Chevrolet last week launched a program on the influencer-ranking network Klout. The program offers influencers in technology, social media and environmental topics a three-day loan of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt. In this third partnership with Klout, Chevrolet is targeting six markets nationwide, with Klout influencers required to have a Klout score of 50 or better in social media, technology or the environment and live within a 30-mile radius of the markets. The effort is in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle from April through June and Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland from July through September, per Chevrolet. Last September, Chevy did a test program for Volt on Klout involving the loan of four Volts to 20 Chicago social media influencers. In November, the automaker used Klout to promote the Chevrolet Sonic compact car in five cities with 130 consumer loans in five weeks. Chevrolet says it got 16,000 positive consumer mentions on social media; user-generated videos; three requests to take advantage of a special discount and one confirmed purchase. For anyone who's been following the Volt contretemps the electric vehicle has become something of a lightening rod for the right (no pun intended), who have used the car to disparage the Obama Administration for funding a boondoggle. Most people in the auto industry don't see it that way, as the car is a pretty amazing feat of engineering. Chevrolet is positioning the vehicle with as an electric car with gas when you need it. How is it selling? While General Motors said it sold a record 100,000 vehicles that get at least 30 mpg last year it missed its 10,000-unit Volt sales goal for 2011. The company set a 45,000-unit goal for 2012, but only sold1,626 of the cars in the first two months this year. The company has production cuts planned to lighten vehicle inventory.
The way to throw a spear really far is to use an extension, which is kind of a lever that fits on the end of the weapon, so you can really wing it. Mitsubishi Motors North America has one of those. The automaker doesn't have a big media budget, but it tends to do campaigns that grab attention because they go to extremes in one way or another. The latest such effort from the Cypress, Calif. company is “Temp Drive,” wherein people get to take a break from work and spend the day à la Ferris Bueller with the new 2012 Outlander Sport (starting at $18,795). The wacky part of this is that consumers are to go to mitsubishicars.com/tempdrive to apply for a temp to replace them at their job for one day. And it gets a little stranger. The temps who will perform the duties for the three people Mitzu chooses for the "play day" will not come from Kelly Girl. Instead, they will include an opera singer, magician, deejay, librarian, meteorologist and rocket scientist. The effort is via agency of record 180LA, which also did the effort that put Mitsubishi Outlanders on the infamous Bolivian Road of Death, among other places. The agency was also behind Mitsubishi Motors’ “Live Drive,” a pure online test drive where consumers could robotically drive a real Mitsubishi crossover. The marketing campaign includes television, digital, social media and public relations. The television spot highlights the features and capabilities of the Outlander Sport that the consumer discovers during his day off. All campaign elements lead consumers to the Web site to sign up. Digital is being handled by Possible Worldwide.
Spotify announced a broad new partnership Wednesday with Coca-Cola and launched a series of branded apps from the beverage giant and others as the music streaming service seeks to ramp up advertising revenue. The deal: Spotify will power technology behind Coca-Cola Music, a global initiative launched last year to support music programs in the years between Olympics and World Cup sponsorships. Coke will integrate Spotify into its Facebook presence and Timeline, where it boasts more than 40 million fans. As part of the agreement, Coke will also leverage the Spotify API and platform to develop various music-related applications. The initial Coke app for Spotify, created last weekend during a two-day “hacker day” by the companies, is expected to debut in the coming weeks in relation to Coke’s summer Olympics marketing efforts. Mark Ronson's "Move To The Beat" will be the official anthem of Coke's 2012 Olympics campaign. Spotify and Coke plan to launch a joint ad campaign to be unveiled later this year. Spotify, which launched in the U.S. last year, could get a further boost from on-pack promotions through My Coke Rewards, Coke’s customer loyalty marketing program. Under the partnership, specially marked packages of Coke products could offer free trial codes for Spotify to help expand its user base, per a Billboard report. The music service says it has more than 10 million users worldwide, including 3 million paid members. Unlike Web music rival Pandora, which gets most of its revenue from advertising, Spotify generates most of its sales from subscriptions. It offers a $10 per month unlimited subscription in the U.S. Prior to announcing the Coke deal, the company said it had signed advertising deals with companies including AT&T, McDonald’s, Intel and Reebok to create branded apps that will populate Spotify’s desktop app. Spotify first rolled out a set of apps late last year from partners including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Billboard to help users navigate its library of 15 million songs, providing recommendations, song lyrics and other services. The new crop of branded apps are intended to be thematically consistent with the brands they represent. AT&T’s offering would allow users to see maps and locations where popular songs were recorded, while the Reebok app will make playlists for workouts. Spotify founder Daniel Ek told Reuters last week the company will take in revenue close to $900 million this year, but ruled out the possibility of filing for an IPO to capitalize on investor hunger for hot Internet startups. Pandora raised $235 million in an IPO last year. Spotify’s growth, however, has also brought it into conflict with labels and artists who have complained about the company not paying sufficient royalties.
