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News and Industry Features
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Car makers upbeat as sales rebound
Boosted by the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program, U.S. auto sales in August surged to their highest monthly total in more than a year, bolstering hopes that the industry's recovery will continue in the months ahead, The Wall Street Journal reports.Car makers expect a sales dip in September but they are confident the U.S. economy is gradually improving and the broader trend in car sales is positive. "September will be an aberration," Ken Czubay, vice president of U.S. sales and marketing at Ford Motor Co. said in a conference call. He said Ford is encouraged by positive economic indicators, such as rising home prices and housing starts, and expects that the pace of auto sales in the fourth quarter will be stronger than in the first half. "We clearly see a strengthening and a recovery," Michael DiGiovanni, the top sales analyst at General Motors Co., said in a separate conference call. Bob Carter, a Toyota Motor Corp. group vice president, cited "concrete signs of an automotive recovery moving into the fourth quarter."
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YouTube Video Walk-Around Will Keep you Ahead of the Competition
Step-by-step instruction on how to get it done: point, shoot, post
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Digital and Traditional Marketing: Creating the Optimal Marketing Mix
Maximize your sales and service traffic by making certain your digital marketing compliments your traditional marketing
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Ford study looks at rich media versus flash ads
Some fascinating results from a Ford advertising campaign were released Monday. The year-long project, led by Harmelin Media for the Ford Dealer Association in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, analyzes click-through rates and purchase intent for rich media versus Flash ads based, in part, on social network data, MediaPost reports. Catherine Collis, online media strategist at Harmelin Media supporting the Ford Dealer Association account in the Philadelphia area, wanted to test the impact of rich media ads versus flash-based ads. The campaign began in December. The target audience, split into three groups, viewed a variety of configurations that varied between rich media and Flash banner ads. "There's a lot of talk about how banners don't work, but I think that's oversimplifying the situation," she says. The first group viewed all rich media ads; the second, three Flash ads followed by four rich media ads; and the third, three rich media ads followed by four Flash ads.
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Chrysler looks beyond BBDO for advertising ideas
Chrysler Group LLC is looking beyond its longtime ad agency, Omnicom Group Inc.'s BBDO, for help with its advertising pitches, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Auburn Hills, Mich., auto maker, which emerged from bankruptcy-court protection about two months ago, is tapping ad firms in addition to BBDO because it has grown dissatisfied with the agency's creative output, according to a person familiar with the matter. A BBDO spokesman referred requests for comment to Chrysler. "As we launch a new company with a brand-focused organization, we are looking for fresh ways to communicate in the marketplace," Chrysler said in a statement. "As a result, we are currently soliciting creative input on a limited number of specific projects from a select group of agencies." Chrysler, whose car brands include Jeep and Dodge, is one of BBDO's and Omnicom's largest clients. It spent $801.3 million on U.S. ad time and space in 2008, according to TNS Media Intelligence, an ad-tracking research firm owned by WPP PLC. Chrysler, which is now managed by Fiat SpA of Italy, has pared back ad spending for much of 2009. BBDO has worked on Chrysler's Dodge brand for decades and won additional duties for the Chrysler and Jeep brands in 2000. At that time, the Chrysler business was one of the more-profitable accounts in the ad industry.
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VW gets ready to unpimp its ride
Two years ago, Volkswagen courted controversy with a commercial featuring a man so despondent about life's travails that he contemplates jumping from a rooftop, AdWeek reports. "There's no affordable housing," he laments. "You think I wanted high taxes or global warming?" His outlook on life brightens considerably when a passing driver below informs him that VW offers three different models priced under $17,000. That was one of several commercials from Crispin Porter + Bogusky that wryly positioned the German carmaker as a societal soother with its affordable line of "V-dubs," but like others produced during the four-year agency-client relationship, the ad polarized consumers and soon enough, the "Jumper" spot was pulled. This month, VW placed creative chores on its $220 million domestic ad business in review and Crispin declined to defend. The move ended a partnership that generated work inspiring praise, controversy and derision. While the opinion of the public, press and pundits seemingly shifted with each campaign, the work was rarely ignored. Moving forward post-Crispin, however, most expect VW's advertising to strive for mass appeal and, for better or worse, lose some of its vaunted edge.
