UAW and the Automakers

On Feb. 11, 1937, thousands of sit-down strikers paraded out of General Motors' plants to celebrate in the streets of Flint, having won an difficult 44-day standoff that ended with a contract recognizing the UAW as the bargaining unit for GM workers.
The Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 gave credence to the fledgling union and created better working conditions for generations who would have better lives and staid, blue-collar jobs. It also generated strong emotions about unions -- positive and negative. This is an event that changed the way labor and management relate. This was a very dramatic event, and you just can't overstate its importance.

Start Here, Go Anywhere!

Ups and Downs of the Year

What will you remember from 2008? What will you want to forget? There is a lot to choose from in the list of highlights, lowlights; Olympian achievements, presidential election and PR prowess, at least two wars and a global economic meltdown of historic proportions. Life in our world of advertising, marketing and media has also been a wild ride. So, what would you want to remember, and what would you want to forget?

You've been blogged

I hope my blog has enlightened you on the Marketing and Advertising world, it's history and current events. I have certainly gained a lot from this project, which has allowed me the tools needed to survive the clutter caused by marketing which continues to flood the consumer world. The most interesting thing I've learned about marketing is: The psychological impact on consumers. Marketing today has succeeded in penetrating that force field which existed in the times when people seemed immune to advertising and selling. The consumers' moral values were high, and there was little to no cultural penetration taking place. But today, cultures and sub-cultures have taken a turn for the worse, and no one has any regard for tradition anymore. This has therefore left enough room for those with something to sell, an open pass to the target consumers wallets. Every aspect of marketing has changed, and from cultures evolved sub-cultures, and from these sub-cultures, other sub-sub-cultures were born. Hence the birth if Clutter. Marketing has single handedly taken over the world. So instead of building some mind control devise, simply advertise. Pinky and the Brain didn't think of this one huh. By the way, this cup of coffee is for me....for closers only :) You've been blogged!!!

5 Very Important Words in Marketing

1 - YOU!
That is, your marketing needs to convey very clearly, what's in it for the client or the consumer.

2 - WHY!
It is much better to communicate WHY you are original, special or unique, or WHY you are better, different or superior than competitors

3 - COMMITMENT!
It is something that also fuels your credibility. When people see that you are maintaining consistency in your marketing, they'll assume you're just as committed to quality and service."

4 - NEW!
New is probably the strongest word in marketing. People are attracted to new products like a magnet. Introducing new products on a constant basis is the best way to get attention and invaluable free publicity for your business.

5 - FREE!
FREE was, is, and will always be the most powerful word in marketing. Most viral marketing programs give away valuable products or services to attract attention. FREE will usually get results and responses much faster.

The Power of Color in Marketing

Which colors raise your pulse? Red and Yellow
Which color makes you hungry? Red
which color is the happiest color? Yellow
Which color is the most popular in the United States? Blue
Which color represents dependability? Brown
Which color is used most often in one-color logos? Blue
Which color, when added, makes other colors appear sweeter? White

- Red is the color of love, passion and romance. Red is daring, expressive, competitive and aggressive
- Yellow represents joy and happiness. Yellow demands attention, and products packaged in yellow are often noticed first.
- Blue symbolizes stability, reliability, establishment, trust, confidence, constancy and truth. This is why many financial
institutions use blue in their logos.
- Orange is the color of harvest and is one of the most edible colors.
_ Green depicts nature, freshness and health. It immediately reminds you of the fresh outdoors.
- Purple denotes royalty, nobility, spirituality, mysticism and sensuality. It is also known to depict loneliness.

Marketers have been hoping that these colors will live up to their meanings and sell their products for them.

Cell phone vs Bible

Technology has caused people to stray from their values and beliefs so much that they have become totally dependent on it and forgotten about other important things.
So have you ever wondered what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

- What if we carried it around all day in our purses or pockets?
- What if we flipped through it several time a day?
- What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
- What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
- What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
- What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
- What if we used it when we traveled?
- What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected, because Jesus already paid the bill.
Makes you stop and think, "where are my priorities"?

Walmart Is Set to Sell a $99 iPhone

Apple's iPhone is headed for Walmart. According to Bloomberg, the retail giant is set to sell a 4GB iPhone for $99. The current 8GB entry-level model is $199 plus a two-year AT&T-service subscription.
The right venue?
Having Walmart move your products is a no-fail proposition for most brands. But if you're a brand with high aspirational appeal such as Apple, do you want your wares showcased an aisle away from laundry detergent and 10-packs of boxer shorts?
Anything to increase sales I guess.