Smoothie King is promoting its functional breakfast smoothies with an integrated “We Power Mornings” campaign that includes a Facebook-based UGC contest encouraging fans to write a jingle. The breakfast smoothies, with vitamins and minerals, are positioned to help customers make healthy choices for the crucial morning meal, and address specific health goals. They include the Lean 1 (“get lean” drinks containing Lean 1 weight-loss powder and 20-30 grams of protein); the Gladiator (“get strong” drinks with 45 grams of protein); the Slim-n-Trim (“slim down” drinks with 300 calories and potassium); and the Yogurt D-Lite (“get going” drinks that are low-fat, all-natural and include protein). The campaign, from Smoothie King agency Saeger Media Group, includes Facebook ads, direct mail, an email campaign to the brand’s “Kingdom”/loyalty program members, social media and public relations. The “Better Breakfast Beats” contest, being run in partnership with Universal Music Group, invites Facebook users who “like” the brand to write a jingle about how Smoothie King “powers their mornings.” Participants can submit a video or audio file, or just the words to a jingle. Entries have a chance to be featured in a future radio commercial, and the winner will receive a guitar signed by Universal Music artist Colbie Caillat. All entrants will also receive a product coupon. The contest is designed as a unique approach to garnering testimonials -– one that combines having fans creatively express how Smoothie King products benefit them and the knowledge that many people also use music as a morning motivator, the brand’s VP, marketing, Bobby Williams, told Nation’s Restaurant News. Williams also reports that Smoothie King’s highest traffic is between 7 and 9 a.m., and that positioning the chain as a “meal” destination has upped traffic considerably, resulting in a 20% sales jump so far in 2012. New Orleans-based Smoothie King, privately held and franchise-based, has more than 600 locations operating in 32 U.S. states, the Caymans and the Republic of Korea. Last year, it was ranked #1 in the juice bar category by Entrepreneur magazine (for the 18th year), and #70 overall on the 2011 Franchise 500 list.
Chevrolet last week launched a program on the influencer-ranking network Klout. The program offers influencers in technology, social media and environmental topics a three-day loan of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt. In this third partnership with Klout, Chevrolet is targeting six markets nationwide, with Klout influencers required to have a Klout score of 50 or better in social media, technology or the environment and live within a 30-mile radius of the markets. The effort is in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle from April through June and Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland from July through September, per Chevrolet. Last September, Chevy did a test program for Volt on Klout involving the loan of four Volts to 20 Chicago social media influencers. In November, the automaker used Klout to promote the Chevrolet Sonic compact car in five cities with 130 consumer loans in five weeks. Chevrolet says it got 16,000 positive consumer mentions on social media; user-generated videos; three requests to take advantage of a special discount and one confirmed purchase. For anyone who's been following the Volt contretemps the electric vehicle has become something of a lightening rod for the right (no pun intended), who have used the car to disparage the Obama Administration for funding a boondoggle. Most people in the auto industry don't see it that way, as the car is a pretty amazing feat of engineering. Chevrolet is positioning the vehicle with as an electric car with gas when you need it. How is it selling? While General Motors said it sold a record 100,000 vehicles that get at least 30 mpg last year it missed its 10,000-unit Volt sales goal for 2011. The company set a 45,000-unit goal for 2012, but only sold1,626 of the cars in the first two months this year. The company has production cuts planned to lighten vehicle inventory.
The way to throw a spear really far is to use an extension, which is kind of a lever that fits on the end of the weapon, so you can really wing it. Mitsubishi Motors North America has one of those. The automaker doesn't have a big media budget, but it tends to do campaigns that grab attention because they go to extremes in one way or another. The latest such effort from the Cypress, Calif. company is “Temp Drive,” wherein people get to take a break from work and spend the day à la Ferris Bueller with the new 2012 Outlander Sport (starting at $18,795). The wacky part of this is that consumers are to go to mitsubishicars.com/tempdrive to apply for a temp to replace them at their job for one day. And it gets a little stranger. The temps who will perform the duties for the three people Mitzu chooses for the "play day" will not come from Kelly Girl. Instead, they will include an opera singer, magician, deejay, librarian, meteorologist and rocket scientist. The effort is via agency of record 180LA, which also did the effort that put Mitsubishi Outlanders on the infamous Bolivian Road of Death, among other places. The agency was also behind Mitsubishi Motors’ “Live Drive,” a pure online test drive where consumers could robotically drive a real Mitsubishi crossover. The marketing campaign includes television, digital, social media and public relations. The television spot highlights the features and capabilities of the Outlander Sport that the consumer discovers during his day off. All campaign elements lead consumers to the Web site to sign up. Digital is being handled by Possible Worldwide.
