Audi is promoting its Porsche fighter, the R8, via product integration and cross-promotional activity with Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios' "Iron Man," which premieres nationwide on May 2. In the film, lead character Tony Stark, played by actor Robert Downey Jr., drives the R8. Its S5 sports sedan is driven in the film by Virginia "Pepper" Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. The new deal with Paramount follows the Super Bowl brand spot that introduced the R8 to the U.S. market with a "Godfather" theme by AOR San Francisco-based Venables, Bell and Partners. Audi has been using R8 as a brand halo to boost awareness of itself as a performance-car brand. Automakers love putting cars in superhero and fantasy/action films. Chrysler Group promoted Dodge by putting the division's nameplate on the flying car driven by the Fantastic 4 in "The Rise of the Silver Surfer" movie. General Motors had several transforming cars in the "Transformers" film. Cadillac was featured in the second "Matrix" film, to name a few recent examples. Wes Brown of L.A. consultancy IceOlogy says that while it is impossible to measure ROI on promotional tie-ins such as Audi's with "Iron Man," such deals offer a lot of impact for a comparatively small spend. "No, you can't expect the movie that opens Friday to bring people into showrooms on Monday," he says. "But where it is very beneficial in Audi's case, and as it was with Caddie in 'The Matrix,' is that it builds brand awareness with a new audience." He concedes that while the reality is that 99% of the people are not going to be able to go out and buy an R8, "You will naturally get a halo effect from the car. People will say 'That's a what? Audi? I didn't know they could do a car like that.' The beauty of having a vehicle like that is that it shows what the brand is all about, and it can have strong trickle-down effect in awareness, image and aspirational value." The international effort launched with a microsite, in-cinema advertising, and outdoor ads. In the film, Tony Stark builds the Iron Man suit in his garage. Notable in the background are the Audi R8, S5 and Q7 SUV. The video assets that Audi is using in the ads comprise scenes from the film and use a "One Man. One Machine. One Mission" theme to equate the creation of the Iron Man suit to the design and building of the R8 car from the frame up. The microsite lets consumers tour Stark's lab from different perspectives, including through the "Iron Man Vision" bio-robotic eyesight of Tony Stark. The site also has info on the film and exclusive footage, and background information on the movie can be called up and viewed. The microsite also contains historical facts about Audi and the "Iron Man" comic book character. The "time beam," a DNA thread, can be found in a virtual Audi R10 TDI racecar. Eleven video clips will be released on a weekly basis on the microsite, audi.com/ironman, until the movie reaches theaters. The video comprises behind-the-scenes content, interviews with the cast and crew, Audi/"Iron Man" commercials, and background on use of Audi vehicles on the movie set. There will also be dealer tie-ins. Scott Keogh, Audi marketing director, says advertising will be exclusively in-cinema. "We wanted to create an eye-catching campaign that will connect with both 'Iron Man' buffs and film lovers," he says.
Looks like that Mother's Day bouquet may be a little less lavish this year. A new survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) finds that consumers, while still planning on buying gifts for Mom, will tone it down a little. Consumers say they plan to spend an average of $138.63 this year, down 51 cents from last year. Total consumer spending is expected to reach $15.8 billion. One question is how the government's economic stimulus checks will affect the average shopper's willingness to splurge a little. Only a handful of the 130 million households scheduled to get rebates will have received them in time for the May 11 holiday. Overall, 84.2% of shoppers say they plan to celebrate Mother's Day, and dining out continues to be one of the most popular treats, with consumers planning to spend $3 billion on taking Ma to brunch or dinner. And flowers, of course, are big. Those polled say they expect to spend $2 billion on plants and posies, on what is typically the second-biggest day of the year for florists. While Christmas/Chanukah sales are bigger, 24% of all floral transactions and 25% of dollar volume happen on Mother's Day, and the Society of American Florists estimates that 34% of women and 40% of men made flower or plant purchases for Mother's Day last year. Gift-card spending is estimated to be $1.6 billion. Spending on clothing is expected to total $1.4 billion, and consumer electronics purchases, especially digital cameras and photo frames, are predicted to reach $1.2 billion. One exception to the new conservatism is jewelry. While the NRF poll, conducted by BIGResearch, found that fewer shoppers overall will buy mama some bling (29.7% versus 32.8% last year), they'll spend much more when they do. Overall, these shoppers expect to spend $2.7 billion, compared to $2.1 billion last year. And younger shoppers, surprisingly, are likely to be the biggest spenders, probably because they may have wives plus mothers, grandmothers and sisters, the NRF says. Young adults, 18-24, say they plan to spend an average of $170.71, followed by the 25-34 crowd, who'll spend an average of $153.17. Those 35-44 expect to spend an average of $145.86. And as far as where they'll shop, so far consumers are planning on making their purchases at specialty stores (35%), discount stores (25.7%) and department stores (28.8%), with 18.3% planning to shop online.