Execs at Friday's Meeting

Representative David Scott, left, with Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of General Motors, Friday in Washington.

16-year-old sets to make internet marketing history!

A young man by the name of Stanley Tang set out on a mission of historical proportions to interview some of the worlds’ most richest online marketers.
Stanley got all of them to reveal their deepest aspirations…their most innermost secrets… and their die-hard stories of ups and downs in this world we call “Internet Marketing!”



I’m talking about folks like:
-Mark Joyner
-Yanik Silver
-Willie Crawford
-Michel Fortin
-Rosalind Gardner
-Gary Ambrose
-Joel Christopher
-Jermaine Griggs
-Jason james
-Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker
-Rob Cowie (the guy who did Blair Witch Project) and many-many more!
Not only did he get all these big shots to reveal hours worth of priceless content, he took those interviews and turned them into a BESTSELLING BOOK!

8 Tips to Marketing Your Company in a Recession

1. Research the customer - You need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession.
2. Focus on family values - When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure, and rugged individualism.
3. Maintain marketing spending - This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
4. Adjust product portfolios - Marketers must reforecast demand for each item in their product lines as consumers trade down to models that stress good value, such as cars with fewer options.
5. Support distributors - In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Early-buy allowances, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line.
6. Adjust pricing tactics - Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices, but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively.
7. Stress market share - In all but a few technology categories where growth prospects are strong, companies are in a battle for market share and, in some cases, survival. Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact.
8. Emphasize core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners, and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people.

What TiVo is doing to Advertising

We all get annoyed with the myriad of advertisements that interrupt our favorite TV shows, and it's just suspense we don't need. We wanna see what happens next and we wanna see it NOW!!! I don't care which ditzy celeb Macy's is trying to market--they're the ones getting paid a bundle--not me!! That stuff may work on kids watching Cartoon network, because an advert will show the hottest new toy, and you know mom's gonna hear about it later. But for grown folks who like drama, it's gotta stop. But then there was a silver lining on the dark cloud of advertising----TiVo: a Digital Recorder, which records your favorite shows without the ads. Now because of TiVo, the majority of television ads in homes with DVR simply won't be seen. It's going to be incredibly painful for advertisers, and for the whole television industry. Now TiVo is trying to change its image as being unfriendly to advertisers, therefore, over the past year, it has started to more aggressively embed advertising throughout its navigation menus in much the same way as internet ads are sewn into a website. At least they give you the freedom to view ads as you wish, and not forced on you.

Jameson "Speaks" out to the public

If you take the subway, most likely you've noticed Jameson whiskey ads. They're not very flashy, but they seem to be having a conversation with you. Jameson, like many advertisers know that most people sitting in subway cars try not to look directly at other people, so they divert their eyes to where the ads are placed. Those Jameson ads are quite funny as they make you feel like you are the only one in the train car at that moment, and what's even funnier is to see people smiling at Jamesons mental games.
Well, its the holidays and for some reason, people think it's a time to get wasted, so ads that speak to you and cause you to smile even if you're not in the mood, and well, you know what's gonna happen. So you've had a bad day and decide to go to a bar to get a drink. You spot a Jameson bottle and ask the bartender to pour you a huge glass, and you think to yourself, "it talked to me earlier, so at least I know it understands me." I'm sure there are AA meeting being held year round. Like Jameson cares anyway. They tell you to drink responsibly. Oh please! Alcohol messes up your thinking--so being responsible will be the last thing on your drunken mind.

Anything to get people off their wallets

What to Expect When You're in a Recession

When the economy takes a fall, advertising tends to fall right along beside it. That's what happened during the last recession back in 2001. Now, seven years later, despite ad bonanzas like the Olympics and the Presidential race, the sputtering of the country's economic engine are already sending tremors through the ad industry. The current circumstances of the economy—including a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry and the possible bankruptcies of one or more of the Big Three U.S. automakers—have led many to believe that the next recession will be a particularly deep and long one. As sales falter, marketers will begin making changes for changes' sake, executives who run advertising search firms say that, if anything, ad-search activity slows down during a recession. The reason? Such searches can be expensive, and companies often find their energies are better spent looking at other aspects of the business.

