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News and Industry Features
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Car makers restless about ad campaigns
On Friday morning at 10:30 EDT, a group of Cadillac executives visited Modernista, a small Boston firm that has created the luxury-car brand's ads for three years. It was the end of a nine-year run of General Motors business, The Wall Street Journal reports. Told that GM would solicit ideas for Cadillac from other ad agencies, Modernista, which had also worked on GM's Hummer brand, resigned the account rather than make a new pitch. Cadillac said it was looking for an agency that could "deliver outstanding advertising that attracts the luxury-vehicle buyer." Modernista cited "creative differences." Their breakup is the latest automotive rumbling on Madison Avenue, as car makers including Chrysler Group (see story below) and the North American unit of Volkswagen and BMW hire or hunt for new agencies. They are trying to breathe new life into their brands amid the recession. Advertising reviews are common in the business, but auto makers traditionally have been some of the ad industry's more-loyal customers. GM's Chevrolet brand, for example, has worked with Campbell-Ewald, a unit of Interpublic Group, since 1919.
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Stop Chasing Shiny Objects
How to get ahead and stay ahead by changing the way you manage everything about your Internet marketing
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Selection, Hiring, Orientation, and Training
Giving new hires a S.H.O.T. to be successful in the Internet department
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Historic promotion is seen as a sign of GM change
The promotion of Susan Docherty to General Motors ' top U.S. sales position last week marks the first time a woman has held that position in the automaker's 101-year history, according to the company, the Detroit Free Press reports. "It's significant," said Anne Doyle, a former auto industry executive who works as leadership consultant. "It's a very important signal of some new thinking at General Motors." Docherty's promotion to vice president of U.S. sales means she will become the first and only woman on CEO Fritz Henderson's newly formed, nine-person executive committee. She replaces Mark LaNeve, who is leaving the company for a position at Allstate Corp. The challenges of her new job -- a difficult one during calm times -- will be amplified by GM's emergence from bankruptcy reorganization three months ago and the company's 36.3% U.S. sales drop so far this year. "This isn't: Wait three years, five years for a product plan to come in. This is: Deliver results now," said Gary Dilts, senior vice president of global automotive for J.D. Power and Associates.
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Ford ad campaign focuses on 'real customers' and their vehicles
Ford Motor Co. has made progress with its "Drive one" advertising campaign since its launch 18 months ago by persuading some U.S. shoppers—sometimes at the expense of its bailed-out competitors—to buy its vehicles based on improvements in quality, fuel economy and safety, The Wall Street Journal reports. But Ford officials admit they have made fewer gains persuading would-be buyers that they will feel clever and savvy if they drive off in a Ford—the kind of emotional purchase-triggers that could outweigh the more rational ones. Starting Monday, Ford is launching a new chapter of its "Drive one" campaign, featuring 15-second spots using real customers talking about the "cool" features of their new Fords. It comes as the car maker plans to boost its fourth-quarter ad budget 10% from a year ago. "It's all about what real customers are saying," said Matt VanDyke, Ford's director of marketing communications. Ford will air 30 to 40 spots over the next 26 weeks that have a grainy, home-video feel. Mr. VanDyke said they are meant to showcase owners' testimonials as "believable, honest and authentic."
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.jpg?i=101409115651) Read the October issue of Dealer magazine before it comes out in print. Click Here
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Chrysler and BBDO said to be parting ways in 2010
BBDO, which managed to survive an extended period of turmoil at Chrysler, will part with its longtime automotive client when its contract expires at the end of January, according to an executive close to the matter, AdAge reports. BBDO did create a new regional TV spot for the Chrysler 300 sedan that may break, but the marketer may be merely fulfilling a contractual guaranty. A spokesman for BBDO denied that, saying the Omnicom Group agency has been negotiating with Chrysler on a new contract since the automaker exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in June. On the table, he said, is cutting back the broad scope of services BBDO provides, including dealer training, call centers, point-of-sale materials and database management. Chrysler did not return calls or e-mails by deadline; the automaker earlier said it is in a quiet period until Nov. 4, when it will roll out its new five-year business plan. But Chrysler, which is now 20% owned by Fiat, has a new top marketing executive, Olivier Francois, named last week to succeed Michael Accavitti, who himself had held the post for only four months.
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Viral VW ads test 'Fun Theory'
A viral marketing campaign for automaker Volkswagen explores a simple premise: Can people be snapped out of lazy behavior if they're able to have a little fun? A video of people forgoing an escalator for a more motivating musical staircase has been seen nearly 2 million times, the Detroit Free Press reports. The campaign, called "The Fun Theory," was created by ad agency DDB Stockholm, according to Creativity Online. "The campaign has just started up with a number of experiments in which the theory — that fun can change people's behavior — is tested in various situations," DDB Stockholm creative director Andreas Dahlqvist told the advertising trade Web site. The hope is that viewers will associate trading their lazy ways with the perks of a new, more responsible experience -- like, say driving an eco-friendly Volkswagen. The video claims that 66% more people chose the musical stairs than had chosen the standard stairs before.