Consumers ditching home phone lines for cellular service boosted AT&T's earnings during the first quarter in 2008. The No. 1 U.S. phone company reported Tuesday that profit rose 22% on savings from the $86 billion purchase of BellSouth and sales of mobile handsets such as Apple's iPhone. Revenue rose 6.1%, to $30.7 billion, in the three months ended March 31, and net income climbed to $3.46 billion, or 57 cents a share, from $2.85 billion, or 45 cents, a year earlier. While the San Antonio, Texas-based company experiences better days and higher profits, marketing and technology employees at the carrier are paying the price. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has relied on the BellSouth acquisition, completed in 2006, to eliminate 10,000 jobs in overlapping functions, mostly marketing and Information technology. AT&T announced 4,650 additional cuts April 18 to reduce the number of middle managers in the home-phone business. Apart from the "softness" seen in local phone lines, there have been few signs that weakness in the U.S. economy would affect the carrier. "We are bundling [services] more aggressively, and that includes wireless," said Rick Lindner, AT&T CFO, during a conference call with analysts and investors. "You may have noticed that last week we launched a new wireless plan for small and midsize firms called Business Talk, which brings the family talk concept to business customers. Second, we are helping customers migrate to IP. That's reflected in our IP growth rates." For now, similarities in AT&T and BellSouth businesses could help the carrier add contracts and remain profitable. As cost-cutting opportunities dwindle toward the end of 2008, however, AT&T's consumer business will likely once again become a weightier anchor, according to Craig Moffett, senior analyst, U.S. telecommunications, cable and satellite broadcasting at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. The challenge for AT&T remains the company's balancing act between wireline and wireless. "As wireless grows, AT&T hopes to leave its consumer wireline heritage far astern, but it can only do so to a degree," Moffett writes in a report. "For now, merger synergies are helping wireline profitability from being even worse, and wireless margin improvements are enough to keep the ship on course." In the first quarter, AT&T announced a three-year marketing agreement with SAP America in which the carrier serves as the primary host for data and servers for multimillion-dollar businesses headquartered in North America. Recent contracts under this deal include a five-year agreement with Royal Dutch Shell, which calls for AT&T to provide, manage and maintain Shell's worldwide communications infrastructure. The agreement with Shell follows a series of other contracts signed in the past year, including deals with Starbucks, General Motors, IBM, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. AT&T's Advertising & Publishing business has improved, too. It offers a suite of local search options, including print and Internet Yellow Pages, along with web site design and search engine marketing. The unit delivers print directories to more than 83 million residences and businesses in 22 states. The online service offers consumers access to local business information, latest business listings, city guides, maps and driving directions. Combined, these print and online products receive approximately 5 billion consumer searches a year for local business information and provide more than 1 million advertisers with sales leads to help businesses grow, AT&T says in a published report. AT&T reports that Advertising & Publishing revenue trends during the past several quarters have been stable, with print declines reflecting migration to electronic search having been largely offset rapid growth in yellowpages.com. In the first quarter of 2008, Advertising & Publishing's Internet revenue grew 41.1% versus the year-earlier quarter and 12.9%, sequentially. In March, AT&T announced a distribution agreement with Microsoft Corp., putting yellowpages.com's advertising listings and content in front of consumers who use Microsoft's local search sites. The agreement, launched in early April, gives the carrier's advertisers exposure through Microsoft's search pages within the Live Search and Live Search Maps properties, including MSN Yellow Pages.
