Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
New cars were on the menu, of course, but so was the potential of a Chrysler tie-up with Fiat and its small car expertise. It's all being done in the hopes of getting consumers to think about cars.
Posted in Advertising, Driving Matters, Incentives, Product News, Technology | No Comments »
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Cheryl and Chris Jensen in the NY Times deliver a comprehensive overview of the various ideas being considered to convince consumers to get into the new vehicle market. Whatever happens, it's the best time ever to buy a new car, minivan or truck.
Posted in Advertising, Advice, Buying Tips, Financing, Incentives, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Program For Change, Sales, Save Money | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
In an effort to get its sales moving again, Ford has brought forward a plan to make the ownership experience better for its customers. The best way to see what the Detroit firm has in mind is to consider the press release on the matter:
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Financing, Incentives, Marketing, Pricing, Product News, Save Money | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
In an effort to get ahead of the pack on the customer service front (and get its sales moving again), GM has announced an impressive set of non-price incentives for new car buyers. The best way to see what the US firm is offering is to consider the original statement ...
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Incentives, Marketing, Product News, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Friday, March 20th, 2009
GM's struggles to survive have put its most female-friendly division at risk, but the operators of the Saturn brand and dealerships are doing their best to keep customers interested. The lineup of products and no-haggle, no-hassle sales atmosphere should still be attractive to a lot of women.
Posted in Advertising, Advice, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Financing, Green, Incentives, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
The cars that so many experts were telling the car companies to make more of are now sitting around on new car lots everywhere, mostly because they make less fiscal sense than ever with gasoline prices so low. Even with various discounts currently on offer, it's very hard to recover ...
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Gas Issues, Green, Incentives, Is There A Lesson Here?, Pricing, Product News, Technology | No Comments »
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
Even though female viewership of the Super Bowl has been going up in recent years, apparently the news hasn't gotten through to the companies that pay big bucks for commercials.
Posted in Advertising, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing | No Comments »
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
It's a little unfair to say that what the children of Baby Boomers want is not on many car companies' menus at present, but it is true that many changes will have to be made if they want to attract younger buyers in large volumes.
Posted in Advertising, Children, Marketing, Product News, Program For Change | No Comments »
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Ford has decided to make 100 units of its popular Fiesta subcompact model (with gas, insurance, concierge service, etc) to US citizens who create the worthiest videos. See details on this web page.
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories, Driving Matters, Incentives, Marketing, Save Money | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
The blogosphere has made it easier for anyone with internet access to inflict his (it's usually a guy) idiotic opinions on the world, so how long will it be before we start to see an outbreak of outrageous commentary on cars? Not long enough.
Posted in Advertising, Driving Matters, Sad stories | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
In an effort to offset any more gigantic sales drops, Hyundai will let people return their new car if they lose their jobs within the first year of the purchase. The Korean car company has offered this program in Canada before, but it's believed that this is a first in ...
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Employment, Incentives, Product News, Program For Change | No Comments »
Thursday, January 1st, 2009
Supply with little demand has a pretty obvious result, and that's what's happening on lots all over the continent as dealers get creative to get people to buy a new vehicle. According to one observer, this is maybe the best sales climate in a decade for consumers.
Posted in Advertising, Advice, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Financing, Incentives, Pricing, Product News, Save Money | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
This is an excellent example of how disposed various car dealerships are to doing business these days, but the consumer still has to be sure to do her math and not get something she doesn't really need.
Posted in Advertising, Advice, Dealerships, Incentives, Warnings | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
That mad Brit auto writer, Jeremy Clarkson, is back with details on what many people have suspected about men and over-powered cars for a long time.
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Sad stories, Technology | No Comments »
Monday, November 10th, 2008
This seems like a good idea, since you have to do your seatbelt up for the colorful and large corsage to be visible, and anything that gets people doing up their seatbelts is a great idea.
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories, Design, Parts, Warnings | No Comments »
Friday, October 17th, 2008
To remove what they believe is a mistaken impression about the availability of credit for new car loans and leases, the world's two biggest car companies are running marketing campaigns to show consumers what kind of financing plans they offer.
Posted in Advertising, Incentives, Marketing, Pricing | No Comments »
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
The Italian sports car company brings out the California, which it hopes will appeal more to women. Right now, men account for 96 of every car with the prancing horse insignia, so there's surely lots of room for improvement. A British writer gives her view on what it is that ...
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Program For Change | No Comments »
Monday, October 13th, 2008
In an effort to break away from the regular advertising arc for cars, Honda actually built something into a stretch of road north of Los Angeles that played a few notes of music every time a car drove over it. This amused some drivers but also annoyed many of the ...
