Proving The "Good Stuff" Can Be Found in the Creative Department
I've been in enough campaign ideations to know it really took some convincing to get a client to sign-off on a "dog fish" as the lead in your new car commercial. When evaluating a campaign, one often asks is the campaign more about the car or the driver. I have never asked is the campaign about the driver's genetically, mutated pet?
Perhaps this came up in research? The target consumers enjoy surfing, swimming and own dogs so how about we develop an ad using a mystical creature that's half dog and half fish? I have to admit it does sound like some good stuff, please pass the ganja. At least it's memorable, which is something I can't say about most ads; though, the memory is more about the pet and not the car. I know it was Volkswagen. But was it a Golf? A Jetta? A Passat? Oh wait, I think it was a Jetta, a Jetta station wagon...
The ad was developed for the Brazilian market. more.
Toyota Saturates to Annoyance
Maybe it’s the use of 80’s song “Saved by Zero” by The Fixx? Or perhaps it’s just that no matter what program you watched, on whatever channel you had on, whatever station on your radio too, you were bound to catch Toyota’s national sales promotion to get 0% financing in one of the worst auto slumps and the first time Toyota recorded an operating loss.
Apparently you are not alone if you had enough of this ad. It even gathered some negative sentiment when a Facebook group started called "Stop Playing Toyota's 'Saved by Zero' Commercial" recruited almost 10,000 members.
It’s official now the WSJ and AdFreak.com voted it one of the worst ads of 2008.
Really? The worst? Sure it was lame and the link between 0% financing and “Saved by Zero” wasn’t the most ingenious connection ever. But is it the worst because of the song choice or the message? It was the relentless buying spree that Toyota went on to promote the offer. The problem was over saturation. Toyota could’ve handled this issue by coming up with a variety of ads for their 0% financing campaign. Rotating ads with different messages could’ve also appealed to different consumers.
I’m not sure “Saved by” is the right language too at this perilous time. The message implies Toyota is reaching out to help people by having them buy a new car with no financing charges. Good luck. The problem right now is too much debt and people are for the first time in years reducing their debt load.
It is a brutal time to sell cars. Unfortunately, the entire backlash around heavy consumer spending in prior years, macroeconomic stress, and most people concerned with just keeping what they already have, all caused Toyota a bit of negative press when they bought a ton of airtime promoting “Saved by Zero.” Unfortunately, they’ll be playing “Red Skies” at their upcoming shareholder meeting.
Cadillac's Reality TV Version of Gran Turismo
I am a performance minded driver. I love watching Top Gear, I watch some racing, follow enthusiast magazine and boards, and I even do performance modifications on my own car. From this foundation, I am a bit of a sucker for performance minded marketing efforts. The latest example in this space is a rather interesting site from Cadillac called The CTS-V Performance Driving Lab.
Cadillac took several drivers to Monticello Motor Club from November 7-9. There drivers were given the opportunity to test the new 556 hp, 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, powerhouse from General Motors. The cool thing is the way Cadillac brought the experience to everyone else by posting everyone’s drive on a website.
Pro driver Andy Pilgrim set a benchmark for the track and then novice track drivers took their tries for the best time. The site shows you three camera angles – cockpit, heads up display, and another showing the turn of the wheel close-up on the brake caliper. You also get to see real-time speed, RPMs, and G-Force numbers. It all gives one the impression of some video game like Gran Turismo. The gauges are real-time too along with a GPS readout in the lower left to see position on the track. All of this is some pretty amazing technology integrated into a great way to showcase the CTS-Vs performance credentials.
But it is it compelling as a marketing tool? I would argue yes and no.
Why Yes?
I can see performance minded consumers checking out a few videos. There are tons of videos all over YouTube showing track times, races, you name it it’s on there. Cadillac did post the Andy Pilgrim video on YouTube, so it is promoting the CTS-V Lab site on YouTube through their MyCadillacStory Channel. I can see why they didn’t just use YouTube as a place to host all the content since most of it is video and it would follow a more natural experience leverging YouTube’s place as where to go for video online. The issue is with all the feedback, real-time data extras that make the experience great and unusual. So, score a big YES for Cadillac on showing how to do real-world performance in an interesting, engaging way on the ‘net.
So Why Yes and No?