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Dealers opposed to govt. watchdog proposal
A coalition of consumer groups wants a proposed federal watchdog agency to scrutinize the nation's 20,000 auto dealers, The Detroit News reports. The Obama administration and Democrats in Congress are working to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system in light of the collapse of major banks last year. "We strongly urge you to ensure that all activities of auto dealers related to the financing of cars are fully included under the jurisdiction of the (proposed) Consumer Financial Protection Agency," said the letter from about 30 groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Council of La Raza and Public Citizen, released Monday. "Consumers desperately need federal protection from ubiquitous predatory auto lending practices and multibillion-dollar auto sales frauds," they said. The National Automobile Dealers Association said last week that Obama's original bill would have "subjected auto dealers to a myriad of new regulations and fees" and would "come when thousands of new car dealers are being forced out of business." NADA said a dealer exemption proposed by Rep. Barney Frank is too narrowly drawn -- and would still subject dealer financing to regulation. The dealers group notes that auto lending is already regulated by all 50 states, the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Trade Commission. Click here for NADA's letter to Barney Frank
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Ford takes social media offline
Ford Motor Co. has been on the forefront in terms of social media adoption — Scott Monty, the company’s digital and multimedia communications manager, has more than 30,000 followers on Twitter and writes a blog, the publication Finance and Commerce reports. The company’s CEO is on Twitter as well. For the month ended Sept. 25, the 106-year-old auto manufacturer ranked No. 10 in the Social Radar Sentiment Index, a social-media analysis of Advertising Age’s 200 Megabrands by Infegy, a social media monitoring and tracking firm. But perhaps most interesting is the way the company is using social media in the offline world. Take the Ford Fiesta Movement that kicked off in the spring. Through this effort, Ford brought 100 Ford Fiestas from Europe, where it had already launched and selected as many social media denizens to test-drive them for six months and create compelling content to be posted online. These “agents” were considered to be influencers — they had established blogs, large followers on Twitter and a large number of friends on Facebook. Some of them were “lifecasters,” continuously broadcasting details their lives online. The program began in the end of April and will end in late November. Already this large social media program has generated buzz — Monty said that as of end of September there were 4.2 million views of all the videos created by the Fiesta agents on YouTube, the online video site, 3 million impressions on Twitter and 540,000 views of their Flickr images.
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NASCAR media group and ABN ink deal
Private TV network to offer weekly recaps
The Automotive Broadcasting Network (ABN), auto retailing’s first private television network fueled by CBS, this week said that the company has entered an agreement with NASCAR Media Group to deliver weekly NASCAR racing video recaps to Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota dealer-customers across the county. The two-minute videos, produced by NASCAR Media Group and seen in dealer showrooms, will feature results and updates from NASCAR’s three national series: the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Terms were not disclosed.
[FULL STORY]
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Bulldog Marketing Technologies opens Southeast Regional office
Bulldog Marketing Technologies, of Cedar Falls, IA, announced the opening of a Southeast (Atlanta, GA) regional office. BMT also said it hired industry expert, Jeff Faber, as Regional Sales Manager. Faber brings 26 years of automotive experience and was formerly with DMEautomotive, Call Source and Who’s Calling, the company said. Bulldog Marketing Technologies is a national marketing firm providing data driven automated marketing & analytic services to the automotive, restaurant and financial industries.
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It May Be the Internet, but It’s Still Advertising
Learn how to get ahead of your competitors by really understanding and utilizing the Internet as the most effective advertising media ever invented
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Automotive Consumer Engagement Techniques for your Web Site and Social Media Platforms
Leverage online conversations to turn anonymous consumers into engaged shoppers
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In Digital Dealer
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The social networking gut check
by Joe Webb
.jpg?i=101409115651) There are no bigger buzzwords in the automotive industry than social networking, social media, or social marketing. Apparently, the whole world loves being social so we the people have decided to lock ourselves behind closed doors, demand some peace and quiet, jump online, and have disconnected conversations. Even I do not utilize social networking sites as well as I should. Yes, on these sites I have befriended a countless many of you fine Digital Dealer readers – as well as our very own Mike Roscoe. A problem I have is that I personally have two communities to appease. I have the automotive realm and all of my comedy connections. If I were as smart about the medium as I claim to be, I’d have two separate accounts, but I do not. Thankfully, I have earned myself the reputation as the “comedian” in both worlds and am now often expected to give my skewed view on the industry through blogs, postings, and the like…even if it is an occasionally sarcastic comment. It is the role that I’ve carved out for myself so any potential profile visitors online that disagree with my views can let it be known or click to the next page. That is the beauty of being an individual within the social media environment. There is no need to masquerade as more than you are. However, this article is dedicated to businesses entering this social networking platform in hopes of expanding their brand awareness and putting themselves in the best light while communicating their unique marketing message. Read more
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ARCHIVE
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Issue 9
October 7, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 9
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Issue 8
September 30, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 8
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Issue 7
September 23, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 7
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Issue 6
September 16, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 6
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Issue 5
September 9, 2009
Vol. 2
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Issue 4
September 2, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 4
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Issue 3
August 26, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 3
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Issue 2
August 19, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 2
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Issue 1
August 12, 2009
Vol. 2
Issue 1
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Issue 52
August 5, 2009
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Issue 51
July 29, 2009
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Issue 51
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Issue 50
July 22, 2009
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Issue 50
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Issue 49
July 15, 2009
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Issue 48
July 8, 2009
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Issue 48
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Issue 47
July 1, 2009
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Issue 47
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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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