The Fate of Detroit ? Revisited Green Shoots? The Changing Landscape of America

During the first ten days of October 2008, the Dow Jones dropped 2,399.47 points, losing 22.11% of its value and trillions of investor equity. The Federal Government pushed a $700 billion bail-out through Congress to rescue the beleaguered financial institutions. The collapse of the financial system in the fall of 2008 was likened to an earthquake. In reality, what happened was more like a shift of tectonic plates.

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By May of last year, when the first of this series appeared, it was clear that the American auto industry was about to fundamentally change. It has been just eight months and the changes have already been monumental. In 2009, China overtook America as the largest market for automobiles in the world. Sadly, America will never see that title again.

Industry CEOs flew into Washington, DC on their private jets asking for billions in federal hand-outs. They were chastised and embarrassed for their greed and insensitivity by politicians who have mastered that fine art of public outrage. GM?s CEO Rick Wagoner was publicly fired. The next day, GM put all eleven corporate jets on the market causing the resale market for G-5s to collapse overnight.

Since then, GM has entered and exited bankruptcy and senior debt holders were wiped out so the government could give ownership of GM to the UAW, in contravention of all existing bankruptcy laws. A thousand dealers were summarily terminated without compensation, or a hearing. The Saturn brand was snuffed out and the Saab brand will follow unless a miracle occurs ? an unlikely prospect. Pontiac and Hummer have already been terminated.

Chysler is now owned by Fiat, the government and the UAW. It too wiped out 1,000 loyal dealers without compensation, or a hearing. Chrysler sales, down 36%, were the worst since 1962. The company is on life support. The Italians will attempt to resuscitate the ailing brand with a fuel efficient Fiat 500 and curvaceous Alfa-Romero. Chrylser called on Lee Iacocca to help them recover in the 1980s. This time, they may need Sophia Loren to coax buyers back into the showroom.

Ford did not take TARP bail out money and the public responded by buying Ford products. While their sales were down 15%, they gained market share because GM and Chrysler sales were down 30% and 36% respectively. Sales in December were actually up 33% from a year ago. Ford dumped loser Volvo to the Chinese automaker, Geely, who coveted the domestic dealer network. Expect to see Chinese cars in an auto mall near you sooner rather than later.

Clunkers

Government showed its ignorance of the automible industry by sponsoring a Cash for Clunkers program. They will claim it was a great success, selling 677,842 new cars, but critics will remind that it cost $3 billion dollars. Edmunds.com reports that all but 125,000 sales would have taken place anyway. So taxpayers forked over about $24,000 per car for 125,000 sales. The National Highway Transportation Board reported that 20,000,000 barrels of oil will be saved over 20 years but critics will remind that we import that much in just two days. In addition, the cost to administer a program that lasted just six months was $100,000,000. The government was loathe to mention the top two brands purchased in the Cash for Clunkers progran were Honda and Toyota, not American brands.

Electrics

As promised, the government supported the move to electric vehicles. The U.S Department of Energy gave Tesla Motors a loan of $465 million to build the $87,900 electric Karma in California. Tesla claims it has sold 1,000 cars. That means Tesla sales represent a little over one hundredth of one percent of the domestic car business. The financial wisdom of such a loan would be questionable if it were not for the equally stunning announcement that Fisker would receive $529 million form the DOE to build its $100,000 electric car ? in Finland. Al Gore is a sharehholder of Fisker. Honda, which sells the $20,000 Insight hybrid vehicle and achieved just 25% of forecasted sales. If Honda has trouble selling a $20,000 electric hybrid, one wonders how many $100,000 electrics Fisker and Tesla models must be sold to repay our billion dollar loan.

Winners

The surprise winner of the last year was Korean car manufacturer, Hyundai. With a potent combo of great styling, affordable pricing on its Kia brand and new upscale products, Hyundai sales increased a surprising 10%. They project a 17% increase in 2010. Hyundai is doing so well it may spin off its own luxury brand, Genesis, as Toyota did so successfully with Lexus. The new Equus luxury sedan is about the same size as a large Mercedes, BMW or Lexus but $25,000 less. This basic formula worked to establish the Lexus and Infiniti brands in 1989. Expect it to be be repeated by Hyundai in the near future.

