Posts Tagged ‘auto advertising’
Mahoney defied gravity – and recession – at VW and Subaru.
by Joseph Szczesny on Feb.25, 2013
Chevy's new global marketing chief Tim Mahoney.
General Motors is reaching outside its ranks to bring in an outside fireman to help shore up marketing at the big Chevrolet brand – which suffered an unexpected decline in U.S. and global market share last year. Tim Mahoney, who helped both Subaru and Volkswagen defy gravity during the most recession recession, will become Chief Marketing Officer Global Chevrolet and Global GM Marketing Operations Leader, effective April 1.
Mahoney, who gave no sign he was preparing to leave Volkswagen of America, Inc. during appearances at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this month, has had something of a hot hand in the past five years during a recession-ridden era when car sales have been hurt by weak consumer confidence.
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For the past two years, Mahoney served as VWoA’s executive vice president and chief product and marketing officer, overseeing a wave of clever and creative advertising that finally helped the German automaker overcome years of inertia to chalk up the healthiest sales growth it has experienced in the U.S. market in four decades.
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Tags: Chevrolet marketing, auto advertising, auto news, car news, chevrolet advertising, chevrolet news, chevy advertising, chevy marketing, joe szczesny, mahoney chevrolet, mahoney chevy, mahoney subaru, mahoney vw, thedetroitbureau, tim mahoney
Posted in Automobiles | Comments Off
The Super Bowl Auto Ad Brawl Has Begun.
by Marty Bernstein on Jan.25, 2013
Mercedes offers a sexy sneak peek at the auto ad it plans for Super Bowl XLVII with Kate Upton.
The hype has begun. Super Bowl XLVII is still ten days away, but the mega-million-buck auto ad brawl is already underway as three of the eight deep pocket car advertisers pre-launch/pre-sell their new commercials to NFL fans! The reason? Economics. And a numbers game.
At somewhere between $2.4 and $4.0 million per 30-second commercial this amounts to a helluva big expenditure for just one airing. But there’s an even bigger number, as over 115 million American viewers will watch the game February 3, some media mavens are predicting.
Until recently, advertising on the Super Bowl has been nothing more than putting up the game day spot and hoping, maybe, that it will trigger some Monday-morning quarterbacking around the water cooler — with polls and research adding some arguable, additional value. That was then.
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What’s become apparent is that a fairly large percentage of viewers are more interested in the commercials than the game itself. So, how to take advantage of that and extend the payback beyond just a game-day airing that is over in 30 seconds, whether a viewer was sitting in front of the TV or off grabbing something from the refrigerator?
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Tags: audi super bowl, auto advertising, auto news, autos super bowl, beyonce corvette, beyonce super bowl, car ads super bowl, car news, chrysler super bowl, hyundai super bowl, kate upton mercedes, kate upton super bowl, marty bernstein, marty's marketing minutia, mercedes super bowl, thedetroitbureau, vw super bowl
Posted in Automobiles | 2 Comments »
Finding New Roads - and new customers.
by Marty Bernstein on Jan.11, 2013
Barbarians at the gate? The media hordes prepare for their annual assault on Detroit's Cobo Hall.
For years Cobo Hall, the venue for the North American International Automobile Show has been suspect. No matter how good the vehicles may be displayed with special lighting, the roof did leak, the rest rooms were awful, it was either too hot or too cold and exhibitors and media attendees alike were certain to come up with a vociferous array of complaints.
Result? A three-year, three-phase $270 million renovation and expansion is nearly complete, just in time for the show’s media preview days. There’s a new atrium overlooking the Windsor, Canada skyline and the Detroit River. The Wayne exhibit hall has had 25,000 square feet added and parking has been expanded by 500 spaces.
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Also good news is the relocation of the Michelin Media Center from the inconvenient third floor of Cobo to Michigan Hall at river level. It’s located between the new three-story atrium, and the indoor Aisin Drive Green Experience test track. There will be more work spaces — 700 of ‘em –, hard line web connectivity, broadcast and photo centers and of course, a steady flow of coffee, refreshments and snacks.