The Edsel - A Commercial Failure

America's most famous automotive flop is the Edsel which was parented by the Ford Motor Company on Sept. 4, 1957. The car fell short of consumers inflated expectations. In the end, even a giveaway of 1,000 ponies — intended to get children to bring parents to showrooms — was a failure.
Despite several features that were not necessarily innovations — a vertical grille, self-adjusting brakes, Teletouch transmission buttons on the steering wheel and a floating speedometer that glowed when a preset speed was reached — the Edsel was panned by the public. Among other things, it was rediculed for having a grille that looked like a toilet seat. Time magazine popularized the wisecrack that it looked like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon. HaHa...that's funny.
There are a number of factors for the Edsel's failure:
The quality of early Edsels was poor the workers were unaccustomed to the different parts and processes. Some parts ran out; incomplete cars went to dealerships.
The car came out as a recession was starting.

Green Marketing

Everywhere your turn, there’s talk about the environment and how businesses need to be socially responsible to minimize their impact on the environment. Finally, the earth we take so much from is going to be getting some payback.
In the United States today, we are currently in the Age of Green Consumerism, where the consumer is expected to bear almost the full weight of making the right environmental decisions, from using the right recycled toilet paper and replacing light bulbs to driving the right car. But where is the quality assurance of the information that the consumer is to use to make those decisions? First, consider the development of innovations. At the beginning of innovation cycles, products are always more expensive to produce and can be considerably more energy intensive. But as production grows, the kinks come out of the system, scale efficiencies are realized, and the innovation realizes its potential. According to this way of thinking,hybrids will, as they get popular, achieve real energy returns on the energy invested, and reduce dependence on oil.

Relationship demarketing - The wrong customers are wrong

It is often said that the customer is always right, but most businesses know this to be a trite saying. Only the right customers are always right, and that is because these customers fit the company and the company wants to keep them. The right customers are satisfied. They derive value from what the company does and are aligned with the firm's processes and communications. They provide referrals and positive word-of-mouth. They make money for the company. They are the company's future.
On the other hand, customers who are not profitable now and who probably never will be, and who are perpetually and demonstrably unhappy, are the company's past. They are anchors to improvements in future performance.

This Holiday Season, Shop by Personality

Have the men been getting the raw deal when it comes to holiday gift giving? Retailers are now categorizing men to give buyers a better idea of what that special man in their life might just want. Now you can shop by personality, and no more of the Mr. Fix-It gifts. You know not all men can use a hammer without smashing a finger. So you have gifts for the "devoted Dad", the "Guy's Guy", the "Geek", the "Achiever", the "Adventurer", "Mr. Field & Stream", the "Country Clubber", "Metro Man", and so many more personalities.....you know yours.
Click here for some gift Ideas.

Holiday Advertising

The Holidays are upon us once again and it's not uncommon to have a business that relies heavily on certain seasons for increased sales volume. How worried are retailers that a crisis in consumer confidence could cast a pall on Christmas shopping? For most retailers, and other industries such as travel, the December holiday season is a significant time for sales.Timing and preparedness are keys to handling seasonal activities. Often off-season planning is as time-consuming as the actual selling is during the busy season. As soon as one season concludes, some of your staff should be working on the next season. Be careful, however, not to be too hasty in launching seasonal campaigns. Trying to sell people Christmas decorations in late August will be lost on most people who are still in a summer state of mind. Whereas, advertising and selling decorations a week before christmas will put you at a great loss. Consumers are known to decorate way ahead of the actual date of that specific holiday. Plan wisely.

Ouch!!!!!!!

The 4 P's of Motorola

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by Silvestre

'Word of Mouth' biggest influence on apparel buyers - Survey

When it comes to buying apparel and electronics, shoppers are most interested in hearing from their peers about products, retailers and past shopping experiences. In a recent survey, conducted for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association by BIGresearch, consumers say that word of mouth is still the number one influencer in their apparel (34.3%) and electronics (44.4%) purchases.