Green shoots

Even though it has relinquished its title as top dog to the Chinese, there are signs of life in the American automobile industry. Buick is the top brand in China and is resurgent in our domestic market. The new Buick Lacrosse and Regal are superb automobiles. Chevy rests its hopes on a trio of the new attractive products like an all electric Volt, a retro-styled Camaro and the 40 MPG Cruze. Cadillac released a new fleet of gorgeous CTS and SRX models and announced a new full-size XTS is on the way. Cadillac will get its own stunning version of the Volt called the Converj. And Government Motors (GM) announced it will invest a billion dollars to create the fuel efficeint trucks of the future in time for the economic recovery.

At Ford, they hope the 2011 Ford Focus will be a huge success. This small car is a move upscale for Ford. It has great styling and amenities, a higher price tag and therefore higher profits. Will Ford be able to sell an expensive small car to replace the profitable SUVs like the Explorer and Expedition?

Chrysler?s future is much murkier. A mini Fiat 500 is coming but the Alfa-Romeros have been delayed. The new Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Chrysler 300 are attractive, but the Chysler Lancia is simply weird. Chrysler revealed a new 200C EV, a surprise all electric concept. Will these models be enough to save Chrysler?. We will see.

The car business is changing. Green Shoots, as our president likes to muse. We hope he is correct.

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This is the seventh in a series on the Changing Landscape of America.

Robert J. Cristiano PhD is a successful real estate developer and the Real Estate Professional in Residence at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

PART ONE ? THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY (May 2009)

PART TWO ? THE HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY (June 2009)

PART THREE ? THE ENERGY INDUSTRY (July 2009)

PART FOUR ? THE ROLLER COASTER RECESSION (September 2009)

PART FIVE ? THE STATE OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE (October 2009)

PART SIX ? WHEN GRANNY COMES MARCHING HOME ? MULTI-GENERATIONAL HOUSING (November 2009)

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Newgeography/~3/AGf23y7H714/001380-the-fate-detroit-%E2%80%93-revisited-green-shoots-the-changing-landscape-america

Iconix could make Playboy work: Kill the mag, take the sex out of the brand

Filed under: Deals, Media World

Playboy (PLA) tends to be associated with the magazine and sex. Not the hardcore, nasty kind, of course -- Playboy has always been more than a tad distinguished, staying above board while the adult entertainment industry has chosen to compete in ways that my editor would delete if I even attempted.

With Iconix said to be interested in acquiring Playboy, it needs to think about where it can win with the ailing brand. The smart move may be to ditch the magazine and move away from sex -- it can't compete in either of these markets. Then, it needs to figure out how to make the brand relevant to everyone not in the Boomer generation ... or treat Playboy as an investment with a clock on it.

Continue reading Iconix could make Playboy work: Kill the mag, take the sex out of the brand

Iconix could make Playboy work: Kill the mag, take the sex out of the brand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full story at http://www.pheedcontent.com/click.phdo?i=e05dd7e593a2990ca7d2474092332505

Gap North America President Marka Hansen resigns [Updated]

Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America, is stepping down from her position and will leave the company effective Friday, the San Francisco company announced Tuesday.

Hansen has been with the apparel company for 24 years and most recently helped launch the brand's 1969 premium jeans concept. An internal successor will be named Wednesday, Chief Executive Glenn Murphy said in a statement.

[Updated at 10:30 p.m.: In a news release late Tuesday, Gap announced that Art Peck, who has led the company's profitable outlet business for the last three years, would take over the position.]

?After several conversations, Marka and I agreed this was the right time for a change in the organization in order to take Gap brand to a new level," Murphy said. "I am grateful for all that Marka has contributed to the company."

After starting as a Banana Republic merchant in 1987, Hansen moved to top merchandising roles at both Banana Republic and Gap, as well as in the International division when the company prepared to open in Europe and Japan. She also served as president of Banana Republic starting in 2003, before assuming the role of president of Gap North America in 2007.

In a note to investors, retail analyst Richard Jaffe said he viewed the move as a positive one and a "necessary step" in Gap's continuing effort to reinvigorate the brand.

"While Marka has had a significant positive impact ... particularly on the operational side, her efforts to reposition the merchandise assortments at Gap have not been as fruitful," Jaffe said in the note. "While the re-launch of denim (the 1969 brand) was a great success and the black pant initiative for women was well received, these were not sufficient to lift Gap?s results and fuel market-share gains."

-- Andrea Chang

Photo: Marka Hansen. Credit: Gap Inc.

