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Luxury Automakers Shifting Budgets Online

Posted by Tom O'Regan on February 28th, 2013 at 9:49 am

This past summer, Martini Media composed luxury brand research that looked closely at how brands were leveraging digital to connect with affluent consumers online. Based on recent demand from marketers in the auto industry, we extended our research to further examine brands in the automotive space. What we learned is that, by and large, automakers are following their consumers online. One could say – if one had a tendency to pun – that the automotive is driving the digital channel forward. And while luxury auto brands aren’t exactly leading the pack, they are keeping up quite nicely.
Agencies report that auto brands are moving into digital channels more quickly than other brands – and why not? The luxury auto story can be told elegantly online with rich media. As with TV, there’s an opportunity to roll HD video featuring beautiful images of the car in motion with atmospheric music, but rich media has the advantage of being interactive in addition to being very visual. Consumers can click to take a tour of the car, zoom in on specific features, even locate a vehicle in local inventory and make an appointment for a test drive at the dealership. Rich media was practically... Read more

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Posted in Ad Networks, Ad Serving, Creative Best Practices, Research, Social Media, Video | 1 Comment »

Big Social Media Plans + Small Budget = No Problem.

Posted by Nick Matarazzo on October 19th, 2012 at 11:01 am

Three simple steps to help marketers get the biggest bang for their social media buck.
When it comes to marketing budgets, big isn’t always better in social media.  In fact, smaller budgets sometimes net the best results.
In our industry, most automotive marketing budgets are sizeable.  But like other businesses, share of budget dedicated to social media varies by automotive brand.
The fact is social media levels the playing field between the haves and the have-nots.  With a little bit of ingenuity and knowledge, and by following these three simple steps, it’s possible for small budgets to compete head-to-head with deep pockets to achieve maximum success.
Step #1:   Develop ideas with viral potential.

Marketers who view social media as efficient channels through which they steadily self-promote, where they do more talking than listening, or where they attempt to impose brand messaging and force brand loyalty instead of encouraging it are looking at it all wrong.
Social media is efficient because it’s viral. It isn’t designed for bragging about how great your business is.  It’s about enticing people to brag about your business for you. Essentially, social media offers smart marketers the opportunity to turn a handful of people into an enormous labyrinth of loyal brand... Read more

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Posted in Creative Best Practices, Opinions, Social Media | 9 Comments »

Auto’Mobile’ Marketing Driving the Innovation Highway

Posted by Nick Matarazzo on October 17th, 2012 at 10:31 am

The statistics1 are overwhelming. This year:
• There are 1.2 billion mobile Web users worldwide
• All mobile phone users will reach 242.6 million
• 94% of smartphones users will be mobile internet users
• Mobile internet users will reach 113.9 million
• Mobile shoppers will reach 72.8 million
• Tablet users will reach 54.8 million
• iPad users will reach 41.9 million
• In the U.S., 25% of mobile Web users are mobile-only
We all know mobile is big and we all know it has enormous marketing potential. What many advertisers don’t yet know (and what’s probably more overwhelming than these statistics) is the most effective way to harness its power.
It’s understandable given challenges such as complications with the myriad of handsets and technologies available, privacy and spam concerns, tiny supplies of valuable ad inventory and obstacles to streamlined mobile commerce.
It’s also understandable why this year, mobile ad spend continues to represent a mere 1 percent of total worldwide ad spend.  And why last year, more than half of companies surveyed (58 percent) said they don’t even have a mobile strategy primarily because they’re not sure how to get started2.
What we all seem to clearly understand, however, is that the more consumers buy and use smartphones and tablets, our ability as marketers to leverage this... Read more

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Posted in Opinions | 1 Comment »

It’s Not Your Grandpa’s Cadillac Anymore

Posted by Nick Matarazzo on September 11th, 2012 at 7:38 am

How digital bridges the generation gap between luxury’s “new consumers.”
The business of selling luxury products has changed in these post-recession times.
In 2008, average U.S. wealth plunged by over $11 trillion – the largest year-over-year decline since the early 1950s. As wealth plummeted, a noticeable shift in consumer sentiment occurred too. Many people accustomed to affording finer things no longer could. The ones who could were generally less boastful about it in the midst of economic crisis.
Today’s high unemployment and poverty rates and a less-is-more attitude have skewed the way consumers view luxury, but that doesn’t mean they don’t desire or appreciate a first-rate lifestyle. Baby Boomers, our country’s richest generation, know unparalleled wealth. Generation Y is more than familiar with modern excess too.
What it means is that present-day luxury buyers are less about conspicuousness and more about how a high-end product substantiates its worth by fundamentally improving their lives or by creating an unforgettable experience.
The most successful integrated luxury marketing campaigns have evolved in the way they target, and then best speak to, premium buyers – how they cultivate a deep and meaningful interest among consumers, how they build an emotional bond between buyer and brand, and most... Read more

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Posted in Opinions | No Comments »

Auto Brands and the Social Focus

Posted by Nick Matarazzo on August 16th, 2012 at 3:34 pm

I’ve learned through the years how innovative automotive marketers can be when it comes to media channels, ad products, messaging, creative, etc. More often than not, they understand what it takes to successfully influence vehicle purchases.
Social media is a bit of a different landscape.
It’s been challenging for marketers – automotive or otherwise – to develop content compelling enough to spark user conversation and interaction, the foundation for successful social media marketing.
There are original, fresh and effectual ideas worth noting, however. While stumbling blocks remain in regard to control, flexibility and performance tracking, marketers who have social media dialed in are netting significant results.
Audi Gives Twitter a Test Drive
Traditionally, it’s been hard for higher priced luxury brands to turn Generation Y into paying customers.  But this group of would-be buyers is aging, and with age comes increased spending power, making it a prime target for luxury automakers to build an emotional bond between their brands and the younger set.
Audi understands this.
Over the past two years, the upscale automaker’s social presence has blossomed into a front running case study of the most effective way to use social media to engage and connect with consumers.
Last year, a Washington D.C. woman wanted an Audi... Read more

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Posted in Opinions, Social Media | No Comments »