The Right Way to Play the Incentive Game
The truth behind vehicle incentives is that they don’t differ much in terms of the end goal — which is to create the perception that the manufacturer is discounting the cost of the vehicle.
Blog: Opinions
December 22, 2009
December 9, 2009
LA Auto Show: Winners and Losers
Last week in LA, the auto show season officially opened with the nation’s first major show of the new model year.
December 8, 2009
Why is Creativity the Subject of So Much Contention in a Creative Industry?
John Noble, one of the more famous Doyle Dane Bernbach Creative Directors used to tell a joke that made account weasels wince.
November 30, 2009
Hybrid No Longer Hype
When hybrids were first introduced to consumers earlier this decade confusion was abundant. Why should I pay more for a car that might not perform as well as a standard fuel-powered vehicle?
November 23, 2009
On Being Thankful in 2009
I dropped the kids off at school this morning and could feel the change in the air. Smiles were everywhere despite the rain-threatening skies, and the blustery wind lashing the last of the leaves from the trees; it was as if the illumination of the morning was coming from the ground rather than the sky.
November 19, 2009
Hyundai’s Challenge — Maintain the Momentum
This is a brand that has managed to gain 39% market share during the worst automotive climate in decades, remained profitable, and drove tremendous awareness and consideration of its brand.
November 18, 2009
Who Knows the Consumer Best?
Last night, I had the privilege of hearing James Lentz (the President/COO of Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc.) speak about the future of cars and the automotive industry.
November 17, 2009
Hyundai — Kudos for a job well done
2009 has been a banner year for Hyundai. In spite of the worst market conditions of the past quarter century, Hyundai has grown volume, profitability, and market share by an outstanding 1.2 percentage points.
November 5, 2009
2009 SEMA Show: Because Cars are Cool
I spent the early part of this week at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (SEMA) event in Las Vegas. I’ve never been to SEMA and didn’t have a clear expectation of what the show was all about.
November 3, 2009
The Belly of the Media Beast
I recently sat through a series of meetings with a publisher attempting to figure out their three-year product plans. This was a multi-platform publisher who has successful distribution across traditional and digital media platforms — a publisher with a strong brand and a clear mission.
Fuel: Articles
September 2009
In-Market Shopping Trends – What’s Driving Consumer Awareness of ‘Green’ in the Automotive Industry
The Green conversation in the automotive world has resulted in new policies and standards for fuel efficiency and emissions as well as recent incentives for manufacturers and consumers to become more environmentally friendly.
Cash for Clunkers, An Honest Look
By now, we’ve all heard the good news about Cash for Clunkers. Dealers across the country have indicated that traffic went up and that the program not only worked to sell more fuel-efficient new cars but that it brought other new and used car shoppers into the market.
Twitter for Automotive?
Twitter is booming. Twitter’s growth in the US continues to accelerate at an impressive rate: ComScore reports 4 million unique visitors to the site in February 2009 up 55% from January’s 2.6 million. Their month-over-month growth rate from December 2008 to January 2009 was 33% in the US. Also, comScore’s numbers only reflect website traffic, [...]
Online Consumer Demand for Cars Remains Consistent Despite Downturn in Sales
Jumpstart Buyer Intent Index shows “Window Shopping” Pattern of American Consumers Increased Dramatically in the Last Year, Cash For Clunkers Spiking Interest
New Creative Marketing
Jumpstart Worked with Experian to Generate Brand Awareness Campaign for AutoCheck Product.
July 2009
Jumpstart Announces Second Annual Catalyst Awards, Recognizing the Year’s Most Innovative Interactive Advertising in Automotive
In tough times, smart, creative and efficient marketing plays a critical role in not only protecting brands, but in helping achieve a true competitive advantage. The 2009 Catalyst Awards (brought to you by Jumpstart Automotive Group) will celebrate the remarkable work done this year for auto brands through interactive advertising.
A Big Campaign About a Little Car
The ad that swept last year’s Catalyst Interactive Advertising Awards was a big campaign about a little car. MINI’s ZZZ campaign won top honors for its innovative multi-media approach, and this year the agency is hoping for a repeat performance.
