Autmotive v Social: Ford Facebook Explorer, The Megane Experiment

OK so everyone in the car industry seems to be on the social bandwagon. Or should that be social SUV?

Ford chooses Facebook to reveal latest Explorer model

Ford is the first car manufacturer to use Facebook rather than an auto show to reveal a new model, its Explorer SUV. Prior to the reveal, which took place online today (26 July), Ford had been using the Ford Explorer Facebook page to gain publicity for the car and now has more than 46,000 fans. A series of videos and events, including conversations about the new car with Ford executives that replicate the experience consumers would have at an actual auto show, are available to watch through a live video link on the page. As part of the campaign, Ford will give away an Explorer to one of its Facebook fans, picked at random.

The Megane Experiment
Renault marketing strategy associates Renault with Gallic culture, akin to its “Nicole and Papa” ads of the 80s and 90s. The aim of the campaign is to improve UK sales of the Megane saloon. Ads will contrast the Côte d’Azur resort of Menton with Gisburn in Lancashire to establish which has the greatest “joie de vivre”. The tongue-in-cheek spots will compare a swimming pool in Menton with a puddle in Gisburn, and show a French couple at a sunny seaside restaurant and a British couple outside a pub in bad weather. A 10-day teaser TV and print campaign, launching this week, will claim Menton contains more than 21 Meganes, while Gisburn has none. Consumers will be directed to a website at themeganeexperiment.com, which will follow the journey of Claude as he drives a Megane from Menton to Lancashire. From next month, a follow-up TV, print, radio and digital push will follow Renault’s attempts to give Gisburn greater joie de vivre. Extra content will be avail-able on YouTube and Renault TV. I disagree that the French have “joie de vivre” though: generally they are chain smoking, shrugging and miserable.

Related articles

Ford Reveals 2011 Ford Explorer on Facebook (offonatangent.blogspot.com)
2011 Ford Explorer REVEALED: Can This New Model Save The SUV? (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
Ford Shows Off New Explorer to Facebook Fans with Full Day Of Content (insidefacebook.com)
Ford to unveil 2011 Explorer on Facebook (reviews.cnet.com)
2011 Ford Explorer Changes The Game (ridelust.com)
Ford to unveil redesigned model on Facebook (newstatesman.com)
Scott Meis: Ford Facebook Reveal Day = Smart Digital Launch (scottmeis.com)
Ford unveils lighter version of Explorer (kansas.com)
Inside the 2011 Ford Explorer Facebook Reveal (mashable.com)
OMG LOL: 2011 Ford Explorer to get Facebook reveal (autoblog.com)

Harley Davidson Takes A Right Turn

Harley-Davidson Joins Right-Wing Crazies

Dave Nottoli alerted me to the fact that “It appears Harley-Davidson advertising has yanked the brand far to the right. In a full page ad appearing on the back of today’s USA Today sports section, the American motorcycle company has chosen the risky strategy of embracing political speech. The ad, whose copy reads: “It’s A Free Country. But Have You Felt Like That Lately?” continues in red and blue typeface over an image of a biker flying the Stars and Stripes “Has the torch of liberty gotten a little dimmer? Is it starting to feel claustrophobic inside the safety net? Do we still live in the home of the brave?”

Related:

Interbrand Report: The World’s Most Valuable Brands (time.com)
Harley-Davidson cutting more jobs (news.bbc.co.uk)

Automotive: Fiat, Fiesta

This Fiat Is Very Unreliable
This Fiat van spotted in London by Ben over at Noisy Decent Graphics demonstrates the power an irritated conumer can wield. Says Ben: “I bet Fiat hate it if he turns up at the local dealership. And it’s highly visible on the road, and now thanks to me, on search engines”.

Ford Flickrizes Fiesta
Ford’s European division chose to launch an all-images consumer generated thing that lets people contribute to and change a Fiesta covered with a collage of images. People can rate the images they like, dislike or add their own. I would like to think that this is innovative comms planning rather than a generic Yahoo offering…

Hipsters, GTbyCITROEN, Photomake, Gates v PC, TV Ads Work

Hipsters Will Save Our Economy

In a rather striking article this week, Forbes recognizes hipsters as possibly the one demographic group that’s still happily consuming, at least in the retail sector. The article argues that while hipsters – here very broadly defined – might not make a lot of money now, they are a huge, powerful consumer group, and marketing dollars spent to capture them now will likely pay off in the future. Not to mention the fact that, even today, retailers which cater to the “creative class” are thriving while the rest of the retail industry struggles:

Citroën and Gran Turismo Debut a Real Car for the Virtual World

The gaming world merged with reality this week at the Paris auto show with the unveiling of the GTbyCITROËN. The sportscar is the first ever car to be specifically designed to bring the virtual and real worlds together. The French car maker partnered with Polyphony Digital Inc, the creators of the Gran Turismo series to stretch their creative vision.The exterior design of the car is a modern look at a racing coupe. The concept uses sharp body lines and dynamic shapes to communicate performance and speed. In the game version the car is powered by a zero emission fuel cell and electric drivetrain. There’s no word on if the physical prototype runs. For now the ‘Citroën GT’ represents one automaker embracing the gaming world and testing out how to potentially integrate it into product development.

Photomake: Making Drawings Real

Photomake is a very cool web service that will translate line drawings into solid objects. Like a 2 dimensional version of Shapeways, the site makes it really easy to create unique objects. All you have to do is draw something, scan it – or even take a photo of it, upload it to the site, and in a few days you’ll have a custom item. They offer a bunch of different subsrtes including 17 different colors of acrylic, styrene and plywood. People have been making all kinds of interesting objects with photomake, like jewelery, furniture and art sculptures.

Why Microsoft’s Gates/Seinfeld Went Viral and ‘I’m a PC’ Ads Didn’t
According to Visible Measures, which charts online video viewing trends and has measured the videos associated with Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign, the Seinfeld/Gates ads are squashing the “I’m a PC” ads by a margin of 4.3 million viral video views. Both ads had about equal video placements (about 75 each). Visible Measures points out that while the Seinfeld/Gates clips came out two weeks earlier than the “I’m a PC” ads, Seinfeld/Gates drew twice as many viewers their first week in market than the PC ads did. After two weeks in market, Visible Measures says, “Seinfeld/Gates was still collecting more than 700,000 views per day, while the ‘I’m a PC’ clips had tapered off to less than 50,000 views per day.” Why might this be? Microsoft sparked a dialogue in the Seinfeld ad that isn’t there in PC ads.

TV Ads “work” even in Fast Forward

Now a neuromarketing study finds that viewers aren’t zoning out, but actually pay attention to ads when hitting their fast-forward button. “Our conclusion was that people don’t skip ads,” said Carl Marci, cofounder and CEO of Innerscope Research. “They’re just processing them differently.”

Receipts, Branding vs Dating, Smart Car Vending, Chatwall, Heinz #1, 5O Facebook Apps

• Branding On Receipts
  John Dodds spots this bit of fun on the receipt for the White Cube art gallery in London. John says: Pricing is difficult. White Cube demonstrates the importance of identifying with your customer while relieving them of large sums of money.
  (tags: art popculture)



• Branding is Like Dating
  As you will see, branding really is like dating. It requires a work, truth, self-confidence, and growth. Here are the 7 steps that Marcus outlined for “successful packaging design.”
  (tags: branding design logo marketing packaging identity)



• Smart Vendor car vending machine in Shibuya
  Holding a full-size Smart Car, the faux vending machine has two choices (coupe and cabrio), and a convenient slot to insert the amount you need (about $20k). This is a concept only, but fits nicely into the Japanese love for vending machines.
  (tags: advertising japan marketing trends smartcar automotive)



• German “ChatWall” & Event-Based Mobile Marketing
  German mobile solution developer Haase & Martin has introduced their version of text-to-screen they call the SMS ChatWall, which they call the ultimate text-message entertainment tool for large gatherings and events.
  (tags: mobile socialmedia experiential)
• Heinz Ketchup Ranks No. 1 in Brand Equity
  Henry John Heinz said “to do a common thing uncommonly well brings success,” and Heinz Ketchup is apparent proof of that maxim, ranking consistently among top brands in Harris Interactive’s brand-equity study – and claiming the No. 1 equity score in
  (tags: heinz brands marketing fmcg cpg)
• Taking a Look at the 50 Most Active Facebook Apps
  As we approach the looming Facebook Profile Redesign, Inside Facebook has listed the top 50 Facebook applications by daily active user count, roughly categorizing them by type and, in cases like Bumper Sticker and Owned, listing the parent company.
  (tags: facebook stats socialmedia)

Automotive marketing “sub optimal” … and here’s the figures to prove it …

I experienced a mix of emotions when I read the headline “Automakers Underspend on Media that Influence Buyers”. I think it was maybe a feeling of frustration that this seems to have been reported several times before, and yet nothing seems to change … relief that it is once in again in the spotlight … and then possibly the wry reflection that probably still nothing will change!