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Downturn pays dividends for Hyundai
The recession precipitated one of the most tumultuous years ever for the U.S. auto business, but to Hyundai, it may have presented the perfect opportunity, The Washington Post reports. On Tuesday, when car companies announce their latest sales figures, the South Korean automaker that was once an industry laughingstock will announce its best retail month ever and that despite the vast shrinkage of the U.S. market, it expects this year's sales to exceed last year's. Just as McDonald's and Wal-Mart have found favor from consumers during the recession, so, too, is Hyundai benefiting from its cut-rate allure, analysts said. Having largely shaken off a reputation for quality problems that arose after its U.S. launch in 1986, Hyundais look like a deal to many consumers. "Value-focused brands tend to do better than premium brands during difficult economic times, and that's played to our natural strength," said John Krafcik, Hyundai's president in North America.
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Analysts unsure of 'clunkers' long-term impact
August new vehicle sales results provided a bright spot in what had been a dismal year, but whether this is the start of a positive trend or merely a temporary spike followed by a downturn remains to be seen, according to the Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA), a leading U.S. organization providing insights and analysis of the global automotive industry.
[FULL STORY]
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GM delays new Buick shipments on quality concerns
General Motors Co. said Tuesday the rollout of its new 2010 Buick LaCrosse is being delayed for a few weeks due to quality concerns, The Associated Press reports. Speaking to analysts and reporters during a conference call on August sales, GM's vice president of U.S. sales Mark LaNeve said about 300 to 400 of the cars were shipped in August, but further deliveries are on hold until the company works out what it called "quality issues." The company wouldn't offer specifics on exact problems with the LaCrosse, but LaNeve said they "were not serious but were enough to delay us three or four weeks while we made sure they were fixed so that our customers didn't have any problems." GM is currently advertising the LaCrosse, a midsize luxury sedan that is designed to compete with Acura, Lexus and Toyota models. Its marketing campaign, called "Take a Look at Me Now," will feature television spots, as well as ads that run in cinemas and digital media.
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Getting Ahead does not Require More Budget!
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Digital Marketing/Advertising On-premises
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Auto advertising 2.0
The disintegration of auto ad revenues this year is common knowledge. The category is tracking a 20-plus percent decline across the broadcast medium for the year, televisionbroadcast.com reports. Segment performance going forward is less clear. Adam Armbruster has some ideas. Armbruster is a senior partner with ESA & Co., a firm specializing in broadcast TV ad campaign strategies. “Growth opportunities will develop for television sales managers who understand the new paradigm in the auto business,” Armbruster writes in “Driving Automotive Forward.” Auto dealers emerging from the downturn will consist primarily of large investors with multiple locations. Service centers will rise in the ashes of dead dealerships and require distinct ad campaigns. Auto ads will become more strategic and less entertaining; the guy in tights and a cape will give way to a prominently displayed URL.
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Advertising
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The 30-second ad challenge
by Jim Boldebook
Given .jpg?i=090309142023) the chance, what would each and every employee of your organization say in a 30-second advertisement? My friend Roy, general manager of an import dealership in the Southwest, recently found out in a team advertising challenge. Which employee could give the best sales pitch for the dealership in 30 seconds? Roy got the idea from Lee-Ann who has been working in the dealership office for the past 10 years since she graduated from high school. Seems that one day the dealership’s advertising people were showing off a proposed ad campaign. After the presentation Roy asked for comments from some of the employees. Mustering her courage, Lee-Ann raised her hand to offer criticism: “That could be any dealership in America,” she said. “It really doesn’t make me want to buy a car here!” Rail, the assistant used car manager, (nicknamed Rail because he really is as skinny as a rail) seconded Lee-Ann’s feeling. “I thought the same thing. You could just change the name at the end and that ad could be for any dealership in our market,” he said. Read more
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ARCHIVE
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Issue 3
August 26, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 3
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Issue 2
August 19, 2009
Vol. 2
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August 12, 2009
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Issue 52
August 5, 2009
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Issue 51
July 29, 2009
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Issue 50
July 22, 2009
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Issue 49
July 15, 2009
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Issue 48
July 8, 2009
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Issue 47
July 1, 2009
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Issue 46
June 24, 2009
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Issue 45
June 17, 2009
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Issue 44
June 10, 2009
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Issue 43
June 3, 2009
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Issue 42
May 27, 2009
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Issue 41
May 20, 2009
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Issue 40
May 13, 2009
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Issue 39
May 6, 2009
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Issue 38
April 29, 2009
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Issue 37
April 22, 2009
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Issue 36
April 15, 2009
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