It is interesting seeing novice drivers take their shot at the track, but it’s far more interesting to see several experienced drivers compete and show that competition in the way Cadillac so beautifully does in this execution. Plus I think it would be more sought out by performance racing fans that like to see their driver(s) take a stock street legal car for a competitive spin. So, it loses some luster by having novice drivers who are a bit guarded in how the push the performance of the car, as seen in many of the videos. There are just a lot of poor laps on the site, though Cadillac did try to solve this, provided one sees the link for “Fastest Lap Times” that is left dangling from the main navigation.
All in all though I think the site is an interesting take on showcasing a performance car and I commend the team who brought in some nice features and feedback data for true driving fans.
Finally Truth in Consumer Marketing Research
I always thought the aspirational target customers developed during consumer research were rather two-dimensional cardboard cutouts of imaginary people. Fortunately, Mitsubishi felt the same and decided to create “Paper Craft” versions of their researched customers and pair them up with the appropriate vehicle.
Make sure you checkout the numerous examples on Mitsubishi’s site. See them here.
What you’ll find is an exhaustive range of vehicles, most found outside the U.S. market. They really are pretty cool looking things. I have young twin boys and decided to download a couple vehicle cutouts to see how they looked after following the supplied instructions. It took me a little while longer than expected to put a car together. In fact, my wife was watching me and pulled the paper and scissors out of my hands to show me how it was done. I was told I was doing it all wrong and that her years of cutting paper dolls was the proper training for this. I was more than happy to oblige as I was finding this whole experiment rather tedious. So, please find a seasoned paper doll expert of your own if you try this at home (the result is the photo above, yes that's my own Mitsubishi eKWAGON, the easiest cutout I could find.)
The email newsletter I received that included a link to the cutouts, invited me to build one and email them a picture of my completed model. I am doing so and will see what comes back (so stay tuned.)
I personally love the black clad, dark grey shirt couple sporting the Lancer Evolution as their car of choice. I don’t know what your experience is but most Evo owners don’t look this cool. They usually are wearing a Sun Microsystems white t-shirt, khaki shorts, and Nike shoes. Oh well, it’s all about image and who really wants a cutout of some 35 year-old software engineer?
I have to admit though I did enjoy playing with these and the kids really found them entertaining, even though, they couldn’t push a paper cutout across the living room floor at 15 mph.
I recall years ago that Mini Cooper ran some print ads with paper cardboard cutouts in Wired magazine that I quickly punched out and put together on my desk at work. Yeah I’m a geek. Better get back to learning Ruby on Rails.
I Guess the Idea Sounded Better on a PowerPoint
Hilo Chevrolet, of Hawaii, decided to roll-over their Asian competitors Honda and Hyundai by throwing monster truck wheels on a Chevy Suburban as a way to crush the competition. Unfortunately, the demonstration backfired when the Suburban blew a hydraulic hose and leaked vital fluid while the Honda remained waiting for more.
This just a week after a Ford dealer in South Carolina insulted Asians with his rant about Japanese cars being "Rice Ready, Not Road Ready." I get the not road worthy part, but what the hell does "Rice Ready" mean? It's another example of a gregarious dealer trying to show his triumphant patriotism in an idiotic manner.
With all of the fear and worry mounting from a month of bad Big Three press and questions surrounding a Bailout (that thank heavens finally came through), it is of little surprise that local marketing departments have lost their minds. The problem is neither of these two examples help the U.S. auto cause and, at worse, backfire. American cars have a poor history that many of us remember who owned 1970s and 1980s models. Repairing the reputations has been a tough road, but the good news is that quality issues have lessened dramatically, high safety ratings are not exclusively denominated by any country, and style is improving.
I'm personally excited to see such cars as the Pontiac G8, the 2010 Ford Fusion, the new Mustang, and great little roadsters like the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. These are all products I would love to have in my garage and are far more fun and interesting than a bland Toyota Camry or Honda Accord (though both are fine cars.)
It's just sad that some dealerships are losing their minds and making their brands look as bad as the all the complainers against them. What the U.S. auto manufacturers need is more myth busting around poor quality and less patriotic flag waving. People who do not work for a brand buy a car because it is the right choice for their needs and expanding some minds by showing American brands are worth looking at, because it's not 1985 anymore, is a good thing and good for a healthy competitive marketplace. So please park the monster truck and no more name calling.
Handcrafted AMG Snowflakes for the Holidays
Every snowflake is unique. Mercedes-Benz wants it’s customers to know that every AMG engine is unique too. Using engine parts, visitors to the new Mercedes-AMG Snowflake Creator, can move around engine parts into various repetitive designs to generate their own snowflake to send it to their friends along with a message. I’m thinking I should send one to my wife letting her know what I want for Christmas – a $194,700 AMG SL 65 Black Series. She can skip the giant red bow.
