Is Social Media a Fad?

A very convincing presentation of the social media issue and its enormous reach. Who would have thought some years ago that anything could change the saying „the internet is porn“. Social media did just that. And it managed to surpass physical boundaries, bringing into every home live tweets from crisis areas such as Afghanistan or even Iran. Or as recently in Germany, election estimation results before the public press. That this phenomenon may collide with existing laws or regulations is another issue of social media. More and more companies, sports teams and parents need to intervene to avoid the post of critical information. But still, social media enables people all over the world to link, exchange impressions, attitudes, and insights in a way conventional media such as TV or the press could never do.
As to social media as a business strategy: it can work but it largely depends on how honestly you use it. At the end of the day, the internet is one huge civil courtroom, where inappropriate behavior oftentimes is immediately punished (United Airlines may just be one example).

DaimlerChrysler-Daimler+Fiat = Brand Confusion

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Chrysler’s New Ram Plan Poses Brand Jam

Posted by: David Kiley on September 07

dodge-ram-logo.jpg

Chrysler is potentially headed for a brand problem that will rival the pickle that GM is trying to extricate itself from.

Here is the deal. Chrysler has three main brands at the moment: Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. But it has made it clear to the ad agencies pitching its ad account that it is splitting off its pickup truck and commercial vehicle business off to a new brand—Ram.

That’s right. Going forward, and as soon as Chrysler has the idea to run with, the pickup it sells now won’t be sold as Dodge Ram, but rather….Ram. Other vehicles that will come from the Fiat-Chrysler tie up in the commercial segment will also be called Ram.

So, now we are up to four brands to support. Now, add the Fiat 500, which will be sold as a Fiat when it arrives in Chrysler showrooms in 2011. And, don’t forget Alfa Romeo, which Fiat will sell through Chrysler distribution in key markets that make sense for the Italian sport car maker.

This seems like a lot of brand differentiation to manage and support by a company that has been poor at both.

As I look at auto sales numbers through August, I see a 9.2% market share for Chrysler spread among the three brands it has. That share is inevitably going to go down as the company pares models. Indeed, Merrill Lynch projects that Chrysler loses a whopping five to six points of share in the next four years unless it comes up with some product surprises from the Fiat alliance.

If you consider it likely that Fiat and Alfa-Romeo combine for less than 1 point of share, then you have five brands potentially carving up something between 4 and 6 points of share, and that is if the company over-achieves. Also…four brands at a single showroom, while we wait to see how the company sort out the distribution real estate for Alfa at Chrysler dealerships.

This goes to brand/distribution/marketing efficiency. Toyota has 16.5% of the market spread across three brands. GM has 16.7% of the market with the four brands it plans to go forward with—Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, GMC.

If Chrysler isn’t clever beyonid all expectations, it is going to have a brand jumble that will make people look to GM as a benchmark of brand/marketing efficiency.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/15434.1438414129

Source: businessweek.com

BMW Sabbatical Program

Sabbatical at BMW is no innovation.
For more than 15 years, BMW has been offering its employees the opportunity to get the necessary distraction from the job. Time to recuperate, to get some time away from the complex medium called brand and to find to oneself. The result: new motivation, new joy at work and thus a more efficient employee.

Here is a link to a brief video at n-tv.de: Video

A very nice overview of social media marketing examples

Peter Kim offers a really good and inspiring overview of how social media, one of the recent buzz-words of marketing, has been successfully applied among various companies.

Here’s the link to his blog „Being Peter Kim

Vimeo Artikel – Die Rolle der Agenturen in der digitalisierten Welt | Interview mit Andreas Berens (2009)

Interview mit Andreas Berens…

Die Rolle der Agenturen in der digitalisierten Welt | Interview mit Andreas Berens (2009) from Syzygy on Vimeo.