Bailing out the American Auto Industry

To bail out or not. For too many years, I've wondered how the American Auto Makers could get away with manufacturing cars as if they were oblivious to everything going on around the world...Oil Wars, the Environment, Design?. We've known for too long that cars can be made to run more efficiently and with alternative energy...but why did it have to wait till the breaking point. Why does everything have to wait until the breaking point before we fix it. Crazy. I think we all know that our country will suffer even greater without these "once great" companies. I'm all for innovation and change in the management of these companies. Hopefully someone will figure out how to get the Auto companies to pay back on their bailout versus taking more of our hard earned dollars. Is there an end to this cycle? We've seen a fresh spirit of change in the image and voice of our country..hopefully this will trickle down to the policies and behavior of the auto industry.

It's time to Re-Invent and Re-Brand for our bright and shiny new world.

Controlled Permissiveness

Hiding the realities of the economic crisis from ourselves and our teenagers is no longer an option. Teenagers and twenty somethings born after the last economic downturn of the 1980s have rarely heard the words "NO" or been denied the latest fashion, gadget, phone, or laptop. The indulged and entitled generation are about to get a lesson in abstinence. Families will have no choice but to cut back, "Last week a semiannual survey of 7,000 15- to 18-year-olds by Piper Jaffray, an investment bank and research firm, showed that annual discretionary spending by teenagers, whose money comes from allowance, gifts and part-time jobs, had dropped 27 percent to $2,600, from its spring 2006 peak of $3,560." The Frugal Teenager, NY Times

A 2007 study by the Harrison Group, a market research firm in Waterbury, Conn., found that nearly 75 percent of parents caved in to their children’s nagging for new video games, half within two weeks.

Perhaps the children of today can now learn the concept of saving....and be forced to make choices on the most meaningful experiences. Parents will be forced to stop using gifts as a form of motivation and be driven to develop non merchandising forms of encouragement.

As we enter this new era of controlled permissiveness….Marketers will have to work smarter to climb to the top of our need set and become more meaningful to a nation in crisis.

Marketing Tip: Communicate why your product is a "must have"...why your product is "needed" today...When crafting your holiday season messages, consider the erosion of consumer confidence, restrained spending...and the anger that may arise from a generation that's never known not having what they want. Final point..with all this heavy sh*t going on in the world...please make us laugh at it all.

Palin and Couric - Saturday Night Live

"Saturday Night Live hasn't been this dead on with political satire since the days of Chevy Chase"

Firebrand 09-25-07 to 03-01-08

One year ago today, Firebrand was born with an announcement made at Advertising Week in New York. And for 90 illustrious days, she dazzled commercial lovers all across TV, Web and Mobile. Firebrand launched with much fanfare with the premise that the much-maligned 30-second spot was not unwanted by consumers but just misplaced as an interruption to programming. With Firebrand's CEO, John A. Lack at the helm (one of the original founders of MTV), she sought to reach young viewers by doing for commercials what MTV did for music videos: turn the promotional material into content itself.

Firebrand presented a streaming video web site and synchronous nightly hourly TV program featuring the best of the best commercials.

In its short existence, Firebrand delivered millions of TV viewers each week, over 250,000 unique visitors online and nearly 100,000 mobile downloads. Not a bad beginning for users actually making a choice to watch great commercials.

We remember you Firebrand...you inspire us everyday.

What Inspired Me to Write a Blog Today

I love what technology has done to bring us closer...As I sift through the barrage of information I get each day...I search for the big ideas in the heap of overload. Ideas and little gems of information. Our job as marketers is to understand consumer behavior (not just our own?) and how entertainment and media are evolving every day. I hear many kindred spirits out there speaking and sharing..I hear you and am inspired to share and play my part in this marketing socialization.

Today I heard that in this world of twittering Mad Men...I can still be a girl. Has anyone seen Tina Fey's purse?