The snowflake creator is a somewhat interesting execution. It’s not particularly entertaining as you only have five auto parts and an AMG logo to create your masterpiece, but adding more parts isn’t really necessary. What is interesting is taking the idea expressed on the homepage, “’One Man – One Engine.’ This is one of the signature components of the AMG philosophy, speaking to the unique hand-craftsmanship utilized for every AMG Mercedes built.” We all know snowflakes are unique. (Or are they?) Bringing together an idea we all understand, take a symbol of the holidays, and mesh it together back to your brand’s desire to communicate the uniqueness of your product. It is a compelling message and a great way to reinforce the special quality of AMG.
Sending an email works well at a time when people are exchanging e-cards over the holidays. I like it when companies can find a way to make the holidays relevant to their marketing efforts. Besides, I’m sure it’s more welcome than getting this e-card.
The site doesn’t let you save your snowflake as an image or post it on your social networking page, but that doesn’t seem necessary as this is a holiday card application and who really needs an picture of your “unique” creation. It’s about creating a card that is uniquely you though it isn’t communicated to the person receiving your e-card that the snowflake is part of the AMG philosophy of being handcrafted and unique. It just looks like the typical Christmas e-card with some strange looking circle floating down to the hood of a Mercedes. So, the message of the site is lost when sent along to your friends.
Overall, it’s a nice execution and a timely way to demonstrate the uniqueness AMG is reinforcing about their products. more.
Ford KA, So Little, Can You 'Find It'?
Ford's UK campaign for their KA compact auto will be launched with a mobile phone campaign called "Find It". The work will debut in January 2009.
From Marketing Magazine: "According to the company ‘It's the first ever campaign in mobile marketing, by an automotive brand, to use augmented reality...[which] is a field of computer research that deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data, where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.'
"Direct packs have been created by youth experiential group Don't Panic, and will be distributed in bars, clubs, fashion boutiques, universities and at music events. The packs contain QR code stickers, which by using a wap link through a camera phone projects a 3D Ka onto the screen, available in three designs. " more.
Cool Concept From Toyota Hi-CT
Toyota Hi-Ct was introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Motorshow. The new concept from Toyota “Hi-CT” aims to offer a new "coolness" and new ways to have fun as a departure from conventional vehicles-an edgy, urban vehicle inspired by the thinking and lifestyles of youth. With a it’s unique looks and hybrid technology would this car attract more youth user and would it be mass produced ? Only time will tell.
Toyota Hi-CT Highlights :
- Offers a new kind of automotive "cool" and sense of enjoyment.
- Has a new look unconstrained by conventional vehicle size (length 3,330mm x width 1,695mm x height 1,780mm).
- Adopts plug-in hybrid technology, which allows it to charge from an external power source and gives it a greater driving range when running on its battery-powered motor; by placing the battery under the floor, achieves a highly efficient cabin with a higher driver position.
- Comes with an AC100V accessory socket that enables stored electricity-made possible by plug-in hybrid technology-to be used for a variety of applications.
- Features a removable rear trunk and a deck where surfboards, bicycles and other equipment can be loaded.
General specifications :
Country of origin : Japan
Numbers built : Not Available (Prototype)
Produced in : 2007
Introduced at : 2007 Tokyo Motorshow
Dimensions :
Length /Width/Height : 3330 mm (131.1 in)/1695 mm (66.7 in)/1780 mm (70.1 in)
Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) : 2325 mm (91.5 in) / N/A / N/A
Just as Difficult to Comprehend as Cubism
The Nissan Cube finally debuted at the LA Auto Show last month, but before that Nissan debuted their Nissan Cube pre-reveal website. The site was tailored to the attention deficit disordered consumer with plenty of clickable cubes that brought you to no content about the car, just a bunch of stuff about cube-isms (witty sayings written by Nissan’s marketing group) and the ability to share the site with your friends. My question is share what? The pre-reveal site had no content about the car. In fact, there is only one shot of the vehicle in a small 150-by-150 pixel shot of the car in a 3/4-rear angle.
The site also featured a Twitter link allowing you to subscribe to Nissan Cube Twitters. There were updates nearly everyday that just sent you more “cube-isms”. There were 118 followers and 88 updates.