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Tags: 2013 north american international auto show, Detroit Auto Show, auto advertising, auto marketing, auto news, best auto ads, best car ads, beyonce corvette, car marketing, car news, chevy runs deep, find new roads, marty bernstein, marty's marketing minutia, super bowl ads, thedetroitbureau
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by Marty Bernstein on Jan.04, 2013
The godfather of bad TV auto advertising, Cal Worthington, lives on.
We saw 2012 end with metaphoric skyrockets lighting the midnight sky for most auto marketers. Business was far better than expected. It was good, damn near great! Some auto advertisers were patting themselves on the back for their Super Bowl ads that went viral – viral all year! The consumer marketplace despite the on-going recession was in the car buying and leasing mood. Result?
Single malts and champagne toasts along with the occasional long necks were raised in praise of the outgoing year along with great expectations and eager optimism for 2013.
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But in some corners of the automotive marketing, advertising, promotion and public relations world the future was at best bleak. There were more important new ad agency appointments in 2012 than ever before with many unplanned career changes and relocations for creatives, media and suits at every level. And there’s at least one big switch to come in the New Year with others rumored.
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Tags: auto advertising, auto marketing, automotive marketing, car ads, car advertising, car marketing, marty bernstein, marty's marketing minutia, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles | 1 Comment »
The ad agency games are on!
by Marty Bernstein on Dec.07, 2012
Is Honda getting the best possible creative work? That's what the review is intended to find out.
For decades – yes, decades – automobile clients were the backbone of many advertising agencies. Chevrolet was with Campbell-Ewald since the 1940’s. Gone under the brief but dramatic reign of global marketing czar Joel Ewanick. Cadillac was the cornerstone of McManus John and Adams (and various iterations) since the 1900’s as were its siblings Pontiac and GM Corporate. Gone like that, also by JE. Volkswagen began the trend of contemporary advertising with some legendary Beetle ads. But eventually, Doyle Dane Bernbach lost that business, too.
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In recent times BMW has changed agencies, as have Volvo, Porsche, Chrysler, Dodge, Buick, GMC, Mazda, Jaguar, Hyundai, Land Rover, Mini, VW, Saab, Fiat and a couple I can’t recall. Billions of dollars in expenditures and income gone. It is a very tough and competitive business — and as we’ve just discovered, the Honda/Acura account could soon join that list.
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Tags: acura advertising, acura news, auto advertising, auto marketing, auto news, car news, honda ad agency review, honda ad review, honda advertising, honda news, honda review rpa, mad men, marty bernstein, marty's marketing minutia, thedetroitbureau
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Ferrari takes to the rails, Nissan gets a Bolt from Usain, inside Google and more.
by Marty Bernstein on Oct.19, 2012
Yes, it's even faster than a Ferrari.
It might have been a slow week for the automotive marketing world if it weren’t for the world’s fastest man, London Olympics star Usain Bolt showing up in Tokyo this time for a tie-up with Nissan — more of that to follow.
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In fact, endorsements were the dominant news, Martha Stewart linking up with Toyota while Kia moved from Hamsters to a jazzy Batman Optima at New York’s Comic Com and Chrysler revealed plans to pair up with Motown – and the hip-hop world. But here’s a look at some other developments over the past week:
The Ferrari Railroad
Travelers to Italy rejoice. For a few hundred Euros you can now enjoy a Ferrari on a route from Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna and Milan on the world’s fastest railroad known as Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori or NTV.
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Tags: auto advertising, auto marketing, auto news, bolt nissan gt-r, car news, ferrari rail, ferrari train, google methodology, martha stewart toyota, marty bernstein, marty's marketing minutia, thedetroitbureau, usain bolt nissan
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But this time, the cars may be the stars.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Oct.08, 2012
Chrysler's global marketing chief went out on a limb - or more accurately, out in a blizzard - to get rapper Eminem for a much-watched Super Bowl ad.
Few advertisers have created such a stir during the Super Bowl as Chrysler, which knocked it out of the park in 2011 with an unusual, 2-minute commercial featuring rapper Eminem, then came back with the controversial Clint Eastwood commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl.