What to Expect at the J.D. Power Roundtable
J.D. Power and Associates is pleased to present the 2009 Automotive Internet Roundtable taking place on October 14-16 at the Red Rock Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Creativity
We’ve been talking a lot about creativity lately. It’s a weird thing, creativity, as soon as you mention the word people immediately tend to get uncomfortable.
7 Habits of Highly Effective Creative Directors
When iMedia asked me to write this article, the first thing that came to mind was all of the creative directors I’ve worked with in my 20 years in advertising.
June 2009
How to Talk About Cars on the Web without Losing That New-Car Smell
“Ed Piotrowski is writing this post using the onboard computer of (the) 2010 Ford Transit Connect in Knoxville, TN.”- via twitter
Anyone who doubts the paradigm shift that social media has caused in our daily lives, our activities — even how we communicate with each other — need only read the above Tweet.
In-Market Shopping Trends – A Look-Back at the Market One Year Ago
It seems difficult to remember when the US auto market wasn’t making global headlines every day. In reality, just one year ago in May, we were reporting on the highest sales of the year and early spring had shown signs of hope for an industry that was facing a bleak outlook. After months of declining sales, drastic cost-cutting, reorganization and new leadership, what lies in store for the automotive industry? Will we emerge with renewed confidence and be better positioned for growth?
Auto Dealer Co-op Advertising Is Money in Your Pocket — And a Pain in the Patooshka
The money that automotive dealers stand to make from manufacturer co-op advertising programs is significant: some manufacturers pay dealers back up to 50% of their co-op advertising costs and then there’s the money earned from sales that the co-op advertising drives. Co-op advertising is clearly a win for both the dealer and the manufacturer.
Web Key for Autos
For many consumers, skimping on a new car upgrade has created a lot of pent-up demand. While it’s unclear when buyers will be ready to buy autos en masse again, a new report from The Nielsen Co. suggests one of the best ways to reach them now is via online advertising, particularly video.
From Incentives to Bankruptcy, Recent Economic Developments for Auto Brands Provide Direct Boost to Consumer Interest
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 9th, 2009 — Jumpstart Automotive Group, the nation’s fastest growing online audience of in-market car shoppers, today announced findings showing increased consumer interest as a result of automotive brands’ economic developments, both positive and negative. Studying consumer responses to brands including Chrysler, Hyundai, GM and Ford, Jumpstart identified increases in in-market interest related to news around incentives and even bankruptcy, in some cases increasing traffic as much as 77 percent.
New Creative Marketing
Jumpstart Launches Highly Targeted In-Market Digital Campaign for Sonic Automotive.
May 2009
The Right Measurement
If auto marketers can break out of their “black box” of metrics, an abundance of information is available to them to help make the right marketing decisions.
In-Market Shopping Trends – The Impact of Auto Manufacturers’ Incentive Programs on Online Shopping Behaviors
Cash-back. Zero percent financing. Employee pricing. We hear these enticing phrases day after day as auto manufacturers and dealers look for new ways to engage consumers and encourage them that now is actually a good time to buy. Let’s take a look at incentive programs of three OEM’s and the effect they have on consumer shopping behavior.
Is There A Silver Lining in Sight? Finding Opportunity in Bankruptcy.
Is There A Silver Lining in Sight? Finding Opportunity in Bankruptcy. When Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy on April 30th, 2009, President Barack Obama heralded the move as a critical step in the quest to save 30,000 jobs at Chrysler and hundreds of thousands more jobs at the company’s affiliated suppliers and dealers.
Consumer Guide® Automotive Gives Buyers the Tools They Need to Shop Smarter With Revamped Web Site
ATLANTA — April 6, 2009 — With the constant stream of news about the economy and the future of the auto industry dominating the headlines, it can be a challenge for consumers to know where to turn for reliable information about buying their next vehicle.
Jumpstart Automotive Group Launches Highly Targeted In-Market Digital Campaign for Sonic Automotive
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., MAY 20, 2009 — Jumpstart Automotive Group today announced a partnership with Sonic Automotive that will consolidate a portion of Sonic Automotive’s localized digital marketing efforts into highly focused and consistent display campaigns delivered to Jumpstart Automotive Group’s diverse network of in-market car shoppers.
