The North American International Auto Show tends to be less fantastical and more practical than just about any other auto show in the circuit. The Tokyo show, for example, is visionary to an almost hallucinatory degree. Los Angeles has a hip, scintillating progressiveness to it with a focus on new powertrain technology The Detroit show, by contrast, is down to Earth, reflecting a more pragmatic response to consumer demand and market dynamics, and, of course, old-fashioned, all-American muscle, the sort of feeling exploited to some extent by Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" campaign. Thus, next week General Motors Chevrolet will be unveiling the new Corvette, and will also debut the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado pickups. Ford will show its F-150 pickup concept, which is (probably) going to launch next year. Honda will show a compact crossover and Corolla concept. The luxury brands will also go pragmatic, with models meant to address the lower end of the market, as premium makes battle it out for new customers to lower the median age of their owners and steal share. Mercedes will the show the CLA concept, BMW is 4-Series, and Infiniti will show its first car bearing the new "Q" nomenclature replacing the G37. Lexus will show the IS 250, bringing back the IS nameplate that launched in the U.S. around 2001 to lure younger, performance-oriented buyers to the brand, those who saw Lexus as staid and bland. In a phone press conference, Edmunds industry Jessica Caldwell discussed what the show says about where the business is going this year. "The overall mood will be good because of last month's high note, and you'd have to go back to the ’80's to see a year with such big change [versus the previous year]," she said. Indeed, the show will reveal 55 new vehicles of which 41 are global debuts, up more than 30% from 42 vehicles in 2012, notes Edmunds, which says infotainment will be another focus this year. As for the Corvette: while it's an American icon, it's of course a niche vehicle and older skewing in relation to other high performance vehicles, including Cadillac's CTS V, said Caldwell. "I think that is something that needs to be addressed at some point: car companies need to appeal to a broader demographic and that needs to be addressed with new Corvette." The other biggie at the show will be Cadillac's version of the Chevy Volt electric, the Cadillac ELR, first shown as a concept in 2009. Caldwell said it's a good time for such vehicles as electrics had their best month, with sales up 37%. "This will bring excitement to the Cadillac brand, something different." She also said (news to me) that a lot of observers thought Volt should have been a Cadillac to start with, "So people are happy that Cadillac will finally have a version." And SUV's will have a big place in the show, with Chrysler's Jeep division showing off the new Grand Cherokee, with a caveat: it's a diesel version. "That vehicle has been a real catalyst of Chrysler's turnaround and has consistently been one of their top vehicles." We'll see how ready Americans are for Europe's fuel of choice (or necessity).
A new forecast from Forrester predicts that for CMOs, 2013 won’t just be another year of digital’s growing influence in marketing: It will be the year CMOs fully close the divide between digital and conventional marketing, with social principals infusing all their brand efforts. Additionally, writes Corinne Munchbach, an analyst at Forrester, CMOs at consumer-focused companies will grasp that whether tactics are digital or not, they need to drive positive customer experience and interaction with the brand. The shift comes because even though companies have been investing in digital marketing for years now, there’s finally an understanding that on some level, all marketing is inherently digital. As a result, it says it expects interactive marketing budgets to account for some $50 billion, or 20% of all marketing expenditures. “Digital disruption moves faster with more power at less cost than any force before it, tearing down boundaries to meet consumers’ needs more fully than we could have ever imagined five years ago,” she writes. “Healthcare providers are challenged by the Jawbone UP and FitBit personal tracking devices; media companies are threatened by Hulu and YouTube; and financial services firms worry about alternative payment and banking platforms, like Square and Simple.” As a result, CMOs must expand the capabilities of their brands to keep up, or get left behind. “Organizations that harness the power of digitally empowered consumers, innovate the adjacent possible, and embrace digital to extend the benefits of the product or service will be well positioned for success in 2013,” she says. And increasingly, that means the digital awareness must be bigger than just marketing efforts, seeping into every aspect of the brand experience. “CMOs should move marketing budgets out of channel silos and into new cross-platform teams organized around consumer segments, with experts on the relevant media, channels, and devices for that particular segment.” That includes giving consumers a visible value, in order to outperform competitors. (The report cites USAA, Burberry and Mercedes as examples of brands that are true to their brand mission, providing rewarding experiences in many channels.) Finally, she predicts that content marketing, already in use by nearly 90% of business-to-consumer marketers, will continue to grow as “the logical extension of existing social strategies, creating a more robust set of brand experiences for people to engage with.” It stems, she writes, from the understanding that to be “remarkable,” a brand must be worth talking and sharing about, citing Red Bull’s extreme success with its Stratos jump as just one example. “Senior marketers will see that bringing together their content marketing and social marketing initiatives is the best way to support branding goals and ultimately positive business outcomes. Social media should be used to strategically achieve three brand building objectives: relationship building, differentiating through an emotional connection by delivering visible value, and nurturing loyal fans.” That means moving well beyond basic Facebook and retweeting, “to actually focus on how to activate their branded content asset via their social presence.”