Some real examples: “my dog gets me”, “I’ve got shag on my mind”, “I roll with the carpool” and my personal favorite “why all the fuss over money?” Huh? The Twitter ended when the car was revealed in LA and now asks people to visit their… you guessed it – Facebook page. What I wonder is did the Twitter increase engagement? Possibly, but most likely not. The witty statements did fit with the cutesiness of the car and it’s youthful target certainly fits a Twitter user. The big issue I have with the execution is why end it on Twitter when the car is revealed? Few people would ever visit the pre-reveal site since it is not aligned with all of the press releases and auto show coverage. Seems Nissan could’ve had a more significant Twitter audience if they kept it going with their new reveal site and Facebook page.
L/Studio Advertises on Facebook
While responding to a status update this evening on Facebook, I noticed a Facebook advertisement for the Lexus L/Studio site. The best part is that the status update I was responding to was on the topic of the Real Housewives of Orange County, leading me to believe Lexus has bought up some interesting keywords around the guilty pleasures of bad reality television.
There is no mention of Lexus in the ad. The advertisement features Lisa Kudrow, ignoring any mention of the automotive brand. This is obviously a lifestyle play by Lexus and one that is still receiving some investment as it looks to find an audience.
The Ultimate Build & Price Machine
BMW has developed, jointly with Microsoft, a new build & price configurator that allows potential customers to drag and drop vehicle choices using a large iPhone like touch screen. There is one screen that acts like a canvas, similar to the film Minority Report, and a second screen that displays the configured vehicle in an emotional way through video and rich photographic content. It's a pretty nice implementation, though it is not portable; however, components could be used to improve online build & price implementations - particularly the emotional content when the vehicle is fully configured. Imagine having a vehicle, exactly like the one you just built, driving along the autobahn. more.
Fueling Sales: Beyond MPG Numbers
The race to prove one’s superiority is on in 2008 and is sure to continue into 2009, even as gasoline prices fall significantly. The idea that $4 gas is possible is in the mind of the consumer and it has changed the perspective on what is important in the purchasing decision. Fuel economy is now even with safety and quality when it comes to leading factors when buying a car.
So now that fuel economy is a major influencer, how are the automakers responding to this change? Product changes take years in manufacturing leaving marketing with the brunt of this task. You have to sell the products that simply exist. There is no silver bullet to improve fuel economy in a matter months.
One issue becomes obvious very quickly, most non-hybrid cars have similar fuel economy numbers, provided they are the same class of engine (4, 6 or 8 cylinder.) A lineup of 4-cylinder sedans have pretty much the same mpg numbers within 1-3 mpg, leaving marketers with little competitive advantage in the mpg distinction. A couple ways companies have dealt with this dilemma are as follows.
One approach is to show dominance by using miles superiority on a tank of gas. The new Chevy Traverse launch site does this using a PowerPoint graphic. The Traverse gets consumers another 60 miles in driving range before a refuel when compared to its competitors, yet it has the same fuel economy as the Ford Flex and Toyota Highlander. How does it do this? Through the magic of a bigger fuel tank. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the size of a fuel tank would be used to show a competitive advantage in fuel economy. To hell with logic, Chevy just bolted on a bigger tank to the frame. Advantage Traverse! Or something like that.
Chevy isn’t alone in this approach. In the UK, the Smart car competes with several small compact fuel sippers and decided to use driving range as a differentiator for the ForTwo model. Fortunately, Smart uses a more whimsical approach by letting the site visitor choose the correct answer of how far the Smart can travel. They even bring in a bagpipe player to celebrate the news.
Another approach is Honda’s Fit online game experience. This one is really odd. The concept here is to show the Honda Fit as a “a hero of fuel efficiency” by pitting it against the “Fuelivors”. Fuelivors are represented as big, old, inefficient American cars. Though this isn’t a challenge against a Chrysler Sebring, Chevy Cobalt, or Ford Focus. No that would be a fairly even match; instead, Honda brings us back to 1960 American big cars, complete with fins and giant grilles. Too bad online games weren’t around during the 1970s gas crisis as the Honda Fit game would’ve been a perfect fit. There really hasn’t been a great approach yet to differentiate on fuel economy, unless of course you are a hybrid – the Prius hybrid. In the non-hybrid category, there may be some opportunity to find a way to extend fuel economy beyond just mpg numbers. Besides fighting 1960 Impalas or having a larger fuel tank, product is what gives you a competitive advantage in fuel economy, marketing less so.
