I came across an article today on Saturn’s woes in car sales even though its latest offerings were critically a success.  The article claimed that the manufacturer pulled ads promoting Saturn’s performance and handling since it didn’t seem to resonate with its buyers. 

Much like other struggling car manufacturers, Saturn is having difficulty reinventing itself.  This should not be surprising.  It’s quite difficult to change an imagery so ingrained in the consumer mindset.  Cars, especially, have such a heritage and devotion that you immediately invoke specific meaning when you mention a brand.  BMW = Performance, German Engineering; Toyota = Reliability; Kia = Cheap.

Think about another failed automaker, Volkswagen, who has had its own share of problems reinventing themselves.  They were seen as young, funky,and affordable.  Basically a low-cost European alternative to the Japanese sedans that was more affordable than a BMW or Audi.  VW tried to reach an older, more affluent, audience over the past several years, offering higher quality cars.  The problem was that they also moved up the price point where they alienated their core consumers.  If you notice their advertising today, they too have gone back to basics emphasizing the youth, fun, and affordability of their cars.  Probably a better bet to regain their core customers and play on the strengths of the brand.   

Bottom line is that Saturn also has to figure out who they really are.  They are better served building on their core essense rather than doing a 180.  Yes it’s ok to shift towards a different demographic or segment but it can’t be as drastic as Saturn has done over the past year.  Building a better product was a first step and Saturn did get into my consideration set, but I would never have purchased one no matter how great the product was.  Saturn would be better off being more like VW and being an alternative to the traditional sedan.  In the past, they were known as the car that used plastic side panels instead of metal.  Why not build on the alternative materials branding and become the eco-friendly option for both materials and fuels? Just a thought, but something that sounds more viable than becoming the next BMW.

Classes start up again on Monday so I wanted to do some shameless promotion for the Graduate Marketing Association, where I am VP of Marketing.  This summer, I spent some time developing a logo and new website for the organization.

 The fruits of my labor can be found here.  I would love comments and/or feedback if you have any.

YouTube announced today that it is introducing a new ad format for its videos.  Dubbed InVideo ads, the ads are semi-transparent and occupy the bottom 20% of the video frame that start playing 15 seconds after the start of the clip.  After playing for 10 seconds, the overlay ads then shrink to a smaller button.  Of course the ad and button are clickable. 

Right now, YouTube is charging a flat rate of $20 CPM (per thousand viewings).  If you look at the most viewed YouTube video of all time, it has received 55,943,502 views.  That would have cost an advertiser a little of $1.1 million.  Not bad considering some paid search campaign budgets and the amount of impressions it would have received over the past year.

I think this is an important step to get a standardized working video advertising business model.  Video Ads charging a CPC can’t be far behind.  Some kinks that probably need to get worked out are determining what ad goes on which video, can video creators limit and/or choose what ads to display, and measuring the impact of these ads on sales.

Michael Vick has decided to plead guilty and face prison in his federal dog fighting case.  This does not mean his NFL playing days are over nor does not mean you will not see another Air Vick shoe. 

In our society today, we give plenty of second chances and time seems to heal many wounds.  Look at all the many fallen sports stars who have made it back to see more glory days.  Do we really think twice about buying a new Kobe 24 jersey or remember that pro-bowl linebacker Ray Lewis was charged with double murder?

Vick will serve his 12-18 months in jail and be forgotten.  The media attention and outrage on dog fighting will subside.  His agent and PR person will apologize profusely to the public and then its back to work again – training to get into shape, signing and proving himself all over again, winning over fans after scoring his first comeback TD, and the riches of endorsements will be there waiting. 

The American way of life is an expression often used to explain the freedoms we experience and our country’s principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  It is often used to describe all that we hold sacred and perserving this way of life often quoted as a reason for the actions of our leaders and government.

Last Friday, American Airlines announced that it was seeking damages from Google for selling search terms that use or were related to its name.  Capitalism is definitely part of the American way and so is greed.  While I agree to a certain extent that companies shouldn’t be able to make money from the direct use of someone else’s trademark name, I do question whether companies should be allowed to hold (or trademark) names that are as generic as American Airlines.  Apparently there has been contradicting rulings in the past to buying search terms of trademark names.  There really needs to be some standard for generic company names and genericized brand names like Kleenex, Xerox, and Band-Aids. Until there is clarity and a landmark ruling on this topic, I guess its the “American Way” to keep fighting for a share of the profits.