Steven Paul Jobs - Apple

Beginnings of Apple Computer
In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, created one of the first commercially successful personal computers. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher education and business markets. In 1996, Apple announced that it would buy NeXT for US$429 million. The deal was finalized in late 1996,[28] bringing Jobs back to the company he founded. With the purchase of NeXT, much of the company's technology found its way into Apple products, notably NeXTSTEP, which evolved into Mac OS X. Under Jobs's guidance the company increased sales significantly with the introduction of the iMac and other new products; since then, appealing designs and powerful branding have worked well for Apple. At the 2000 Macworld Expo, Jobs officially dropped the "interim" modifier from his title at Apple and became permanent CEO.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733758_1736089,00.html

St. Lucia, Simply Beautiful

We've talked of place marketing, and I have noticed that a lot of people talk of the Caribbean, but do they really know the islands of the Caribbean? Well, I am originally from one of the beautiful islands called St. Lucia. St. Lucia's physical features are striking. Dominated by high peaks and rain forests in the interior, the 616 square-kilometer island is known for the twin peaks of Gros Piton and Petit Piton on the southwestern coast. My island is surrounded by white sandy beaches which shimmers in the warm Caribbean sun. St. Lucia has the world's only drive-in volcano. The night life is great, and festivals are held all through the year. One very popular festival is the Jazz Festival which hosts a number of artists from all over the world and also our very best right out of St. Lucia. And don't get me started on the food. Yam!!!! I miss home :) From the north to the south, you will always find something to see or do. Next time you plan a trip or are undecided on where to go on your next vacation, ask your travel agent about St. Lucia. Take a peek of St. Lucia in this video, wouldn't you want to be there too? I know that times are tough, but some stress relief will do some good. Hey, did I mention that India Arie wrote a song about her experience in St lucia called "God is real"

The History of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola was invented back in 1886 by John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson gave the beverage its name by combining the recipe's two most distinctive ingredients, the South American coca leaf and the African cola nut. Pemberton had originally intended to mix his new syrup with ice water when he first brought a sample of it over to Jacob's Drug Store in Atlanta. But, by mistake,the druggist had prepared the fountain drink with soda water instead. Pemberton was delighted by this accidental substitution -and, as a result -a soft drink legend was born!
Take a look at these vintage Coke ads on the following website.
http://coca-cola.tin-signs.net/

The American Package Museum

It's funny how things present itself to you when you least expect it. While doing a search after a class discussion, I stumbled upon a website which displays products packaged in their original uniform from the early decades of the 20th century. Ian House, the curator of The American Package Museum stated: "Each package in this collection has been permanently removed from general circulation to avoid further physical degradation." Wow!, someone who seem a bit disgusted with the transformation or development of product packaging throughout the years. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the original packaging of products, take a look at this website and you will be amazed at how far packaging has evolved throughout the years. http://www.packagemuseum.com/index.htm

Product Placement in TV Shows - GM

Even in a fictional world, it seems General Motors cannot catch a break. The struggling car company’s deal to integrate two vehicles into the NBC drama “My Own Worst Enemy” hit an obstacle when the network confirmed that it was canceling the series after only four episodes had been shown. The partnership represented a big push for both G.M., which has sought new ways to market cars and trucks in a troubled economy, and NBC, which has aggressively recruited advertisers to underwrite some of the production costs of its shows.
Product placements in television shows and films have always existed, but they have become more elaborate in recent years. The newest forms of brand integration now make cars into characters and insert insurance company messages into story lines, and automakers like G.M. are driving much of the innovation, lending their vehicles for scenes and signing expensive partnership deals with Hollywood producers.

The New Chrysler

In this recent Chrysler advertising campaign, called “The New Chrysler: Get Ready for the Next Hundred Years,” features three babies in car seats, representing Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep; they’re meant to suggest that the automaker is ready for a new generation. To assure consumers that the company is focused on quality and reliability, Chrysler is also offering a lifetime warranty for engines and transmissions for as long as its cars are owned by their original buyers.
Marketing experts say that these efforts still might not be enough to turn skittish consumers into confident buyers of domestic vehicles anytime soon. Once a brand diminishes in the eyes of consumers, it can take years to bounce back.

Product Positioning

Product positioning and marketing: Aloe cool and fresh lotion soothes and energizes skin with Aloe Vera and cucumber extracts. Aloe cool and fresh lotion caters to those with tired skin or those who just want a lotion with simple moisturizing effect instead of for example, evening out skin tone which is done by Healthy Body Complexion.

Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion’s slogan is: ‘Every drop is a promise to your skin’ and ‘Promise to keep your skin in the best shape of its life’

Usage instructions: Apply daily as necessary

Cautionary or warning statements: None

Fragrance type/Classification: Aloe Vera, Cucumber

Brand Image: Vasline Intensive Care has an image of having the ability to cater to a wide range of customers, Aloe cool and fresh lotion proves this ability by catering to a particular range.

Target Group: Women of all ages

Why Apple iPhone is a failure in India

Lost Opportunity. IPhone’s launch in India has been dubbed the biggest failure of a top-notch brand from a well regarded company in recent times. Besides a very high price tag, one main reason behind iPhone’s failure in India is that there was a very weak link as far as consumer confidence was concerned. Flawed sales and distribution model and communication failure were the biggest reasons behind iPhone’s debacle. The company failed to strike a connection with Indian consumers. Apple refused to share its future strategy for India. Analysts, however, say the company will have to plug many gaps in its distribution and marketing and most importantly, open a direct communication channel with consumers, if it wants a meaningful presence in India.

As Water Sales Dry Up, Nestlé Pans Soda

Concerns that bottled water is a bad choice for the environment have cooled sales of the hot-selling product. But Nestle, the world's biggest bottled-water producer, is trying to persuade consumers they should worry more about another drink: soda.

The company recently began showing TV spots for its Nestle Pure Life on U.S. Spanish-language channels such as Univision and TeleFutura touting water as a healthier alternative to sugar-filled soda drinks. Nestle - which also owns the Perrier, Poland Spring, Vittel and Aquarel brands - plans to expand the campaign into English-language TV and print ads across the U.S. in the first quarter of next year

Brand Loyalty Becoming Serious Business for Automakers

This person is definitely a Mustang lover to have the logo tattooed on his arm. Thats Brand Loyalty for you.

Thanks to the current state of the economy and plummeting sales in the automotive market, it’s no secret that the luxury car market has nearly come to a screeching halt. When you include Mercedes Benz, BMW and Lexus in that list - all reporting huge losses in September and October - we’ve got ourselves one severe crisis in the automotive industry. In a climate where competition is king and advertising budgets are under pressure, auto makers are now targeting customers who have not yet decided whether to stay or stray from the luxury brand they currently own and drive. There are basically three types of vehicle owners - the defectors, the loyalists and those that are undecided. Which ones do you keep?

Goodbye broke, Hello Coupons

As the economy rapidly deteriorates from flourishing to floundering, marketers are scrambling to remake their advertising so products seem affordable and sensible rather than indulgent and fabulous. For many big marketers, including automakers, retailers, consumer product companies and even financial services, a major shift in consumer psychology spells an end to the aspirational advertising that has dominated their campaigns for the last decade.

How Subway overtook McDonalds

Subway is one of the UK's fastest growing major fast-food chains and has just sneaked past McDonalds to hold the largest number of outlets in the UK and Ireland, yet Subway remains an underground success. The privately owned US company, which operates through dozens of franchisees around the country, has seen exponential growth in the past three years, opening 800 stores to reach 1,300 outlets in the UK and Ireland.
Its ambition is to have 2010 stores here by 2010 as it ramps up advertising spend in a bid to draw in new customers and franchisees.
Although it is a sandwich shop, Subway's locations, customer profile and operating style, such as late opening hours, give it more in common with fast food chains such as McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Subway, which sees 15-25 year olds as its core customers, is now trendier among teenagers than McDonalds in certain sectors of the country. No doubt that's helped by its relatively cheap and large sandwiches, assembled to order on the spot.

TQM

TQM is a set of management practices throughout the organization, geared to ensure the organization consistently meets or exceeds customer requirements. TQM places strong focus on process measurement and controls as means of continuous improvement.
Quality is the key to competitive advantage in today's business environment. As more organisations opt for Total Quality Management (TQM), the choices open to those wanting to set up a quality system are becoming increasingly varied.

Store Brands vs. Brand Names

At the Supermarket Checkout, frugality trumps Brand Loyalty. When my friend visited her local CVS drugstore recently, to save a few dollars she bought the store-brand facial scrub rather than the Olay version she normally uses.
"I thought I'd be able to tell the difference, but I couldn't....I looked at the ingredients and they seemed almost the same," says my 26 year-old friend. "On my next shopping trip, I'm going to buy the store-brand moisturizer and cleanser...it's less money."
Many Americans are changing their everyday purchases and abandoning brand loyalty, prompted by the persistent financial pressure of rising food, gasoline and electricity prices.

