Record Breaking US Auto Sales Despite Lackluster Advertising

The big news is that December 2011 was a banner month for the auto industry and led to a year of growth for most car manufacturers.  With the exception of Toyota and Honda,  suffering from earthquake-related supply problems since March, December set records for most of the major auto makers.    Consumers have held onto their older cars and the holiday deals were the tipping point for many to trade in. This is still a great sign for the US economy.
Automakers have now planted themselves firmly in the December holiday period as the new “must have” item.   However, the advertising for the holiday was lackluster for the most part according to experts and surveys. Most automakers were touting year-end clearance incentives, sign and drive programs, etc. to incent sales.  Few had breakthrough branding campaigns.  With December such an important month there is now much at risk if the creative is lacking punch.  The Super Bowl ads of last year were terrific - strong brand building and very creative.  This is what the industry should have been taken into the December period. 
Here are my favorite December car ads.
Chrysler - Chrysler’s sales were reportedly up +37% and were the best monthly retail sales in 4 years and best sales overall since May 2008. The flagship Chrysler 300 had the most creative approach bringing a sense of hope and spirit that still lives in Detroit.  After all, rooting for Detroit is now like rooting for all of us.

Chrysler–Good Things Dr. Dre

Visual Marketing (and the Power of a Cute Spokesperson)

There is power in visual ideas – executed well. 

I am starting to see more and more info graphics charts everywhere on the blogosphere. I love facts and visuals. The chart on the left distills who’s who in the world of car insurance.

Visual cues are so important in the world of marketing. Car insurance has used visual cues tremendously well over the last several years. Car insurance companies used to be pretty boring advertisers. Messages were filled with safety and security laden jingles. Worse than that, most people don’t like insurance companies due to their high premiums. But the industry has actually become fun and it is due to some brilliant visual advertising ideas.

When Geico insurance launched great campaigns with the gecko and the cavemen, people took notice and starting moving in droves to their brand.  

“Flo” at the Progressive “insurance store” introduced us to her quirky personality and is kind of of someone you might want to hang out with.

 

 

 

 

“Mayhem” crashes face first through your roof or windshield and is similarly shaking up the stodgy image of Allstate’s “you’re in good hands” moniker.

 

 

State Farm could use some more interesting advertising. Their messages are generic and forgettable.

  

I don’t know what Farmer’s Insurance core message is in their advertising, but they have definitely caught our attention (just entering the Philadelphia market) with their quirky personality and strong jingle.

We all don’t have the massive advertising budgets of these companies, but don’t be fooled, the strength of these messages are in the strength of the visual idea, not how much is being spent.

The Aging of the Media Audience

Ever wonder why the up-and-coming stars and contestants on American Idol (age 15 – 29 roughly) sing songs that were famous in the 1960s and 1970s?   I mean, come on, shouldn’t they be singing Lady Gaga and Ke$ha… (Not Motown and the Beatles)?  Well, the answer may be rather obvious to you.  Or maybe not.  The median age of the people watching American Idol is around 45.  Median means half below and half above. 

An recent article in The Economist on April 7th laid it out pretty clearly.  For those in the media business, it is not surprising that the median age of each of the major networks (except Fox) is now 50.  That is not all because TV is a bygone appliance. It is more to do with the fact that the population itself is getting older. 

I do remember the days that marketers looked at all demographics as male and female 18 – 49.  It was assumed that after that point, (known as “50+…. and irrelevant”) people were just elderly and unable to purchase things as they were likely in a wheelchair and homebound.   Really, that was the media and marketing thinking 15 years ago.  I was there.  Over the past years, however, marketers grew a little more wise and agreed that 50+ happens to have far more disposable income than the younger group, tends to shop more, and make bigger purchases (and likely not in a wheelchair until the early 80s). 

Now it seems that this viewer is a hot commodity – they tend to value brands, go online more than ever – even  pay for downloaded music (who does that anymore?) and trust advertising quite a bit more than the younger cohort.  Youth may still be enviable, but they are hard to pin down and are notoriously fickle as to paying for anything online. TV has become a friend to the 50-something consumer.  Networks proudly pitch their older viewership age demographics to the advertisers who seek this desirable target. 

So the next time you see Viagra ads on American Idol, realize that is why the artists are singing Beatles songs.

TV and Internet Together Offer a Richer Viewing Experience

It has been predicted that the explosive growth of the internet and social communities would spell the demise of traditional forms of media – namely TV and print (magazines, newspapers).  But this trend has not played out. I came across some information that begins to confirm the other side to the story. There is actually an observed synergy between the two mediums. 

NBCUniversal conducted a study of people following the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the results were that those who both watched the Olympics on TV and followed on the internet watched twice as much TV as those who watched only on TV and did not use the internet, as reported by Sheryl Feldinger, the senior vice president of strategic marketing and metrics at NBCUniversal, at the BBM Stay Tuned conference in Toronto on March 30th, and printed in an article in the Hollywood Reporter. Viewers relived dramatic moments or looked to the personal side of the athletes online while watching live events on TV.  Younger viewers also watched three times more TV coverage when they were also engaged online.  

While, on the surface, this might look like another arcane piece of analysis for the media and advertising community, the results point to a larger insight.  Namely,  the future of the internet and TV may be one of happy coexistence, where TV programming and internet combine to allow a more satisfying overall experience.  For example, during a live TV program, the internet provides immediate access to do some behind-the-scene analysis for the program being watched.

TV is considered a “passive” media form, unlike books and print that require imagination and visualization (“active”) while reading. Now the “two-screen” approach can build interactivity into the platform to become an “active” medium where viewers have access to immediate in-depth commentary and search.  TV broadcasters (as well as print for that matter) have begun to build out programming and online linkage, but are only scratching the surface of bringing viewers a totally integrated “two-screen” experience.  The future of traditional media may depend upon how quickly they are able to create this new experiential media form.