Hard to believe, but it has been a century since the Model T rolled off Henry Ford's nascent assembly line in Dearborn, Mich. Ford Motor is using the anniversary of the car, which sold for $825, to celebrate the car, the company and its current lineup of vehicles. The first of dozens of events over the next six months began Tuesday with the week-long 23rd annual Fabulous Fords Forever show in Buena Park, Calif. The company is major sponsor of the largest gathering ever of original Model T cars--some 1,000. The event, which takes place July 21-26 in Richmond, Ind., will bring vehicles from England, Norway, Australia and New Zealand, and more than 10,000 Model T owners and enthusiasts are expected to participate. A company spokesperson did not say whether Ford was going to run corporate ads reminiscing about the car. But the centennial is timed with a new vehicle on Ford's new global production platform. The car, Fiesta, will initially be sold in Europe, before coming to the U.S. in 2010. The first Model T event this year was in March, at the 2008 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in Amelia Island, Fla., north of Jacksonville. The Ford spokesperson says Ford's sponsorship of the Indiana event "is a no-brainer. We will be hosting different media events throughout the week and will have executives in town throughout the week to support activities there," she says. The Model T Club of America began planning the event 18 months ago, well before Ford got involved. The company is also developing an activation program for dealers around the T centennial.
If consumers act as they did after the 2001 federal tax rebate, restaurants should see at least a small bump in sales after the new round of rebates starts hitting mailboxes in May, points out market research firm NPD Group. On the other hand, while NPD has historically seen consumers stick to fairly predictable patterns, the current recession includes factors that could turn out to be wild cards. To wit: Record gas prices, food costs and credit card debt (not to mention home foreclosures) have pushed consumer confidence levels to their lowest points in 15 years. Still, NPD restaurant industry analyst Bonnie Riggs is cautiously optimistic. Restaurant visits rose by 2% for about six months during and after 2001's rebate mailings, which occurred between July and September, and quick-service and casual dining restaurants benefited most. This time, Riggs notes, the rebates are substantially larger--and beaten-down consumers may feel even more in need of "rewarding themselves with a nice meal out." Restaurants that want to up their odds should also take note of a separate NPD survey that's soon to be released. This one, called "Greener Menus: Can Environmentally Conscious Menus Also Green the Bottom Line?," finds that nearly half of consumers say that it's important to them for restaurants to be environmentally friendly. If you need less anecdotal evidence, consider this: NPD tested the appeal of a breakfast sandwich described as having a variety of "green" attributes against the very same sandwich, minus the green claims. The result? Consumers not only perceived the green sandwich as healthier; they were willing to pay a premium for it. "The combination of high consumer concern for the environment and low consumer awareness of what is actually being done provides an opportunity for restaurants to differentiate themselves," sums up NPD senior manager/report author Kyle Olund. Yes, green ingredients may cost more, and ongoing marketing will be needed to build awareness, but such investments could well pay off in the long run, Olund stresses.
Who hasn't lost the little red straw? Now, the company that packaged its product with tape holding said straw to the side of the aerosol can for 55 years is answering its customers' most consistent complaint by redesigning the product to permanently attach it. Enter the Smart Straw. The San Diego-based company was mum on marketing plans to support the innovation, but a spokesperson said it would share the Smart Straw conversion announcement with members of the WD-40 Fan Club this week. Five years in the making, all 8-, 11- and 12-ounce cans will feature a permanently attached straw that puts an end to the many red straws hiding in kitchen cabinets, under workbenches and at the bottoms of toolboxes across America, said WD-40 Company in a release. The new straw can be flipped down for a wide spray or flipped up for a pinpoint stream to apply WD-40 into hard-to-reach places. "For 55 years, the only consistent product complaint with WD-40 has revolved around consumers and trade professionals losing the little red straw," said Garry Ridge, president/CEO, in the release. "The conversion is [our] way of telling end users that we're not just listening but also utilizing true product innovation to give them exactly what they need to get the job done." People have been using WD-40 for years for thousands of uses, from stopping squeaks on windshield wipers to lubricating hinges on pruning shears. Many users share their favorite uses and stories of WD-40 online via the WD-40 Fan Club, which has more than 115,000 members and offers free downloads, weekly tips and a monthly newsletter. WD-40 Company produces multi-purpose lubricants, WD-40 and 3-in-One, the Lava and Solvol brands of heavy-duty hand cleaners, and household products 2000 Flushes, X-14, Carpet Fresh, Spot Shot and 1001. WD-40 Company markets its products in more than 160 countries worldwide and recorded sales of $307.8 million in 2007.
1 Google 2 General Electric 3 Microsoft 4 Coca-Cola 5 China Mobile 6 IBM 7 Apple 8 McDonald's 9 Nokia 10 MarlboroSource: Millward Brown Optimor's 2008 BrandZ Rankings