Giant Red Bow Sales to Nosedive this Christmas
Automotive advertising is definitely going to decrease in the coming months and possibly years. One of the changes happening in Christmas 2008 is a decrease of the buy a car for your loved one Christmas ads, most commonly associated with Lexus. The big red bow car ads will be replaced by less ostentatious messaging.
Honda will be extending their TV spots with online media placements that will donate $1 to charity for every registration on their site. It's the softer, community approach that will be more common this year than the overtly festive approach of prior holiday sales events.
With sales numbers way down across the industry, Honda's strategy of getting hand-raisers to communicate to via a charitable gift enticement could be a good way to obtain leads as the economy recovers.
This is disappointing news as I was hoping Santa would bring me a new car for Christmas (I always ask, never receive.) Oh well, it's a time to be thankful for what you have, not what you want. Maybe I'll just ask for some new micro-fiber towels to wash what I own. more.
Environmentally Friendly : Toyota Rin
Toyota take the ideas of environmentally friendly to another level with the RiN concept that Introduced at the Tokyo Motorshow in October 2007. Rin was designed for “harmony with nature” and a “healthy mind and body”. RiN designed to provide a driver-friendly environment, and a friendly environment itself.
This concept car from Toyota offers several unique features. Toyota Rin looks like some kind of futuristic automotive, designed to help drivers become one with nature. The feature is intended to improve well being, including chairs that support correct body posture, a mood sensing steering control that display the driver’s psychological state on displays, an oxygen-level conditioner, and a pinpoint humidifier.
General Specifications :
Country of Origin : Japan
Numbers Built : Not Available (Prototype)
Produced in : 2007 Introduced at : 2007 Tokyo Motorshow
Dimensions :
Length / Width / Height : 3250 mm (128 in) / 1690 mm (66.5 in) / 1650 mm (65 in)
Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) : 2850 mm (112.2 in) / N/A / N/A
Website : www.toyota.com
Some of My Work Debuted Yesterday
It's a great time to work with Ford, Lincoln and Mercury. This is a time of new distinctive design and high fuel economy vehicles as Ford adjusts to the changing market. That's why it was an exciting day yesterday when three vehicles I worked on debuted at the LA Auto Show, followed by three vehicle reveal websites. Two major launches included the new Ford Fusion + Fusion Hybrid and the Lincoln MKZ. We also developed some content to reveal the new Mercury Milan & Milan Hybrid. All the
distraction of the industry aside, these are some solid products with major updates to their interiors, improved fuel economy, and the addition of a couple hybrid sedans. Since this is some of my work, I'll just let it speak for itself as I really cannot get into much about the strategic decisions without divulging proprietary information, so my apologies. I do think there is some beautiful work but I did learn a few things that I look forward to improving as we look to the Detroit Auto Show in January and what's to come then.
The Clean and Safe : Honda PUYO
PUYO is eco friendly design car from Honda, this car is “clean, “safe” and “fun”. Puyo also has great functionality, environmentally responsible and people friendly. Honda PUYO fuel-cell vehicle is intended to create a gentle, friendly impression and entertain the passenger and the people around it.
The exterior of this cool car has "seamless soft box" design and PUYO's "gel body" made from soft material. It has minimalist design featuring an ultra high efficiency. PUYO a spacious interior design because of the seamless exterior design. PUYO has the charm of a cute car that begs to be touched. This eco-friendly car was designed to improve safety, while embedded headlight and other illumination shines through the soft, translucent skin.
Honda PUYO was first introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Motorshow and supposed to be the hope of a more tender relationship between human and machine.
Advocacy Marketing… Begging for Billions
It is an ugly time in the automotive industry. So bad, that even the beloved Toyota is down 23% last month. A lot is changing in the U.S. (and global) economy and it is hitting the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) and international automakers hard. Unfortunately, like the U.S. consumer, the Big Three are highly leveraged and spending more than they bring in. The financial crisis is hurting U.S. automakers two fold: in higher lending rates as they borrow to keep operations going and secondly in the ability of customers to get credit approval. One of the big issues that is exacerbating the sales decline in automotive is the new lending standards forcing many borderline or less-than-perfect borrowers out of the market. The whole lending industry is in a giant stalemate as banks continue to suffer large write-downs of bad debt when just a year ago they were lending hundreds of thousands of dollars to anyone with a pulse, forget proving you had an income or could rub two nickels together. So, here we are in one of the worst global financial crisises since the Great Depression.
