The new 2008 Chevy Malibu is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Seriously the car is a total revamp of it’s boring predecessor. In fact Chevy subtlety admits it in their new ad campaign based on the tag “the car you can’t ignore.”
Here’s one ad (not the best of quality, hopefully someone will post a better one soon.
Update** You can see the above video here. And you can watch the bank robber ad here.
Sorry for the lack of posts, we’ve been a little bit busier around here (Year End Clearance creative is fast approaching). Just wanted to share some cool new Lexus creative. Big thanks to AdRants for the find.
Lately Lexus has been making some nice commercials. I guess you have to when you’re getting called out by Hyundai.
Todays ‘Boob Award’ goes to this ad for the Mercedes Class S, which I found on 10 Advertising. I believe the message was suppose to be that the car had eight airbags.
Everyone is fully aware that sex sells. Sex in Advertising has been used for decades and even more so over that past twenty years or so.
“Post-advertising sales response studies have shown it can be very effective for attracting immediate interest, holding that interest, and, in the context of that interest, introducing a product that somehow correlates with that interest.”
The advertising and marketing research firm of Gallup & Robinson have an intriguing essay on Sex and Advertising. With over 50 years of testing the effectiveness of advertising, G&R point out the obvious…
…”sex is a Code Red advertising technique . . . handle with care . . . seller beware; all of which makes it even more intriguing.”
Do a search for Sex in Advertising you’ll be surprised by what you find. Sex in advertising is such a powerful tool that there are whole college courses devoted to it’s study. For instance, Richard Taflinge, a professor at Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, teaches a course on the subject. At first I thought the following ad was for automobiles but then I realized it was actually selling the tiny grease guns she is holding in her hands. Well, I guess sex doesn’t always work, does it?
Narrow that search to ’sex in automotive advertising’ and start wandering the 2,000,000 results. Start with Selling the Car Culture through Advertising, a course taught at the University of Wisconsin. Although the ads shown are a little bit outdated, they do illustrate the point.
But Does It Sell? And who is the better target, men or women? And what is the difference between using sex, and being sexy. Mazda tried sexy with this commercial for the MX-5.
 Because I’m lazy today and posting videos is a lot easier than actually posting content, here is Hummer’s Nip/Tuck homage commercial.
Courtesy of AdFreak.
Subaru has switched it’s advertising agency to Carmichael Lynch. The reason, according to this Adweek article, Tim Mahoney, the CMO of Subaru, worked with the agency when he was at Porsche.
The agency who had Subaru was surprised by the move. But it seems to me, Subaru never really had any direction. Was their tag line, “Think. Feel. Drive.” or was it, “It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru?” I don’t know. What did their tag line(s) even mean (don’t even get me started on the meaning of manufacturer’s tag lines in general)?
Here’s a spot Subaru is currently running. And here’s a spot that Jeep just did that looks much better.
So in about six months expect Subaru to roll out with some new creative.
BTW… Carmichael Lynch is the same agency that works on the beef jerky ads, messing with Sasquatch.
Ever wonder where the future trends in automotive advertising are heading. Well, in this blog, and the second installment, Gordon Borrell, is “interviewed” about what he sees happening in the marketplace.
For instance, when asked about the migration of ad spending from ‘traditional’ to online marketing, he explains how dealers are moving away from print based advertising to online marketing, especially now that more households have computers in their houses. Dealers see the obvious benefits of online advertising and, in turn, are beginning to build their online identities.
So what should dealers be spending their money on? According to Borrell, 40% of their budget should go to TV or newspaper, which ever they see as being more effective. Then a mix between mix between the Internet, radio, cable, Direct Mail or billboards.
Where and when should you advertise?
“The dealers need to be ready to advertise price and item around key sales periods like weekends or holidays.”
Gee, really? Show me a dealership who didn’t run a Labor Day Sale and I’ll show you a dealer who didn’t meet their quota for that month!
All in all, Borrell isn’t telling us anything you don’t already know. Sales are down, traditional media is slowly being overwhelmed by the internet and TV ads still motivate the buyer more than any other factor.
Yet another trend in automotive dealer advertising, Pimps.
Apparently this dealer has a entire series of ads with the Credit Pimp “for real yo!”
This is the reason why people hate automotive dealer advertising. I’s either the ads yell at you or they just insult your intelligence.
Omni Advertising has issued a press release announcing a merger with Iris Zayas. Iris will be Omni’s Media Director and will oversee both traditional and interactive media for the agency.
“Everything we do here is around technology innovation; to keep our clients at the forefront of the digital revolution,†said Iris.
See more news about Omni Advertising here.
Why do people buy the cars that they do? Do they buy for safety? Reliability? Or is it the look of the car?
Well that’s what the research from CarGurus.com says. According to the study, car manufacturers should have more pictures and videos on their site. The study came to this conclusion based on the fact that 62% of the pages viewed on their website were of car photos and videos.
Langley Steinart, founder and CEO of CarGurus.com, had this to say:
“Cars are a very emotional and expensive purchase. Automakers have to connect with consumers emotionally.”
Steinart may be right, but the research seems to be a little iffy. Who’s to say whether the people looking at CarGurus.com are actual shoppers looking for more info on the car they want or are these people just car enthusiasts? This same point was brought up by Ian Beavis, VP-marketing of Kia Motors America.
So is it the look of the car or is it what’s inside that counts? This sort of sounds like a dating question? Are you going out with him/her for his/her looks or brain? To which the common response is, “if you say looks don’t matter, than you’re a liar.”
But to stongly appeal to vanity ain’t the answer either. Looks may bring you in, but it’s what’s inside that makes you stay. That goes for cars and relationships.
Continuing a trend, started yesterday, of strange advertising bedfellows comes the above ad for the Toyota Tacoma. Toyota has teamed up with World of Warcraft to market the Tacoma.
This spot comes a year after South Park made a show involving WoW. That show won an Emmy at this year’s Emmy Awards and was well received in the WoW community.
It seems Toyota likes to market the Tacoma using surreal imagery, like the Loch Ness Monster ad. I could never get past the fact that the window is down the entire time the Tacoma is under water. Loch Ness Monster attacking Tacoma, still with you. Window down while truck is underwater, sorry that’s just too unbelievable for me.
Via AdFreak.
