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. 

A Sales Nightmare

Peter is well dressed, seems like he has impeccable manners, but he gets discouraged too quickly. Wanna know how this ends, visit www.mysellingskills.com

GM's very first electric car - the EV1

General Motors' first electric car is not the Volt. Actually the EV1 was the first modern production electric vehicle from a major automaker and also the first purpose-built electric car produced by General Motors (GM) in the United States. GM never offered the EV1 for public sale. It was only available to consumers under a lease program and was not put up for sale when the lease was up. 660 Generation One EV1s were produced for the 1997 model year, using lead acid batteries. In late 2003, GM officially canceled the EV1 program. Despite unfulfilled waiting lists and positive feedback from the lessees, GM stated that it could not sell enough of the cars to make the EV1 profitable. These cars were later crushed and destroyed.

Fisker Motors - The Karma

Fisker Automotive is a joint venture between Fisker Coachbuild and Quantum Technologies.
All models will feature a cutting-edge plug-in hybrid technology named "Quantum Drive", developed by Quantum Technologies exclusively for Fisker Automotive. This all-new plug–in Quantum Drive chassis layout will allow Fisker to design innovative luxury cars with uncompromised proportions.
The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid electric sportscar shown at the North American International Auto Show in January 2008. Fisker intends to sell its Karma PHEV in late 2009 in the US and in early 2010 in Europe.
It has a range of 49.7 miles (80.0 km) on electric recharge with gasoline backup engine.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/14/fisker-karma-hybrid-sports-car-to-generate-motor-noise-through-e/

Silicon Valley

Looks like Detroit has been called out by California. Silicon Valley, located in San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, has produced some healthy competition for some of the  auto companies who seem too comfortable in their current position as "kings of the automative world".  The west keeps expanding and Silicon Valley is growing right along with it, despite the development of other high-tech economic centers throughout the United States.  It remains the leading high-tech hub because of its large number of engineers and venture capitalists. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley

Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors, Inc. is a Silicon Valley automobile startup company focusing on the production of high performance, consumer-oriented battery electric vehicles. The firm was incorporated in July, 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, California.
Tesla Motors is named after electrical engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla.
Tesla Motors' first production vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, is an all-electric sports car. Tesla is also currently working on a sedan, originally code-named the "WhiteStar" and now known as the Model S, which will be introduced as a 2010 model. It is being designed as an alternative to cars such as the BMW 5 Series and the Audi A6, with an estimated price of $60,000.
Tesla is headquartered in California, US, and also has facilities in Europe, and Asia.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Motors

60 Minutes Interview - The Race for the Electric Car

Sunday, 5th October, I watched a 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl about Electric Cars built by Tesla Motors. This first all-electric sports car, called the Roadster, is powered only by battery. This car is actually on the market and has a large client base, including actor George Clooney. I don't know who their target marketing scope is, but at a cost of $109,000.00, I don't need to know. In this interview, GM's Volt is mentioned, and there seem to be some competition between new comer Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and the Detroit auto executives. Chairman of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk wanted to prove that innovative and nimble Silicon Valley could build a better green car than lumbering, bureaucratic Detroit. Ooooo!!! Low blow. General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz made a comment that "Out of Detroit everybody thinks that Detroit is dumb." I am sure my professor would like to have a go at whoever thinks that.
(The above picture is of The Roadster)
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/05/60minutes/main4502448.shtml

What will we be driving in 2010?

Pictures from left to right: Jaguar CXF, Mazda Ryuga, Acura

Advanced Concept Sports Car.

There are some really hott cars due to be out on the market by 2010, and they all look pretty futuristic: like cars straight out of the movies created by those who dared to dream. With so many car companies vying for top spot in the automative world, there could only be one top spot, but still the competition is great. There's one car out of the movies I'd love to see on the market: Kitt from the new Knight Rider. A cool 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby which trashes the old 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. Who wouldn't love a car which drives on autopilot? Picture this, you leave work, tired and half asleep, you get into your Kitt car and ask it to take you home and wake you when you get there. Ah yeah!! You don't feel like driving and you need to pick upthe kids from a soccer game. Just ask your Kitt car to go get them. After all, it talks too. Haha....dream on.

A bit of Presidential humor to lighten the mood

The Persuaders

To allow consumer's a greater understanding of the marketing world and the tactics used today by businesses to capture their attention and to persuade them to buy, PBS Frontline created a show called The Persuaders. Loaded with interviews of industry veterans, including a look at the psychology behind consumer decisions, this show is both powerful and frightening. How we feel and how we define who we are, especially through our purchases, is the foundation for a persuader's videos.

You can take a look at it online, and see what the marketing clutter is all about.  

http://www.pbs. org/wgbh/ pages/frontline/ shows/cool/ view

General Motors: Weight Loss Diet....huh?

A diet and health program was developed for employees and dependents of General Motors, Inc. and is intended for their exclusive use. This program was developed in conjunction with a grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. It was field tested at the Johns Hopkins Research Centre and was approved for distribution by the Board of Directors, General Motors Corp. at a general meeting on August 15, 1985. General Motors Corp. wholly endorses this program and is making it available to all employees and families. This program will be available at all General Motors Food Service Facilities. It is management's intention to facilitate a wellness and fitness program for everyone.  

This is a seven day well planned diet of eating fruits and vegetables, and abstaining from all alcoholic beverages. Well...healthier employees does result in better output.....So move over Jenny.

Source:  http://www.healthmad.com/Weight-Loss/General-Motors-Weight-Loss-Diet.56927