Spotify announced a broad new partnership Wednesday with Coca-Cola and launched a series of branded apps from the beverage giant and others as the music streaming service seeks to ramp up advertising revenue. The deal: Spotify will power technology behind Coca-Cola Music, a global initiative launched last year to support music programs in the years between Olympics and World Cup sponsorships. Coke will integrate Spotify into its Facebook presence and Timeline, where it boasts more than 40 million fans. As part of the agreement, Coke will also leverage the Spotify API and platform to develop various music-related applications. The initial Coke app for Spotify, created last weekend during a two-day “hacker day” by the companies, is expected to debut in the coming weeks in relation to Coke’s summer Olympics marketing efforts. Mark Ronson's "Move To The Beat" will be the official anthem of Coke's 2012 Olympics campaign. Spotify and Coke plan to launch a joint ad campaign to be unveiled later this year. Spotify, which launched in the U.S. last year, could get a further boost from on-pack promotions through My Coke Rewards, Coke’s customer loyalty marketing program. Under the partnership, specially marked packages of Coke products could offer free trial codes for Spotify to help expand its user base, per a Billboard report. The music service says it has more than 10 million users worldwide, including 3 million paid members. Unlike Web music rival Pandora, which gets most of its revenue from advertising, Spotify generates most of its sales from subscriptions. It offers a $10 per month unlimited subscription in the U.S. Prior to announcing the Coke deal, the company said it had signed advertising deals with companies including AT&T, McDonald’s, Intel and Reebok to create branded apps that will populate Spotify’s desktop app. Spotify first rolled out a set of apps late last year from partners including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Billboard to help users navigate its library of 15 million songs, providing recommendations, song lyrics and other services. The new crop of branded apps are intended to be thematically consistent with the brands they represent. AT&T’s offering would allow users to see maps and locations where popular songs were recorded, while the Reebok app will make playlists for workouts. Spotify founder Daniel Ek told Reuters last week the company will take in revenue close to $900 million this year, but ruled out the possibility of filing for an IPO to capitalize on investor hunger for hot Internet startups. Pandora raised $235 million in an IPO last year. Spotify’s growth, however, has also brought it into conflict with labels and artists who have complained about the company not paying sufficient royalties.
Smoothie King is promoting its functional breakfast smoothies with an integrated “We Power Mornings” campaign that includes a Facebook-based UGC contest encouraging fans to write a jingle. The breakfast smoothies, with vitamins and minerals, are positioned to help customers make healthy choices for the crucial morning meal, and address specific health goals. They include the Lean 1 (“get lean” drinks containing Lean 1 weight-loss powder and 20-30 grams of protein); the Gladiator (“get strong” drinks with 45 grams of protein); the Slim-n-Trim (“slim down” drinks with 300 calories and potassium); and the Yogurt D-Lite (“get going” drinks that are low-fat, all-natural and include protein). The campaign, from Smoothie King agency Saeger Media Group, includes Facebook ads, direct mail, an email campaign to the brand’s “Kingdom”/loyalty program members, social media and public relations. The “Better Breakfast Beats” contest, being run in partnership with Universal Music Group, invites Facebook users who “like” the brand to write a jingle about how Smoothie King “powers their mornings.” Participants can submit a video or audio file, or just the words to a jingle. Entries have a chance to be featured in a future radio commercial, and the winner will receive a guitar signed by Universal Music artist Colbie Caillat. All entrants will also receive a product coupon. The contest is designed as a unique approach to garnering testimonials -– one that combines having fans creatively express how Smoothie King products benefit them and the knowledge that many people also use music as a morning motivator, the brand’s VP, marketing, Bobby Williams, told Nation’s Restaurant News. Williams also reports that Smoothie King’s highest traffic is between 7 and 9 a.m., and that positioning the chain as a “meal” destination has upped traffic considerably, resulting in a 20% sales jump so far in 2012. New Orleans-based Smoothie King, privately held and franchise-based, has more than 600 locations operating in 32 U.S. states, the Caymans and the Republic of Korea. Last year, it was ranked #1 in the juice bar category by Entrepreneur magazine (for the 18th year), and #70 overall on the 2011 Franchise 500 list.