The Big Three are currently pushing the public for a government bailout between $25-$50 billion. This is suppose to buy the automakers sometime while the banks eventually relax their lending standards; thereby, allowing more buyers into the market. Buying time will not quickly turn Hummers into Priuses; instead, this is about giving the industry cash to continue operations in an environment that has stopped lending to firms with bad balance sheets, and yes all three U.S. automakers have some pretty dismal balance sheets.
Without going much more into what the situation is from an economic or political perspective, I want to look at what the Big Three are doing from a marketing perspective. Instead of our usual topic of selling products, GM and Chrysler are doing advocacy marketing through two online efforts: GM Facts and Fiction, Chrysler’s Corporate Blog and Grab Democracy By the Horns.
Chrysler’s Blog
Chrysler has started posting some of their corporate blog content on YouTube and they maintain a blog off of their Chrysler Listens website. The videos advocating support for a government bailout are almost laughable. Autoblog chastised Chysler for “breaking out the handycam” as the videos reek of amateur corporate training video quality. The voiceover and pictures of
Washington DC, a flag in a factory, and random ‘action shots’ inside corporate headquarters I’m sure is something the employees of Chrysler were forced to watch. Really, who would watch this unless someone was paying you? (Oh wait, I watched them and no one is paying me right now… hmmm better rerun my MSN Time Valuation Calculator.) Unfortunately, the Chrysler advocacy videos probably won’t budge the political debate in the Big Three’s direction. Then again maybe I’m wrong, maybe Chrysler’s low budget approach just makes you feel sorry for them. Yeah, I’m right. It does nothing.The new effort is a bit more consumer friendly, Grab Democracy By the Horns. Really? Grab Democracy by the Horns? Are we supposed to wrestle democracy down to the ground with a lasso and tell it to fork over some of those billions? Worst Website Name Award aside, the site is a bit more advocacy friendly than the Chrysler corporate blog. Unfortunately, it must be a work in-progress as several of the links are not working. For example, apparently no one has "Shared Your Story." Supposedly, people are to share their woes of being a private equity fund and the pain of a bad investment in the auto industry.
GM Facts and Fiction
I have to admit I love it when GM creates new websites to stay engaged with consumers and brand advocates, like they have done with their Fastlane Blog, or when they have tried to redefine the energy debate with their GM Next website.
GM is out on the Internet trying to actively define issues and GM Facts and Fiction is no exception. The homepage of the site calls visitors to action with their “Mobilize Now” and “Get the Word Out” action links. The Mobilize Now section actually categorizes a user’s own advocacy by the type of person they are. For instance, if you are a retiree, you get a custom letter to send to your congressperson. Employees, suppliers, dealers, and my personal favorite “Concerned Americans” all have form letters or phone statements prepared by GM to show support for a bailout.
The site also provides several Myth and Fact statements and a Learn More About the Crisis page that links out to several articles, polls, et cetera that show third-party data and information about the auto industry’s current situation and how a bailout would help America, not just GM. It is an interesting approach and one that is significantly better than the corporate video route Chrysler is taking. GM feels it can best educate it’s advocates through knowledge and defense against some of the “myths” it feels are currently clouding the debate. Much like any political discussion, GM is using Facts and Fiction as a tool to improve advocacy by improving the insight of those supporting the bailout or by convincing those on the fence that the bailout is a good thing for all Americans.
Social Media
There is even a social networking angle that popped up on my Facebook profile this evening. Someone from Digitas (GM’s digital agency of record) started a Cause group called “Support the US Economy by Supporting the US Auto Industry”. Most of us who have joined are there for self-interest, I’m sure. It is, however, an interesting way to get the word out across social networks and may even drive some traffic to GM Facts and Fiction, which is prominently featured on the Facebook Cause page.
What About Ford?
So where is Ford in the Big Three advocacy play? They have decided to opt out and focus on future product as evidenced by this recent article in The Detroit News. Ford is trying to play this one under the radar. They definitely want aid and some reports have said they have maybe 7 months of cash to burn through before having the same issue as GM, but Alan Mullaly wants to show that Ford is a healthy company and just wants aid as a matter of fairness if his cross-town rivals get any help, i.e. why should GM and Chrysler get any competitive advantage through lower lending rates or cash availability.