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories, Gadgets, Program For Change, Technology | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Best of all, it comes with a holiday on the Riviera as well as a whole bunch of boring old car stuff.
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories, Incentives, Marketing | No Comments »
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
An athlete-supported charity called Right-To-Play that promotes physical activity in less-developed parts of the world will not get a high-profile spot at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 because it took sponsorship money from Mitsubishi, which puts it in conflict with firms that have paid more for Olympic sponsorships. ...
Posted in Advertising, Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
While women often seem to play second fiddle to men when it comes to automotive marketing in North America, it's nothing to how they're treated in the UK, Europe and (especially) Japan and Korea. So this story about the car execs in Britain moving more toward a female-centric reality is ...
Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Program For Change | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
To show you how deeply strange men who love cars can be, consider this column in the NY Times (there's probably nothing serious going on in the auto world right now) about whether Don Draper of TV's Mad Men did the right thing when he bought a new Cadillac in ...
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories, Is There A Lesson Here? | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
The primary reaction to the idea of TVs behind cash registers in service stations showing ads is that those cars that run on electricity and can be recharged at home or at work (like the Chevrolet Volt) can't come fast enough.
Posted in Advertising, Gas Issues, Marketing, Technology | No Comments »
Monday, September 8th, 2008
Photos of the car that could revolutionize the auto industry (you might not have to put gas into it or visit a gas station ever again) have surfaced on the web, a week or so before its official unveiling to GM employees on the firm's 100 anniversary. The car looks ...
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Driving Matters, Marketing, Program For Change, Technology | No Comments »
Saturday, September 6th, 2008
On the face of it the Better World Club (BWC) seems to be a greener version of the classic roadside assistance company, but the smart consumer will take care to look at the small print closely. The same goes for what the AAA is up to with regard to its ...
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Driving Matters, Green, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Safety | No Comments »
Monday, September 1st, 2008
If you've got a spare 30 seconds, check out this funny little video for the Sci-Fi network that shows what the perfect car for women will be like in the future.
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories | No Comments »
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
For living proof that car dealers can spin anything to their advantage if they're clever, consider that a BMW-Mini store in British Columbia says it's trying to get its service customers to take bicycles instead of cars as loaners because it's environmentally sensitive, not cheaper for them. No takers yet, ...
Posted in Advertising, Cute stories, Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
At first of course the increase in mobile Wi-Fi hotspots will be cries about more driver distraction (which will be true), but beyond that might be more consumer-pleasing features. Maybe you'll be able to download a new movie for the kids (Shrek VII) while you're filling up the tank with ...
Posted in Advertising, Children, Driving Matters, Gadgets, Technology | No Comments »
Saturday, August 9th, 2008
A marketing executive talks about how women interact with cars, and not.
Posted in Advertising, Gadgets, Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, August 8th, 2008
The fallout from today's painful gas prices continues to ripple across the economy, as this informative article from the Society of Environmental Journalists makes clear. In particular there are points that anyone trying to sell an SUV will appreciate.
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Gas Issues, Is There A Lesson Here? | No Comments »
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
Beth Spotswood has a funny post about promotion event for Ford Flex in San Francisco.
Beth writes "For reasons I don't really understand, I get invited to some weird, weird events. Like this past Wednesday when my frieditor (that'd be friend/editor) Eve and I were treated to a night on the ...
Posted in Advertising, Sales | No Comments »
Monday, July 7th, 2008
JD Power released its semi-annual survey on the usefulness of automakers' websites in the search for a new vehicle and Kia.com came first.
The survey found "Kia has successfully satisfied shoppers with its straightforward, intuitive Web site by providing pages that load quickly and that are easy to navigate," said Arianne ...
Posted in Advertising, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Volvo has announced a new program that helps a cancer charity and gives Volvo owners a discount on service costs. The press release states "Is there any better cup of lemonade to buy than one that works to find a cure for pediatric cancer? The world's first virtual lemonade stand ...
Posted in Advertising, Incentives, Repairs | No Comments »
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
Karl Lagerfeld has been drafted by the French government to appear in a road safety campaign this summer. The ad encourages French drivers to store yellow vests and triangles in their vehicles in case of emergency. The tag line is "It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything, but ...
Posted in Advertising, Safety | No Comments »
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
There is an article in yesterday's National Post about car propaganda from the first half of the 20th Century. Peter Kenter writes "I like the look and feel of public safety and propaganda posters from days gone by. The people who put their creative muscles behind them had an axe ...
Posted in Advertising | No Comments »