More than a quarter of American adults (28%) report that they have already purchased or plan to purchase one of Starbucks’ new $1 reusable coffee tumblers, aimed at reducing paper cup waste, according to a YouGov Omnibus survey conducted Jan. 4-6. Specifically, 2% said they had already bought one of the cups; 7% said they will “definitely” buy one but haven’t done so yet; and 19% said they will “probably” buy one. Even 12% of non-Starbucks customers said they intend to purchase one of the cups. Also, regardless of whether they would purchase a cup, seven out of 10 respondents said they believe it’s a good idea, and four out of 10 consider it a “very good” idea. Starbucks began rolling out the new cups on Jan. 3. As an incentive, Starbucks is offering customers who use the cup a 10-cent discount on each refill, so that the cup pays for itself after 10 uses. In addition to working with paper mills to get more of its paper cups recycled, Starbucks has long sold reusable tumblers -- but with limited success in terms of reducing cups that end up in landfills or as litter, reported USA Today. Despite its efforts, just 1.9% of its cups were multi-use in 2011 (up from 1.5% in 2009), causing the chain to reduce its original goal of having 25% of its cups be reusable by 2015 to a goal of 5% being reusable by that year. Efforts by U.S. QSRs (and grocery and other retailers) to reduce container and bag waste continue to be hampered by force of habit: Even eco-minded consumers find it hard to remember to carry reusable cups and bags with them on their trips. But Starbucks hopes that the low price of its new reusable cup will accelerate behavior change. In a test of the cup in 600 Northwest Pacific stores last November, the number of reusable cups rose 26% versus the same month in 2011, the company told USA Today. While 57% of respondents to the YouGov Omnibus survey (results were weighted to be representative of U.S. adults 18 and older, with a margin of error of +/- 3.6%) said they probably or definitely won’t purchase one of the reusable Starbucks cups, 66% had not yet heard of the cup offer. More than a third (38%) of respondents said that Starbucks should be applauded for its attempts to go green, and 23% said they think Starbucks is “generally an ethical company.” A minority (13%) said they wondered if the reusable cup is a “publicity stunt.”
Priceline’s well-known “Negotiator” character (played by William Shatner) is getting some company in the form of his “secret daughter” in a new advertising effort. In a new campaign launching next week, the daughter (played by Kaley Cuoco of the TV series “The Big Bang Theory”) comes forward to promote the company’s new Express Deals hotel reservation service, through which consumers don’t have to participate in a bidding process to find a deal on a room (as they do with Priceline’s “name your own price” service). Bringing in a new, younger (and prettier) spokescharacter is meant to appeal to a younger, more mobile-friendly consumer, says Brett Keller, the company’s chief marketing officer. “Last year, we started off the year by throwing The Negotiator off a cliff,” Keller says. “As we’re now in year six of the Negotiator campaign, we wanted to add a new element of surprise to communicate a new product direction for consumers. She really represents the younger, more modern consumer who wants speed, ease and efficiency.” In a new ad, a goatee-sporting Negotiator drives to the top of a mountain with a little girl, dropping her off in front of a secluded dojo. He’s shown picking her up decades later, after she’s an adult and has been trained in the art of finding the best travel deals. “Priceline is different now,” she says, holding up a smartphone. “Faster, easier, and you don’t even have to bid.” “The essence of the campaign is saying [that] she represents no-nonsense speed and ease of use, while [The Negotiator] represents our old-school ways,” Keller says. “We still do that, and it’s still relevant, and it’s part of what our brand stands for. She brings a new dimension to a different crowd that has not used Priceline.” “We’ve been advertising name your own price. With Express Deals, we’ve launched a new product, which sits next to it,” Keller says. “Especially for mobile consumers, this product is useful, and when you’re booking off a phone, you need something you can tap through quickly.” Unlike the “name your price” option, which keeps many details of the hotel being bid upon a secret until the bid is accepted, the Express Deals service (which will “sit next to” the core offering, Keller says) allows customers to choose the city, neighborhood and star-level they want and see the hotel’s amenities and, in some cases, choose the bedding arrangement. (In exchange for more information, however, the discounts aren’t as steep.) Though Express Deals launched last year, the company is looking to promote it now as people begin planning spring break and summer vacations, Keller says. “We’re leading up to several very important travel periods, and we wanted to get it in the market ahead of that,” he says. “We haven’t advertised [Express Deals] with TV, and this is our chance to push it out to consumers ahead of these key travel period.”
