ll wait………OK. Moving right along.

While Siri allows iPhone users to do a multitude of things hands-free, much of the focus, both in application and marketing, has been discovery. Siri in many ways has become its own search tool. You generate a Q and she provides an A. The difference between Google search and Siri is Siri’s A’s can be chained to other actions on the phone such as navigation, notes, call, etc.

While Siri may be a tool of discovery and accesibility, she can also be entertaining. The folks at Apple have programmed Siri with preset responses that make her more human, most notably giving her a sense of humor. If asked the right questions that is. This proves that Siri can be programmed to provide specific outputs based on inputs. Meaning Apple can tell Siri what to say when she is asked a certain question.

Example 1.

Placing preprogrammed Qs & As within Siri to support a national marketing campaign.

For this example we’ll use the new 2013 SRT Viper. [Read more...]

May

I Miss Simple. I Miss Trucks.

By Juan Barnett | Industry

Leave a Comment

While browsing YouTube I came across Kip Moore’s music video for ‘Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck. It’s powerful, both visually and lyrically. I right away found myself smiling and tapping my foot. The video brought back memories of what TRUCK means to me.

I grew up with trucks: real trucks — workin’ trucks. Not these spotless soccer-dad trucks you see hauling bicycles and 25lb bags of mulch. I grew up with trucks that hauled cattle. Timber. Rock. Manure. From sun-up to sun-down they worked, and they worked hard. They were dirty. Cup holders held spit cups — not iPhones. And the back seat wasn’t a place to put your gym bag. It was a place to put Jim, your best cattle hand

After a long week of towing, hauling and doing work, you took a break, your truck didn’t. Slinging 30ft rooster tails, plowing through mud holes and providing fire-side seating for 8; your truck just kept working. A night filled with laughter, cold beverages and a sky full of stars.

That’s Truck Life. That’s what a truck does.

I wonder…has America forgotten what it means to own a truck? Heated seats, voice-activated nav, rear cameras, etc. make owning a truck more desirable, particularly for nontraditional truck buyers. But does it water down what it means to own a truck?

Today’s trucks, while superior [Read more...]

May

Who is buying the Hyundai Veloster?

By Juan Barnett | Industry

Leave a Comment

The Veloster is a small, funky, afforable fuel-efficient car from Hyundai. At first glance you might assume the average buyer is in their early-20′s, a fan of dubstep and loves American Idol. You would be incredbly wrong.

Much like Scion when it launched, the Veloster is also drawing an older buyer. After seeing a few locally being piloted by a more mature driver, I decided to do some research of my own. I reached out to over 250 Hyundai Veloster owners to find out – who really is buying the Veloster.

The results were interesting. Many buyers claimed [Read more...]

May

The Role of Retail in Recalls

By Juan Barnett | Industry

Leave a Comment

An open letter and call to action to the automotive retail industry:

******************
Dear Automotive Retailers,

I’m writing this with the hope that you do your part to improve the speed and accuracy with which vehicle owners will receive safety recall notifications. Protecting people is my only motivation behind this effort.

Recently Carfax stated that 2.7 million used cars had open safety recalls. This week Senator Barbara Boxer wrote in a letter to four vehicle rental companies asking them to make the following pledge, “Effective immediately, our company is making a permanent commitment to not rent out or sell any vehicles under safety recall until the defect has been remedied.”

Vehicle recalls are a serious matter. If one notification fails to reach its intended recipient it puts lives at risk. Many buyers are unaware that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) operates a website (www.safercar.gov) that allows owners to signup via email to receive model-specific vehicle safety recalls. This modern delivery system ensures that safety notifications are delivered the moment a safety recall is announced.

To improve the overall recall process I ask that your retail outlets implement a new practice of offering buyers an opportunity to sign up for safety recalls via the safercar.gov website during the buying process. Point of sale is the picture-perfect place to connect new and used vehicle owners to the electronic delivery of recall notifications provided by NHTSA.

Retails stores and their corporate management have a social and human responsibility to make this happen. The process is easy, requires no additional funding and is paramount to customer safety.

Will you act?

Happy Motoring,

Juan Barnett

********************

Below is a screenshot of the vehicle recall subscription page: [Read more...]

May

Would you tell Facebook what you drive?

By Juan Barnett | Advermarketing

Leave a Comment

When I like a brand on Facebook the first thing I do is hide their updates in my news feed. Why? I prefer to read what my friends are doing, not brands. Its a personal preference that I’m learning is very common. But does my LIKE + unsubscribe make me worth less to brands? While my LIKE helped move the acquisition needle, my UNSUBSCRIBE reduced overall reach. But would brands even measure that – LIKES vs. LIKES-that-unsubscribe? Facebook could create dual-news feed tabs: brands & friends…hmmm. Keeping brand updates in feeds is a bit off topic for this post and I’m trying my best to avoid any large mental detours, so back to the original topic: my LIKES.

What good then is my LIKE? It gives Facebook data on my personal brand preferences. This data allows Facebook to help marketers intelligently target advertising campaigns at me for certain products. Well, that’s the overall theory. Facebook has yet to show they are actually using that data wisely. The ads on my Facebook page this morning – eyeliner and cupcakes from a bakery in California. I neither wear eyeliner, eat cupcakes or live in California.

But if people like me hide brand updates from their personal news feeds – then the only real value is the brand preference data set. But is this even valuable? This data isn’t nearly as valuable as what my credit card company or bank has on me. Their data, unlike Facebook’s, is wallet-endorsed. They know where and what I spend my money on. Facebook just knows that I LIKE a brand.

Juan OWNS a Ferrari vs. Juan LIKES Ferrari.

I LIKE Ferrari on Facebook. Does that mean I own one or could own one; regrettably, no. Not without some type of illegal activity. Then again I live in D.C., define ‘illegal’.

But what if marketers knew I owned a Ferrari? Wouldn’t that provide them [Read more...]