Sub-culture ad - Gay version

To finally prove my point, this is a similar ad to the previous post - a Levi's commercial with a man who pulls up his Levi's jeans and up pops a phone booth, but this time, it's not a woman who is in it, it's another man....you get the idea. But this ad is not aired on "public" television.

Sub-culture ad follow-up on my observation

As promised in a previous post, this ad proves that marketers are still stereotyping consumers who could be potential buyers. In this Levi's commercial, a "straight" man pulls his jeans up, and a phone booth comes up with a woman in it. They walk away together. This ad is shown on "public" television and not the other version. I will prove marketers stereotype with another follow-up ad which is similar.

American Specialty Cars knows manufacturing

2007 Chevrolet Silverado 427 Concept

The SEMA Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world (THE SEMA SHOW IS NOT OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC). It draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center. As part of the AAIW, the SEMA Show attracts more than 120,000 industry leaders from over 100 countries for unlimited profit opportunities in the automotive, truck and SUV, and RV markets.
General Motors flexes american muscle at SEMA with all-new pickups and SUVs, celebrity cars and hot new accessories. Enthusiasts seeking the perfect vehicle to personalize will hit the jackpot with this year’s GM portfolio at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, which features all-new, full-size pickups, SUVs, crossovers and cars tricked out for the streets to the slopes and every conceivable surface in between. They include a one-of-a-kind Chevy Silverado off-road concept designed in conjunction with NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. – a successor to Junior’s “Big Red” Silverado – and a low-riding Orange County Choppers Silverado hauler concept inspired by the styling cues of the famous bike-building Teutul family.

President Obama

I knew you cared about the kittens....You Voted Smart.....President Barack Obama is now the 44th President of the United States. Change is good....This song's for you President Obama.

And the Winner Is........

If the wrong person wins, you might as well have voted for Patrick.  Then we'd all be living under a huge rock and our best friend would be a yellow sponge.  Think of the kitten, Vote smart.

Detroit takes sharper aim in Marketing Cars to Women

The days are fast disappearing when car-makers appealed to women primarily as housewives who influenced their husbands in the family’s choice of a new car. As more women achieve financial independence, Detroit is increasingly targeting its messages to them as consumers in their own right.

"More and more ads are coming out targeting women," says Cynthia Marshall, media supervisor at Chisholm-Mingo Group in Detroit, which places ads for General Motors. "Women now support themselves and have discretionary income. Most ads highlight women without any men in the picture at all." 

Much of this change is recent, reflecting the increasing voice women have in buying cars. Women make half the car purchases in the U.S., and more and more women are buying cars for their own personal use as well as for family use. The recent trend for auto advertisers is to treat women the way they used to treat men, targeting to their unique needs in a car rather than to their gender.

Customer service is the new marketing

There’s a lot of buzz these days about the value of customer experiences. The gist of it is that your brand is not what you tell consumers it is. Your brand is made up of all the millions of micro-experiences customers have with your brand. The implication is that companies not only need to attract new customers and make sales, they have to be aware of what existing customers are saying to them or about them, and be able to respond quickly, in a personalized manner. This has the potential for creating positive experiences, which contribute to brand health. One effective way companies are doing this is by providing great customer service.
There is no end to the stories about angry, unhappy, dissatisfied customers (that blog about it) distressed about not receiving the support they need from customer service. And there’s nothing like bad service to damage a company’s brand. However, companies that surprise and delight customers with authentic human interactions, satisfying real or perceived needs, become beacons for best practices in customer support. Satisfied customers will communicate with their friends and loved ones, or broadcast across multiple online communities their satisfaction with a product or service, becoming brand evangelists. The flip side is that dissatisfied customers can and will widely broadcast their unhappiness with your brand, and they have the tools to do it quickly and easily.”

Deceit and Marketing

“Yelling with gusto used to be the best way to advertise your wares. There was plenty of media and if you had plenty of money, you were set. Today, of course, yelling doesn’t work so well” Seth Godin, best selling author of Permission Marketing.
Marketing as a function has run through the range of communication options that have been available through the ages—from yelling, advertising on walls, print, radio, television, direct selling, Internet… and then coming back a full circle to sell the old engine on a new body. That's why, looking back from time to time is a good way of moving forward. And recounting the marketing story through ads and the four Ps of marketing (product, price, promotion and placement) is a good check.

