Mar
12

Search the Facebook Garage for a friend’s opinion

By | Advermarketing, Social

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FBGarageYou look out into your company’s parking lot. In a sea of fluidic and kinetic automotive beauty sits your square, dated and unimaginative car. You think to yourself, “I really need a new car”.

But you’ve been out of the car market for years – where do you even start?

When we have questions – we search online. The search bar has become a reflex for inquiry. But is it the best tool when it comes to car buying research – yes and no.

For general information and to begin your automotive homework the search bar is ideal. “Is the new Civic any good” or “Safest car for kids” – easily things that can be answered by the World Wide Web. But once you’ve found your answers you have to ask yourself: Is this a trusted source? What if I have more questions? [Read more...]

Nov
07

Automakers as media makers?

By | Advermarketing, Social

Click the arrow below to have me read this post to you.

If you’re reading this you’re connected to the internet. If you’re connected to the internet you know Felix Baumgartner. In case you don’t, here is a quick recap of who he is and what he did.  Felix jumped from a balloon-space-capsule 128,000 ft. above the earth, fell towards the ground at 833 MPH, opened a parachute and landed, alive.

This historic endeavor was brought to you by…Red Bull. Yes, the energy drink.

The significance, apart from the gigabytes of data on what happens when you turn a human into a rocket and break the sound barrier, was the marketing story.

This event generated reactions across the global scientific community, but it also stirred up [Read more...]

Oct
22

Facebook Gifts: Automotive Giving

By | Social

Facebook continues to evolve, for better or for worse. These changes are likely in response to advertisers and in hopes of courting new ones. Facebook must demonstrate a sustainable revenue model to put shareholders at ease.

While the auto industry is just one of many consumer brands on Facebook, Borrell Associates predicted that in 2012 the auto industry will spend $30.8 billion with 40 cents of every dollar going to digital.

Digital companies, Facebook included, know how important (read lucrative) it is to accommodate the auto industry. The job announcements below were all pulled within the last month. These companies look to flatter not only manufacturers but also retail dealer groups who sit in the trenches of consumer interaction.

I’ve had a few interesting concepts for Facebook and the automotive industry, most notably [Read more...]

Oct
18

Social Currency & Xboxmercials

By | Advermarketing, Social

A Trial In Digital Marketing

Each day automakers search for innovative ways to influence buyers.  Marketers continue to improve their ability to coordinate digital into their traditional campaigns. Why is digital important? Simply put – today’s technology allows marketers to be flexible, accurate, engaging and measurable. The average American has an incredible array of tech constantly at their fingertips, each of which create a new challenges (losing viewers) and new opportunities (gaining new viewers)

Below are two concepts I had combining technology and automotive marketing.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges! 

This weekend I looked over Ford’s in-house social media platform – dubbed Ford Social. Much like its title, it’s a platform that allows people to share their stories, experiences and ideas with the brand. Users can also opt to select from an assortment of Ford-branded badges to represent their lifestyle or passion as it relates to Ford’s product offerings. Everything you do on Ford Social can be easily shared with your online friends through traditional social media, such as Facebook or Twitter.

While Ford has built a strikingly good looking and user-friendly platform, it lacks a bond to the real world. As good as it is, at some point users will revert back to both real-life and their traditional social media platforms where their friends and family live.

Badge, Move Over. Meet Money

While virtual badges are fun and expressive, free stuff is [Read more...]

Oct
16

Should brands live tweet TV?

By | Advermarketing, Social

When watching TV automakers have two chances to put product & messaging in front of your eyeballs: the traditional 30-60 second ad or in-show product placement.

The advent of the digital video recorder has given users the ability to skip past commercials pushing automakers towards product placement as the operative eyeball grabbing media buy.

In case you aren’t familiar with what automotive product placement looks like - I’ll describe it for you.  During a television show it typically comes in the form of a long akward shot of a vehicle or its navigation system. It can also present itself as an out-of-place comment about a vehicle’s fuel economy while doing something unrelated, like speeding to catch a murderer.  That is product placement.

The most recent Nielsen Cross-Platform Report showed that viewers who watched Live [Read more...]

May
22

ROI of an Autograph

By | Advermarketing, Industry, Social

There’s nothing like them. I’ve been to several. Even helped organize a handful. What makes them special is their beginning. They are grassroots – born out of passion and love. They are independent, self-governed, a republic of mechanical showcase. 365 days a year thousands take place across the US, some big – some small, all important in their own way. Cultures and communities collide to share their love, their work, their appreciation. They are car shows and I love them.

This weekend I attended a local car show, the 5th annual Moparpalooza. The show brought together every brand that has ever lived under the Chrysler pentastar. The event raised money for the Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit that provides housing to families of wounded warriors while they receive care.

The show was in high gear. The parking lot filled with [Read more...]

Feb
14

Push To Start Car Porn

By | Advermarketing, Social

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It’s 8 p.m. and you are parked across from your treasured 55-inch TV to watch the new season of Top Gear. An ad for the latest sports car runs. The commercial ends with the message, Visit our website for more information.

This ad assumes you are near computer and are willing to get up from the couch or that you’re a second-screen person and have a media device at your side. While Gen-Y may watch TV with a controller in one hand and an iPad in the other; the proliferation of the second device hasn’t reached critical mass. Furthermore, if you’re selling cars priced higher than $25,000, Gen-Y and their minimal buying power are not your target audience.

It’s time to think outside of the box…or rather inside the box.

Push to Start Watch [Read more...]

Mar
28

Joe Sixpack on Automotive Social Media

By | Social

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There are very few things I can say with 100% conviction I’m an expert at. Eating, breathing and sleeping certainly top the list and I may be able to conjure up a sentence or two – but master of social media, I am not.  I don’t have the thousands of airline miles REAL social media experts earn while trotting around the globe attending events. These gatherings, with their alphanumeric hodgepodge of a name, are where the Pros go to share their social media know-how.  Rumor has it just being in the proximity of (and of course tagging) a Level 20 Social Media God increases your web credibility to the third power!  Keep that in mind all you social media greenhorns.

[Read more...]