In Closing
Advocacy marketing, when three giants of U.S. industry are seeking billions in government aid, is not an easy thing to sell to a citizenry that is seeing historical foreclosure rates, rising personal bankruptcies, and a very shaky job market in just about every industry. This leaves a lot of Americans with the question: Why GM, Chrysler, and Ford? Why not the company I work for or own? What makes their need for stability and survivability any greater than mine? Unfortunately, that question never gets directly addressed by GM’s or Chrysler’s advocacy websites. Why? Because the reality is a lot of jobs are unstable today and a lot of businesses would love some government aid in a time of dire need. The good news for the Big Three is that the debate is falling more and more in their favor with some recent polls suggesting there is support for a Big Three bailout. Now if only congress and a lame duck President can come to some agreement before GM starts bouncing checks next month…
When Your "Best Side" Is Under the Hood... You're Ugly
There have been numerous debates about how to properly advertise a car. Some of the most infamous include Infiniti's debut campaign that never showed a vehicle or when Range Rover took a "risk" showing a vehicle caked with mud, at a time when every vehicle was always shown as if it just rolled off the showroom. But I have never seen an advertisement that shows only the engine cover as its beauty shot. Enter the Kia Sorento. While reading the NY Times this evening, I noticed a rather puzzling shot of an engine block cover to the right of the article. Having removed an engine cover or two in my past, I knew what it was. But I doubt most people do, since very few of us open the hood of our cars.
There is no call to action or no message surrounding the engine cover image. Instead, just a price and the vehicle's name. I wonder if many people would even know it was an advertisement for a car? On rollover, a message about the vehicle's horsepower is given. But is this for a car, truck, SUV, or crossover??? I doubt the click through rate on this ad is very high. It is being advertised in an upper funnel spot, outside of an automotive context, with an image that resembles the chest plate of some futuristic robot or some really expensive lawn mower.
When advertising outside of an in-market automotive context, it is best to engage and interest the consumer, but to do so in a way that communicates who you are or gets them interested in what you are saying. A stale image of an engine cover with no engaging copy is the worst thing you can do. Kia has a compelling, low-price 5 passenger SUV in the Sorento that could be much better communicated to a large audience. It's a value product in an financially conscious time, so sell it on it's merits as a good buy without giving anything up (like moving to a small car for example.) Performance is not the Sorento's segment advantage or the care of most 5-passenger SUV consumers: value, versatility, and roominess are. So promote it in a way that interests a larger audience.
Maybe when the Kia Soul gets released will Kia finally show a vehicle from outside its engine bay.
Consonants HGTV and GMC Team Up for Some Nice Content Integration
Reaching your consumers through natural pathing is a goal of all advertisers. If there is one mantra I have come to use in online marketing that’s go to where your customers already are. There are many examples of advertisers, across industries, trying to build their own Facebook, their own Snapfish, or their own YouTube. There are also a lot of ideas out there right now trying to gain inclusion in people’s social networks. While all of this is important to evaluate when developing an online brand experience, one of the better ideas in online media has seemed to lost its cache and that is online content integration. I finally came across a good example from a recent email marketing newsletter sent to me by GMC.
GMC Trade Secrets on AOL Living brings together useful consumer content relevant to the passion points of its potential customers. The execution also brings in some HGTV celebrities: Eric Stromer, Kelly Edwards, and Curtis Stone. The AOL Living section provides some rich DIY content that was developed custom for this site and not just a repurpose of content. My favorite was “Fix Driveway Stains” a nice integration of automotive relevancy and homeowner tip that currently has over 800,000 views.
Some nice touches include the “Get Weekly Updates from the GMC Pros” email hand-raiser. GMC requests some information about vehicles people would be interested in, plus timeframe when they may be in-market, but it also lets the user Skip the form and just sign up for the Pros' email content. GMC is respectful that all of the visitors may not be interested in the vehicles so the Skip button is prominent. The site also includes an Ask the Pros section under every video. Unfortunately, like a lot of content sites like this the replies to questions asked are non-existent. People left a lot of questions on the site but it seemed only about 1 in every 8 had a response; though, the response was typically from another user of the site, not the Pro.
Overall the site really meets the homeowner, do-it-yourselfer at a level that is worthy of their time. Even with all of the GMC ad banners on top and along the margins, the site features the Pro content without overly pushing GMC in an obnoxious way. Sure there is some quick pre-roll of the Pros driving a GMC vehicle before a video tip is given but at least it uses the Pro in the pre-roll and isn’t a 15 second GMC ad.
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