My observations on US advertising

Throughout my years of watching television and viewing a myriad of advertisement which disrupted my favorite shows, (whether I like it or not) have been to please just one set of consumers.  The "straight" or "superior race." I suppose that marketers believe that the majority of their consumers are "family" oriented people whose idea of a family consists of a father, a mother, and kids.  Since then, they have evolved out of those beliefs, but the stereotype continues on the consumers side.  Many ads have been modified to attract consumers of a different sexual preference or race, of different family values or to reach a whole new demographic.  However, these ads are not welcomed by all on "public" television, and most, if not all, have been pulled off the air or advertised on specific stations which caters to these outcast consumers. I have my tastes and values, and the good thing is that regardless of discrimination, I am able to make my own choices.  To prove my observation, I will follow up with some ads which markets the same product, but only one is aired publicly.

Expanding your marketing scope

Being out has never been more in.  In this 2004 ad, BMW shows that sales is more important than stereotype.  After-all, gays got money too, and from what i've noticed, they're the flashiest couples you will ever find. Big spenders!!!  So BMW is not tying to lose out on that market.

2008 Geneva Auto Show - Concepts Cars

Click Here for Auto Show Gallery

I love the car makers new concepts.  The Geneva auto show displayed a variety of New Concept Cars.  What are concepts cars you ask? Well, a concept car fulfills many important roles in the automotive industry.  Concepts can be used by manufacturers to gauge public opinion of a new model, or even an entire design philosophy. They can be used as experimental design projects, called styling exercises.  Ultimately vehicle manufacturers use concept cars to push forward the boundary's of manufacturing and production techniques, while showcasing their more advanced technology.

Ford Incentive

Whatever works right. Even though times are tough, marketing personnel seem to be losing their cool and making things worse. They need an S.O.S pronto. Economic hardship is like a disease, when one company catches a case, everyone else panics and makes bad decisions that weaken their economic immune system and causes an infection.

Circa $10,000,000 for a car?

This '62 Farrari Testa Rossa fetched a record sale of $9, 300,000 at RM auctions. Boutique vintage car auctions are posting astronomical sales.

New Concept?...Please! We had it all along!

Nissan to Sell Electric Vehicle in 2010

Having fallen behind domestic rivals such as Honda and Toyota in the green stakes, Nissan decided to make EVs the focus of its eco-strategy by announcing it will be the first manufacturer to mass-produce a fully electric horseless carriage. Please!, that thing looks like a carriage on wheels. Whatever happened to style. I mean, we want to save the planet, not make it any uglier!

Electric Car-toon

Atlantis Anyone?

Underwater cars!...Ok! so we have seen all this in the movies, and now the movies are coming to life. Should we consider the writers and producers as Nostradam(u/as)ses. Did they really see this coming? Who should be getting the credit for these ideas anyway? 007 plates, nice!......so you get this car and decide to go for a swim with it, but who is gonna risk life and limb exposed to....umm...I don't know....SHARKS!!!! I would love to visit the Lost City of Atlantis and party with the mer-people and all...but at what risk. A company called Rinspeed built this underwater car (Squba), but has no plans to mass produce it.  I hope they don't regret that decision later like GM did with the EV1's.  How about an underwater gas station to go with that.

Happy Birthday to ME !!!

Move over GM.....It's my B-day.....

Thank goodness I'm not as old as General Motors :)

GM - From Coal to Electric

Charma - From Toys to Boys ...... haha

Happy Birthday To ME!!!!!!!!

Person Marketing or Price?

I guess that soon if a car is not electric or pimped out with wings or gills or something, it won't be worth much.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a......

Flying Car? Are the Jetson's in town?

Ok...can we try to get through this century with the electric cars first? But it would be nice to not have to deal with ground traffic anymore.  Then again, everyone will want one of these, and the bird are not going to like it.  