New Creative Marketing
Jumpstart launches two interactive games within a new module on the online destination, “ExpressLane, The First Time Buyer’s Guide.”
April 2009
Maximizing Automotive In-Market Targeting
Auto brands experience dramatic increase in ad campaign effectiveness when Contextual and Behavioral Targeting are combined.
Auto Engineers See Slow Road to Green Car Future
The theme of this year’s annual meeting of automotive engineers was “Racing to Green Mobility.” The message was that government-supported advanced auto technology will allow US drivers to continue driving fast large vehicles without any compromise.
iMedia Driving Interactive 2009: Highlights
This year’s iMedia Driving Interactive was a great success for all involved. The interesting mix of content and presentations brought a crowd of approximately 100 attendees from the OEMs, Regional Dealer Associations, Dealer Groups and their agencies.
In-Market Shopping Trends
Vehicle pricing and incentives have reached levels of guarantees like none we’ve ever seen. So, how is this affecting the way consumers are researching online?
March 2009
Dispelling the Incentive-Only Advertising Strategy
By taking a look at weekly shopping activity, our recommendation is consistent presence on in-market websites is relevant for all tiers of automotive advertisers.
BT: Thinking Beyond the Recession
Jeff Hirsch’s prediction at the recent Omma Behavioral conference was no doubt meant to be – as it was — provocative. With that in mind, I asked a few industry veterans for their follow-up reactions.
Why Market to GenY?
The last of the estimated 80 million young adults categorized as Generation Y has reached adolescence and companies are being dealt an opportunity like never before.
Google & BT – Finally Moving the Industry Forward
With Google entering the BT fray, the industry inherits some long-awaited credibility to an area that has been muddied by lack of standardization.
In-Market Shopping Trends
Online in-market shopping holds steady early in 2009 while sales drop to alarmingly low levels; the question is when will this early activity pay off in vehicle sales?
February 2009
Whose Audience Is It Anyway?
Recent changes in an attempt to reach the most lucrative audience are proving to not have the intended effects. Who has the most valuable audience for car manufacturers and dealers?
2009 10Best Cars
Once again, we catalog the best antidotes for the automotive blahs.
BT The Right Way — Part I of II
To maximize full potential the optimal approach is to find the right audience and target that audience through contextual and behavioral means.
In-Market Shopping Trends – Auto Industry Off to a Slow Start in 2009
No matter how hopeful we were of seeing new growth in vehicle sales and consumer confidence, we knew it was too good to be true.
January 2009
The 2009 Detroit Auto Show: Where Have You Gone, Muscle and Brawn?
Bring on the North American International Auto Show, based in Detroit, the original home of the automobile. This is where every year thousands of people from all over the world attend the largest auto extravaganza on the planet, and bear the cold weather to re-ignite their passion for one of the most emblematic symbols of the American fabric — the automobile.
The Race to Location Based Advertising (LBA)
Recently, the industry has seen an influx of extremely bright and passionate people that are making impressive progress in developing our ‘where’ expertise as marketers. This is much more than the standard geo-targeting capabilities of our third-party ad servers that we are already familiar with.
Display Advertising – Squashing Misconceptions for a Higher Return on Investment
There is no more powerful a way to stay in front of your in-market customer while maximizing your advertising dollars and your brand than through display advertising. The problem is that several misconceptions exist about display advertising and those misconceptions may be keeping you from seeing higher results in your own showroom.
In-Market Shopping Trends – 2008 Year-End Review
A look at the full 2008 year view of industry sales, online shopping trends and leads to see the correlation among how consumers are researching online and what the results are in the ultimate measurement, vehicle sales.
Moving Metal: BT And The Auto Crisis
AS THE AUTO INDUSTRY stalls and sputters out of its worst year in memory, how will the crisis affect online ad planning strategies? Steve Smith at Media Post asked Joe Kyriakoza, vice president of national advertising solutions at Jumpstart Automotive Group, to pop the hood on the current auto ad market for us.