Full story at http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/MoneyCompany/~3/VFjvlPrAdGs/gap-brand-president-marka-hansen-resigns.html

Social Media Marketing Tools and Tactics | The Virtuous Circle

Using a variety of social media marketing tools and tactics strategically, even businesses on a budget can dramatically increase online visibility and search engine ranking.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs have heard the drums, heeded the call and jumped on the Facebook bandwagon, setting up a fan page for their businesses and even dipping their toes into the Twitter pool. But many are struggling to build a following and beginning to wonder about the R.O.I. of their time in using this social media platform.

The virtuous marketing circle engages multiple learning styles to reach more potential clients and customers.

Although Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites are free, the valuable resource of one?s time is required to actively engage, update and promote a brand message.� And, time is expensive. Making the content business create work harder and across multiple platforms is a good way to produce a virtuous marketing circle and increase the ROI of content creation. This tactic can help users create a wider circle of influence by spreading their brand message to an exponentially larger audience; reaching consumers wherever they spend the majority of their time online.

Below is an example of a virtuous marketing circle. The small business owner creates the circle in the follow way.

1. A blog post on his or her blogsite or website.

2. Using a Facebook application such as Notes or Networked Blogs, our business owner automatically pulls that blog post onto his Facebook Fan page, which represents his business. Having set his application controls once, he never thinks about this again. His page is automatically updated with his new blog post each and every time he posts.

3. The title and a link back to our business owner?s Facebook Page is automatically posted to her Twitter account, moments after it hits her Facebook page because she has set up an application called the Facebook Twitter App.� So now that single blog post has now been seen on three different platforms and potentially by three different audiences with some minor overlap.

4. Once or twice a month, our business owner chooses a particularly informative blog post and posts it to an e-zine articles site that accepts and syndicates articles with valuable information. Articles on e-zine sites can be picked up by other publications or blogs and helps our business owner reach a new audience with content he or she has already created. Additionally, Google and other search engines will index the articles which helps bring our business owner and brand higher up the search engine rankings.

5. Occasionally our business owner chooses one of his or her blog posts and records it as a podcast, saves it as an MP3, posts it to a Podcast site, itunes and perhaps to a special Podcast tab on the original website.� Producing the same messages in multiple formats helps engage different learning styles in potential customers.

6.� Just as our business owner was able to rework the original blog into a podcast, so she does so again, in a short how-to video about a particularly post.� This video is posted to YouTube, then brought into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and again, back to the original blog.

With the virtuous marketing circle, one blog post reaches six or seven unique readerships and our business owner has created mutiple touchpoints from which to engage with clients, exponentially increasing the chances of being seen and heard.� The original content he or she created has now been broadcast throughout the virtuous marketing circle.

How do you reuse, rework, re-introduce your ideas and messages to reach a wider crowd.� Let’s share ideas.

Read more posts on Brand New, Brand You �

For the latest career news, visit War Room. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/65gC4DtyRTg/social-media-marketing-tools-and-tactics--the-virtuous-circle-2011-5

Hey Marketers, Make iPhone Apps Like These

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- There might be an app for everything, but does everything need an app?

When it comes to brands, it's easy to wonder if the rush to get into the App Store is more about marketers snapping up the shiniest new wonder than thinking about apps as strategic-marketing tools.

Luckily, as the app business has grown, the apps themselves have grown up. While the Zippo lighter -- enormously popular at 5 million downloads and counting -- remains a bit of an anomaly, most branded apps have moved from the simple "wow" or novelty factor to include branded utility, relationship building and even sales.

Target, for instance, launched its Gift Globe, a cute cross between a snow globe and Magic 8-ball, last holiday, around the same time as it bowed its more direct and utilitarian gift-finder app, where you enter basic information about the recipient and are served up a number of gift ideas. Consumers can still download the gift finder, while Gift Globe is no longer in the App Store.

"What [marketers] really need to do is take a step back and ask: who [their customers] are, what are the [marketing] objectives, and how do they communicate with people?" said Appssavvy CEO Chris Cunningham. The best apps provide utility, deliver value or entertain. Another example of an evolved app is Benjamin Moore's Ben Color Capture. Users can snap a picture of anything -- a flower, tree, dog or neighbor's living-room rug -- and get an instant match from one of Ben's 3,300 paint hues. More than just a color gimmick, as one analyst put it, "It actually sells paint."