Alfred Sloan - Managing To Be Best

"The main reason living standards have improved so much in the 20th century is that businesses have become so much more productive. And it is managers who have helped drive that evolution. The great ones do more than just run things efficiently; they develop and put into practice ideas that transcend their company, their industry, even their national borders. Their ideas survive to become vocabulary in the halls of management and often in society at large."  The marketing era has produced many great businessmen. One being Alfred P. Sloan.  In 1923, he came into a GM that was cash short, chaotic and nearly bankrupt (Ford had a 60% market share) and brought discipline to a sprawling company, clearly defining the issues of planning, strategy and organization. He mastered the concept of market segmentation--Chevrolets for Everyman, Cadillacs for the wealthy--to better target GM's sales and avoid internal competition, a strategy that left Ford behind. Sloan also understood what managers today call "consumer insight" by visiting Ford dealers incognito to learn about buyer behavior and competitive offerings. His reign at GM ended as Chairman in 1956.

William C "Billy" Durant - Salesman Extrodinaire

Billy Durant is the founder of the General Motors Company. Partnering with Josiah Dallas Dort in 1886, Durant purchased the Coldwater Road Cart Company. In 1904, Billy Durant was approached by James Whiting of the Buick Co. to promote his automobiles. Between 1904 and 1908, Durant was Buick's president. At this time the top four auto producers in the U.S. were Buick, Reo, Maxwell -Briscoe and Ford. The four producers held meetings to merge and form one large company. Negotiations began in New York with J. P. Morgan's son-in-law, Herbert Satterlee, and ended when Ford and Reo pulled out of the deal. Billy Durant was still determined to start this new auto company and at Satterlee's suggestion dropped the proposed name "Internatonal Motor Car Company" and chose General Motors. On September 16, 1908, he incorporated General Motors of New Jersey with a capital of $2,000. In only 12 day, their stocks shot up to $12, 000, 000. Durant lost control of the company in 1910. During the years of 1911 to 1914, he founded numerous manufacturing companies: Mason Motor Company, Little Motor Company, Chevrolet Motor Company of Michigan, Sterling Motor Company and Monroe Motor Company. He regained control in 1915 but was forced out again in 1920. He founded Durant Motors in 1921. A declining market and the Great Depression ended Durant's automotive career.

Billy, Alfred, and General Motors

This book written by William Pelfrey, tells a story of two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History. I have not read the whole book, but an excerpt of how General Motors and Ford almost merged once, in 1908, when J.P. Morgan tried to put together a deal between four major car makers: Ford, Buick, Olds, and Briscoe-Maxwell at a secret meeting.  All parties involved had agreed on the merger, including Henry Ford, and the new company would be called "International Motors Corporation." The deal fell through. Reasons involved the psychology of self-made men vs. schooled managers, distributed vs. central control, and inventors vs. the financiers they hated but couldn't grow without. W.C. "Billy" Durant, who attended the meeting as the head of Buick, went on to make the deal later that year, without Ford, and called the new company "General Motors." Pelfrey writes of the early years of Billy Durant and Alfred Sloan and the very different roles they played in the history of General Motors. For further reading, visit the following:

http://www.authorviews.com/authors/pelfrey/pelfrey-obd.htm

The Bigness of Smallness

Marketing concepts should be applied to every business.

Changing with the market

Yeah!! They're changing alright. GM's vision, to "be the industry leader in marketing and selling automotive products and services, and among the top quartile of highest valued franchises."

Seems like someone needs the automative optician, because their vision is failing.

Honda is Dreaming the impossible dream

Is Honda trying to turn men into ballerinos with their sappy commercial?  Whatever happened to those ads where cars said "eat my dust." Elvis Presley's "The Impossible Dream" plays in the background:

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

I guess this car won't bring much joy to consumers who live in the concrete jungle's of the city.

The Italian Car Salesman

I hope that GM's dealers don't have sales people like Deniro...If so, then that would explain their problems.....haha

Desperate car makers talk merger

GM, Ford and Chrysler are trying to survive this wicked economy by huddling with their competition to make a merger game plan. Arch rivals, #1 GM/ #2 Ford/ #3 Chrysler. Wow!! this should be interesting. While there may not be huge savings in putting the two largest U.S. car companies together, they could improve margins by closing some of their poorest performing brands. The auto industry is in serious trouble right now, so, whatever works for them.

GM's life and sales gone flat

GM's got alot on their plate to clear out. With a century in existance, does this mean that they need to pull out the walker and head to the "old car company nursing home? What do they do about their wrinkles and stretch marks? Some brake fluid might fix that, because they need to stop whatever it is that they are doing wrong. We all know that with age comes dementia, so General Motors' management must be suffering from a bad case of it. Maybe the Governments "mouth to mouth" resusitation plan just might put some air back into their tires.