Might the maker try to score again with a spot during next year’s big game, typically one of the most widely viewed TV events in the world?
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“Yes, we are leaning towards being there,” said Chrysler’s global marketing czar Olivier Francois. In a conversation with TheDetroitBureau.com, he admitted that the challenge is coming up with another breakout idea. “Clearly, topping what we have done so far – no mystery – is not going to be easy.”
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Tags: Super Bowl advertising, auto advertising, auto marketing, auto news, car news, chrysler super bowl, cint eastwood chrysler, clint eastwood, eminem, eminem chrysler, fiat super bowl, olivier francois, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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The man who shook things up is latest shaken out.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jul.29, 2012
GM Marketing Czar Joel Ewanick shown during a Chevrolet news conference two months ago.
Joel Ewanick, the agent of change brought in by General Motors just over two years ago to shake up its moribund marketing operations, has unexpectedly resigned.
In a terse statement issued Sunday evening the maker said only that the 52-year-old executive “has elected to resign immediately.” Alan Batey, GM’s vice president of U.S. Sales and Service, will step in as global marketing chief on an interim basis.
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Exactly what led to Ewanick’s sudden departure isn’t clear but it takes even those working close to the marketing czar by surprise. In fact, it appears to have taken Ewanick himself by surprise. The former Hyundai marketing chief appeared on the Internet TV show Autoline After Hours barely a week ago and it was clear, “This was not a guy who saw this coming,” said host John McElroy.
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Tags: Joel Ewanick, akerson ewanick, auto advertising, auto news, car news, dan akerson, ewanick GM, ewanick facebook, ewanick gm marketing, ewanick resigns, ewanick super bowl, gm advertising, gm marketing, gm news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, steve girsky, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automobiles | 1 Comment »
by Marty Bernstein on May.25, 2012
GM marketing czar Joel Ewanick, shown with the Chevrolet Volt.
Hooray for Joel Ewanick! He had a helluva week breaking molds, traditions and profligate spending while making new ad biz rules. He’s gone where few CMO’s have dared to go with the outlandish premise of getting a measurable return on every component of the corporation’s massive advertising budget.
Part 1 was killing GM’s Facebook ads, a media trip into the unknown that was not working: i.e., generating measureable interest or involvement. Feeling good is not a Metrix element of marketing. Results count, right?
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Part 2 was the cancellation of three 30-second commercials on next year’s Super Bowl because they become too expensive. What a bizarre concept. GM not on the Super Bowl. OMG!
But the media buy of $11.4 million based on a price tag of $3.8 million apiece is chump change when one considers the other elements of the major expenses for a traditional Super Bowl package for Gargantuan Motors that could boost the bill by another $10 million or more.
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Tags: Joel Ewanick, auto advertising, auto news, car marketing, car news, ewanick GM, gm advertising, gm marketing, gm news, gm super bowl, marty bernstein, sports marketing, thedetroitbureau
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Maker resists reported jump of up to $1 mil for 30-second spot.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.18, 2012
GM marketing czar Joel Ewanick, shown with the Chevrolet Volt.
In the latest in a series of surprise moves, General Motors has decided to boycott next January’s Super Bowl advertising extravaganza in protest over a huge increase in advertiser rates.
The decision follows word that the maker will also pull its ads off Facebook, the social media site that is today on its way to what could be the largest IPO in U.S. history. But insiders say GM is weighing more heavily than ever the perceived payoff for its estimated $4.5 billion ad budget, backing out of purchases that might deliver a halo but relatively little in terms of actual results.
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“We continue to understand the value the Super Bowl provides,” said GM marketing spokesman Pat Morrissey, “but with the continued increase in price we just can’t justify it,” he said confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal itself attributed to the maker’s marketing czar Joel Ewanick.
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Tags: Chris Perry, auto ads sports, auto advertising, auto news, car news, general motors super bowl, gm facebook, gm marketing, gm news, gm super bowl, gm superbowl, joel ewankick, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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