Apr
15

How to turn the reusable grocery bag into an automotive marketing machine

By | Advermarketing

BagLead

Apologize for craptastic image. Photoshop died. Resorted to Paint.

I hate grocery stores. They are cold and filled with people who are either slink around aimlessly or speed down aisles like Supermarket Sweep contestants; both of which are irritating.

People, driving a grocery cart is like driving a car; similar rules apply. Don’t block the box, look both ways and most importantly don’t park in a NO PARKING ZONE (like in front of the meat section).

As frustrating as grocery shopping can be, it does give me a chance to [Read more...]

Feb
09

Viper is taking back the streets

By | LOL

Tonight, a friend of mine on Twitter, Peter Leung (@BaronVonClutch), asked Ralph Gilles, CEO of SRT and Beth Paretta, Director SRT/Motorsports Marketing and Operations, a great question (see image above);

“What happened to the Viper Defender?”

That is a good question, Peter. For those that don’t know the Defender was the star of a 90′s television show called – Viper. The title of this post is actually a tagline from that show.

That got me thinking, what TV shows or movies might the new SRT Viper find a role in? We already know the SRT Viper will audition on some of the world’s biggest and best racetracks this year, but will the newborn supercar seek similar fame on the streets of Hollywood? [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
30

Free Satellite Radio! Brought to You By…

By | Advermarketing

Many airplanes today offer in-flight WiFi. For a few dollars you can browse, Tweet or meme away at 30,000 ft.  Occasionally a brand will foot the WiFi bill, giving passengers the ability to roam the web at no cost. They do this in exchange for an advertising opportunity.

On my way into work, I accidently clicked over to the satellite radio input. I don’t have a subscription, so all I could hear was the preview station. That got me thinking – could the same free Wi-Fi advertising tactic that works for in-flight WiFi also work for Sirius XM.

According to Sirius XM’s advertising page, [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...]

May
17

Marketing with Siri

By | Advermarketing

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
08

Would you tell Facebook what you drive?

By | Advermarketing

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...]

May
04

Tips to Make Your Friends Not Suck as Car People

By | LOL


The following clip I grabbed last night during an airing of NBC’s The Office.

The main purpose of this video was to spark a Friday laugh. But Dwight’s persistence for Jim to use his nitrous is another reminder of just how little the regular person knows about cars.

Just a few days ago I was asked by a colleague about purchasing a new car. She said, “I want something SUV-like.” I asked if she had any preferences in drive train, fuel economy, style or brand. Her response, “As long as it works with my iPhone.” Yes. It looks like the ability to sync a phone is now the most influential factor for people buying cars. After further discussion I recommended she drive the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. She loved it so much she [Read more...]

May
01

Will User Generated Content Crowd Out Creative?

By | Advermarketing

In case you missed it, Adobe, the company behind popular creative programs such as Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator is betting big on online collaboration. The new service, christened Creative Cloud, will give users access to every program within Creative Suite 6 (CS6). This will cost users a monthly fee of $30 for students/teachers and $50 for everyone else (Adobe is running a $30 monthly deal for current CS suite owners).

What does this mean for brands? Simple – a conceivable creative shift.

Over the years brands have amassed hundreds of thousands of online fans and are always looking for inventive ways to engage with those fans. Adobe’s online push could offer brands a way to collaborate on user-generated content (UGC).

The concept of using social media to request, curate and share UGC isn’t new. What would be new is an approach wherein brands openly collaborate with users to create approved promotional content, instead of paying a creative agency.  This means the next piece of direct marketing a brand sends out could come be the work of a brand advocate and not the creative agency of record.

The Tides are a Changin’

The advertising industry is evolving. Large agencies, eager to play in the social arena are partnering with and/or acquiring pure-play social firms. This transformation is a great opportunity to evaluate the acquisition of creative content.

Adobe’s Creative Cloud would allow brands to build and manage a group of volunteers skilled in Creative Suite products, who are also believers in the actual brand. These volunteers are passionate about the product; understand how it works and how it makes them feel.  Imagine – an army of [Read more...]

Apr
23

Postmen Turned Madmen

By | Advermarketing

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The Senate and the House are expected to pass an agreement later this year that would reform the Postal Service. America’s letter carrier is facing a long-term multibillion dollar operating deficit.

In June of last year Representative Darrell Issa introduced the Postal Reform Act of 2011(HR 2309). One interesting aspect of HR 2309 is that it would authorize the Postal Service to sell advertising space in their official facilities and on official vehicles. Two stipulations of that authority: ad revenue must cover 200 percent of the cost and any material published or displayed had to be “consistent with the Postal Service’s integrity.”

While this precise language is not in the Senate’s Postal Service reform legislation, [Read more...]

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