New Balance is partnering with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in a multi-year deal that makes New Balance official athletic shoe of the resorts, and of ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The deal also makes New Balance official running shoe for runDisney race weekends and the official baseball shoe of amateur baseball events at the sports complex. New Balance will also be title sponsor of the track & field facility at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which hosts the yearly Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic and Disney’s Track & Field Spring Training for high school and collegiate teams. Future initiatives include the creation of maps for the running trails at Walt Disney World Resort and fitness programs for Disney resort guests. New Balance, for its part, has a men’s and women’s limited edition runDisney 860v3 running shoe graced with the images of Mickey and Minnie. The shoe can only be had at the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Health & Fitness Expo this week, future runDisney Health & Fitness Expos, special events created jointly by New Balance and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and at branded pop-up shops located at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Boston-based sports company makes its products domestically with a quarter of its products manufactured in New England, in addition to a plant in the UK. The company reported worldwide sales of $2.04 billion. The company last year ran a global campaign, "Excellent Makers," whose central theme was people who craft things themselves, including artists, musicians, athletes, and craftsmen. The campaign also brought in basketball player Nick Swisher, hip hop artist Jay Electronica, and a London-based eco designer. In August, the company launched a campaign via Arnold, Boston, touting its barefoot-designed Minimus Trail collection, with an outdoor theme and the tag “Connect more with Minimus,” with TV spots, digital elements and print ads.
This week, Sony Pictures Television announced that Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” was renewed for a second season. Wait -- “season” and “renewed?” Them’s TV words, alright, although the series -- 10 episodes in the first year, 24 on order for the second -- is strictly an online affair. With each episode coming in at somewhere between 11 and 17 minutes, they are either very short films or very long commercials. Without ads or product placement, they offer a take on all of Seinfeld’s obsessions: collectible cars, fellow celebrity comedians, and tiny observations on fellow celebrity comedians in cars, stopping for warm beverages. Before I get to my observations on his online observations, however, I first have to cop to my insane hatred of Seinfeld. I know -- how crazy is it to hate the guy who gave us (arguably) the greatest sitcom in TV history? (Or as Jerry might say, “What’s up with that?”) Imagine a world with no close talkers. No “No Soup for You!” No “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Well, I tell you what’s wrong with it. It’s a beautiful, hermetically sealed world, the world of Jerry. I like the show a lot more now in reruns, but what was obviously missing all along, among the characters living in New York City, was any of the diversity of New York, and increasingly the country: There were no non-white faces (who weren’t complete caricatures as delivery guys, etc.), no gay people, and, well, no women who were not Elaine or Playboy Playmate types making one or two appearances in supporting roles as dates. And when you think about it, Elaine fit in (and was so funny) because she was so tiny, mean, and aggressive -- a manly type. She did a lot of hitting, slapping, pushing, and shoving. Because Jerry was surrounded with this band of misanthropic eccentrics, he could seem rational and nice. And now, having watched many seasons of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” it becomes clear that much of the funny stuff cames from David. The difference, however, is that in “Curb” (which is harder to watch) the humor comes from the fact that Larry, a true misanthrope, constantly gets his comeuppance for his smugness, insensitivity, and intolerance of other people. Whereas Jerry lived in a universe that made him look like a saint. Perhaps that’s why, post-Seinfeld, in the real world, even with all of his fame, money, and power, Jerry has mostly created a mess. Remember his god-awful “Bee” movie? Jerry and crew have such a problem writing for women that in his movie, the drones were female and the worker bees were male. His NBC flop “Marriage Ref” had a regressive 1950s, “Oh-Lucy!” style set-up that was actually so cruel and reprehensible for the couples who got judged by celebrity panelists (aka Jerry’s friends) that one of them actually sued the show (and got divorced.) And then there were the two long-form spots Seinfeld made with BIll Gates for Microsoft in 2008. In a company famous for being poignantly out of touch in terms of consumer communication, these were glacial bombs, with the humor coming from making fun of average people, Latinos, and Indians. And by the way, Seinfeld got paid $10 million to make Bill Gates his little bitch in those two spots, which ran for a total of three weeks. Okay, I’ll admit that one of my