It appears that “top automotive advertisers” spent by far the greatest percentage of their media dollars on TV in 2006 (surprise) which is an incredibly unbalanced media spend compared with influence on purchase (approximately 40% of spend vs. 17-18% of influence). The analysis comes amid reports of automakers’ reallocation of more dollars to digital advertising, but those moves “may not be going far enough…”

I have a few issues with the research … for example, what of the myriad other “connections” (if I can use the word without being sued) and influences outside advertising, that affect people’s decisions?

I was initially dubious of the AOC’s title this year “Why Don’t People Get It” … reading the above research I am starting to come round to the idea!

Uncoolhunter, Karim’s Veuve, Fairey’s Penguin, Cigarette Phone, Early Adopters, Starbucks + iTunes, FOR YOU, WineSide, Energy Maps

• The UnCoolHunter
  theuncoolhunter.com is a “website/magazine designed for a reader who wants to enrich him or herself with information related to the new trends”. Marvelous!
  (tags: advertising design media uncool)



• Karim Rashid x Veuve Clicquot Globalight
  The latest collaboration between Karim Rashid and Veuve Clicquot is this reinvention of a chandelier in the form of a glowing pink champagne holder that doubles as a cooling tote. It is juxtaposed here with his original designer-napkin scribble …
  (tags: design alcohol marketing)



• Obey George Orwell
  Fairly quickly after the release of his iconic poster of Barack Obama, Shepard Fairey follows up with some more political-themed work for Penguin that borrows cleverly from his Obey work.
  (tags: art books design publishing literature)
• Cigarette Phone
  The manufacturer who came up with the idea of a Cigarette phone must be commended for its ingenuity. The handset is the exact shape and size of a cigarette box. You can even keep a few ciggies in it. Reviewers talk about poor build quality and lack of functions … but, c’mon!
  (tags: mobile tobacco digital)



• Low-Hanging Fruit Can Feed Brands Well Into The Future
  New research reveals that early adopters are implementing social media in their organizations at a rate 500% faster than wait-and-see marketers.
  (tags: socialmedia marketing)
• Starbucks, ITunes Announce ‘Pick Of The Week’
  Each Tuesday, more than 7,000 Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. will stock a new Pick of the Week download card redeemable on the iTunes Store at itunes.com.
  (tags: starbucks itunes music digital marketing)
• FOR YOU…
  This site is (apparently) not a bad joke or poorly conceived scam. Like a personal assistant offering fantasy chores, artist David Horvitz has created a unique list of things he’ll do for you and mail to you if you pay him…
  (tags: blogs commerce ecommerce entrepreneur digital socialmedia)
• Wine By The Trial-sized Tube
  WineSide is taking a novel approach by offering wines packaged in sample-sized tubes. The company offers both sweet and classic wines in patented, flat-base glass tubes.
  (tags: wine npd packaging marketing)
• Onitsuka Tiger Trainer Vending Machine
  I was happy to spot a new automated selling device in London: Onitsuka Tiger, the Japanese sports brand, launched a sneaker vending machine on Carnaby Street today.
  (tags: design fashion japan london sneakers retail marketing)
• Maps For New-Energy Entrepreneurs
  The quest for alternative energy is the gold rush of our era. FirstLook sells detailed reports to new-energy entrepreneurs that show how much wind or sunshine an area is likely to receive.
  (tags: energy green map windpower solar environment entrepreneur)

Links for 2007-10-18 : Cross-Media, Toyota, Steve Hall

• ESPN, Nielsen Make Foray into Cross-Media Measurement
  The program builds a snapshot of how audiences move between media platforms, and how exposure to ads on one drive people to others. I guess its a testament to my former media planner nerdiness that I find this news interesting, even exciting.
  (tags: integration marketing metric audience)



• Toyota Goes Deep with Web, Gaming Push
  Instead of buying ad space on big portals, Toyota targeted local newspapers, TV station sites and even video games – sites more relevant to the target’s daily lives than large portals. Here is the World of Warcraft parody they released recently, courtesy of YouTube.
  (tags: internet marketing strategy automotive advertising)
• Steve Hall is a sell out
  One assumes its “trebles all round” at AdRants today, which just sold a minority stake to Watershed for $750k.
  (tags: adrants web2.0)