Of course, it's easy to forget that for all the iPhone's growth and buzz, the majority of people don't actually own one -- so keep reach expectations in check. There are 30 million users who've collectively downloaded one billion apps.

"Ultimately what we've concluded is: Don't look at the latest technology and say, 'We gotta do this,'" said Forrester Research analyst Neil Strother. "Look at what your customers are actually doing on mobile. How many people in your target have an iPhone? If it's not many, consider waiting. Or maybe look at doing a Blackberry or other smartphone app. Or maybe not even on a smartphone, but on a regular phone, if that's where your customers are."

Now we know creating an app just to have one is a bad idea, but just what makes a good app? It's a bit like obscenity, per former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition: Hard to define, "but I know it when I see it."

So we asked app enthusiasts, creators and analysts what they're seeing. Here are the great (and not-so great) branded apps that add entertainment, utility, social value, brand extension and even commerce.

Cream of the Crop

• Kraft iFood
  Rich, engaging and travels easily from pantry to grocery store to kitchen stove, all while building and strengthening brand loyalty.


• Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Run
  Not just a coffee and doughnuts ordering tool, this app announces to friends/co-workers that you're on a run. Captures all orders and you, "the hero," pick them up. Clever combo of utility and social. Now if they'd just integrate a payment system so you don't get stuck footing the bill.




• Benjamin Moore Ben Color Capture
  Using the camera feature on the iPhone 3GS, it snaps a picture of anything and finds a Ben paint color match. Closing the loop, GPS points renovators to the nearest Ben store.

New and Interesting

• Pepsi Rock Band
  This just-launched app is still fairly novelty-driven, with users putting their own mugs on the "Rock Band" cast. But it does play into the bigger Pepsi co-marketing campaign promoting the "Rock Band" game and gets kudos for good use of partnering with MTV.


• Chipotle Ordering
  Pizza Hut was first with app-based fast-food ordering, but Chipotle's recently relaunched app has users raving as they bypass long lines for Tex Mex.

Oldies, but Goodies

• Amazon
  Between Amazon apps to download reading material on the iPhone (store and reader) and Kindle electronic reader, Amazon is everywhere if you've got a few minutes to read.


• Facebook
  Brand extension pares down the big web experience, but keeps the Facebook essence in tact and, more importantly, always accessible.


• Audi A4 Driving Challenge
  Some 370,000 downloads in the first two weeks set the bar for branded-app success. Its early move also set the tone for auto-industry driving-game apps.

Jury's Still Out

• Mastercard Priceless Picks
  Gets props for solid thinking that's spot-on brand, but initial execution drummed for too many door-buster deals and not enough truly "priceless" finds.


• Charmin Sit or Squat
  Great idea for finding nearby facilities, but the Charmin brand is completely absent from the App Store (you can't even find it by searching for Charmin). However, once loaded onto your phone, Charmin ads fly. Would love more transparency up front.

Not So Much

• Warner Bros. Dark Knight
  The app adds dark circles and snarly red Batman decals and scars all over your own or friends' faces when you "Jokerize" them. Harmless fun, but did it sell any tix? Not available anymore.


• Pedigree Shake and Bark
  Take your dog's picture, record its bark and you can ... shake to replay it? It's got a cute name, and dog lovers can take a piece of their pup to work, but the features feel a bit lame. Plus, doesn't it freak out the dog?

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Meet 6 Flickr iPhone Apps That Yahoo Just Killed (YHOO, AAPL)
• Yahoo Rolls Out Three New iPhone Apps: Finance, Fantasy Football, Flickr (YHOO, AAPL, RIMM)
• The Top 10 Back-To-School iPhone Apps (AAPL)

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/kspWntVNDIs/hey-marketers-make-iphone-apps-like-these-2009-9

Visa Loses Target Store Brand Cards

Filed under: Target Corp. (TGT), American Express (AXP), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Visa Inc. (V)

In order to spur spending, Target Corporation (TGT) has long offered discounts to consumers who signed up for its store-brand credit cards. And more often than not, those cards carried the Visa, Inc. (V) logo.

Well, not any more. This week, TGT announced it will no longer issue cards with the Visa logo and instead encourage shoppers to sign up for its own plastic "REDcard." It's a trend that could sap revenue away from credit card stocks V, Mastercard In (MA) and American Express (AXP).

Continue reading Visa Loses Target Store Brand Cards

Visa Loses Target Store Brand Cards originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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