issues is that I have total sour grapes over how rich the guy is. So the smug concept of this latest series: “Aren’t I so great that I can kill time and remind people how many cars and famous friends I have and I don’t even have to work?” just burned my biscuits all over again. I watched some of the episodes from the first season, and here, the hemetically sealed setup suits the project just fine. He gets to pick the car and the comedian, and it’s a tiny, insidery world. The high level of production really helps -- apparently there are three mounted cameras in each car. I wish, as with some reality series, that we’d get a pull-back shot to show the entire production team in action. That doesn’t happen. But there’s a beautiful eye for detail in some of the shots (keys in the ignition, motors, headlights) that dovetails with Seinfeld's fetishism of observational details. And without being a guy from “60 Minutes,” the long format does allow him to get new information out of his famous friends. The Michael Richards one is interesting. He talks about his infamous breakdown on stage that resulted in him shouting the “N” word repeatedly. Richards, who is a great physical comedian and can’t stop clowning, admits to having many recriminations from the incident. But it's pretty telling that he still seems to think he is the victim. The visit with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, at 90-year old Carl Reiner’s L.A. home, is worth its weight in gold. In real life, Mel Brooks seems to have become the 2,000-year-old man -- no acting necessary. He tells Jerry he’s never seen his act (not sure if he’s kidding) but that one guy he does like is Louis C.K. I thought that was genius. Alec Baldwin is technically not a comedian, but great company here. He might be thinking along the sour-grapes line as well, when he actually says to Seinfeld, “Your life has been one unbroken block of green lights, hasn’t it?" Seinfeld’s constant knee-slapping crack-ups to anything said get annoying. These were worth watching, however. (With the exception of the one with Larry David. He eats a pancake.) I’m hoping that in the second season, Jerry discovers that there are actually gay, female, and non-white comedians. That would be a Festivus for the rest of us.
For some of us who worked with Fred Turner -- even those who often incurred his displeasure, like me -- he was always a person to be respected and admired for his laser-like focus on making the customer experience perfect. His standards of quality, service and cleanliness were the most exacting, the most rigid and uncompromising the restaurant industry had ever seen -- and they were set in stone. Fred Turner wrote them in a book called the McDonald’s Operations and Training Manual in the '50's that is still the company bible today. No one involved with McDonald’s guarded those standards more obviously, or worked harder at enforcing them. A Fred Turner visit to a store was always fraught with peril for the operator because he would usually find something that was not up to his standard, and he pointed out the defect directly and forcefully. The specific issue didn’t matter -- from fingerprints on the glass of a door to a sandwich that was improperly made; from a grill not recovering temperature properly to trash on the parking lot or the street -- it was all the same to Fred: imperfect. After pointing out the problem as a serious flaw in the store’s operations somewhat angrily, he would then discuss the proper procedure for correcting the problem until he was satisfied that it would not happen again. Once the operator understood that Fred was in his teaching mode, any animosity dissolved and it became a pleasant meeting. That never-ending guardianship of the standards, coming from so high up in the company, was the most important factor in the growth of McDonald’s. No matter how it is defined, the consistent satisfaction of the McDonald’s experience is the fundamental reason that people patronize the brand again and again. Fred’s standards pervade every aspect of the company: sizes of the patties, buns, fries and all ingredients…equipment specifications … order taking … speed of service … all the details. No matter where in the world you go, even if the menu has a few different items on it, the overall experience will be consistently similar, because it usually conforms to Fred’s standards. Recalling my personal relationship with Fred Turner after all these years, I’m aware that we disagreed often. He never hesitated to voice his opinion of the TV commercials we were producing, usually commenting on details we missed -- some relevant, some not. He seriously disliked "too-perfect Hollywood kids" and encouraged the casting of more ordinary children in Ronald McDonald commercials. It was Fred's persistent call for a commercial that told consumers that McDonald’s was clean that resulted in the best-remembered commercial of the "You Deserve A Break Today" campaign. As his children grew away from the appeal of Ronald McDonald, he pushed for trying to make older kids become interested in the clown. Those, my long hair, and other points of contention between a young advertising guy and the boss are memories I’m proud to share. What a privilege to have learned from the tough man who built McDonald’s by enforcing his standards. May they never change. God bless you, Fred.