5 Blogs Before Lunch

Happy Thanksgiving, from AT&T

Auto Shows Feeling The Pinch: They're "probably not the best use of our marketing dollar right now."

The Auto Show industry is about to be hit, and hit hard. Reports are that many car companies are pulling back from spending their marketing dollars at car shows that seem a little bit like "fat" during these days of belt tightening.

Auto Shows are about 1). Press attention towards new vehicle announcements 2). Ego (a chance for the car companies to show off( and 3). A chance for consumers to "shop" for new cars without pressure from sales people.

Does the auto industry really need auto shows to fulfill any of these objectives? As a spokesman for Nissan told Advertising Age: auto show exhibitions are "probably not the best use of our marketing dollar right now."

GM was the first to announce that it will be scaling back its presence. Now, Nissan has announced it won't be exhibiting at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in January, and is also pulling out of February's auto show in Chicago.

This may mean the end of the flashy, spectacular, glitzy and tacky auto show industry as we know it. Auto Shows will need to re-invent themselves, and that sounds like a good thing.

SanDisk Uses Social Media Strategy for "Cyber Weekend" Promotion

SanDisk is launching a "Cyber Weekend" three-day sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. To promote the sale, the company and its PR agency, Cohn & Wolf, deployed a social network strategy using ads and video on sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MetaCafe.

From ClickZ:

"This campaign is really a seeding campaign," said Tony Obregon, VP of digital media at Cohn & Wolfe. "It's about being able to leverage a lot of the social channels that are out there, about reaching folks that are passionate about movies, music, and photography."

Components of the campaign include videos on sites including YouTube, Vimeo, Veo, Blip, MetaCafe, and others. SanDisk established around 12 branded channels on those sites, each called "Take More Video." Videos talking up the sale in those branded sections were shot by tech personality Gadget Grrl. The firm also created a Twitter feed, is promoting the sale in its brand pages on social sites like Facebook, and is sending news out to bloggers.

Social Network Ads Not So Clickable

The popularity of social network sites is indisputable. Reports are that nearly 1/2 of the U.S. population visits sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and the like. But even though more than three in four social network users visit these sites at least once a week, just 57% of social net users say they have clicked on an ad over the past 12 months, vs. 79% of all Web users, according to new research from IDC.

From Mediaweek:
"The thinking has been that the popularity of [social networking sites] will attract a big audience and generate a lot of traffic, which in turn will produce enormous amounts of user-generated content and therefore advertising inventory, without any expenses for editorial staff or content distribution deals," said Karsten Weide, program director, digital Marketplace: media and advertising, IDC. That’s all proven true, said Weide, except the advertising part. “[These sites] have had a hard time selling this inventory."

General Motors is ending its relationship with Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has a lot of endorsement deals--American Express, Nike, Tag Heuer, etc. etc. But going forward, he'll have one less paycheck coming his way as GM, citing the difficult economy, and Tiger, citing his desire to spend more time with his family (how much time does it take to shoot a commercial?) have called it quits.

The automaker had a nine-year relationship with Tiger Woods, with his recent five-year deal valued at $40 million.

Source: Advertising Age

88% of U.S. Teens Have Access To The Internet

According to a report by the Center for the Digital Future, 88% if teens aged 12-14 have access the Internet, while 100% (really?) of the same age group in Britain are able to be online.

Researchers in 13 countries talked to more than 25,000 people in Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe in late 2007 and early 2008. According to the report, 100 percent of British youth use the Internet, followed by Israel at 98 percent, the Czech Republic and Macao and 96 percent and Canada at 95 percent.

Source: Reuters

Mixing Google With P&G: Ol' Skool Meets Old School

Procter & Gamble spends nearly $9 billion on advertising.

They must know a thing or two about it.

And, the folks at Google know a thing or two about online media.

So, it seems logical that the two companies have lots of points of intersection, and a lot to talk about.

P&G recently revealed that it sent Tide brand managers to work with Google. Meanwhile, Google workers visited P&G's Cincinnati headquarters to help with training.

P&G said it wanted to extend its online reach. The next group to mix it up with the Google crew: managers of the Pampers brand.

More at International Herald Tribune and

Kelly Osbourne In TV Rehab For Virgin Media

Bonobos--Mens Pants sold online, marketed through social media

When Brian Spaly and Andy Dunn decided to start a clothing company, they opted to by-pass the idea of selling through traditional retailers, and advertising through traditional media. Selling online and advertising through social networks like Facebook, please meet Bonobos:

Bonobos exists to solve two problems we had ourselves. (1) Men's pants do not fit well; they are either baggy, frumpy, and unflattering. Or way too tight.  We make pants that fit and look better, on most gents and especially on guys with athletic builds. The second problem (2) is retail.  How could we enjoy paying 120% markup to try on clothes in an uncomfortable public environment where sales associates—who are total strangers—either scrutinize our figures, or pay no attention to us at all?  Meanwhile, pricing games are no fun. We're tired of waiting for sales... but paying full price makes no sense when inevitably everything will go on sale. We got tired of the traditional retail shopping experience. So we are building a different kind of clothing company, one that offers a fantastic customer experience, innovative low-cost distribution, and a stylish product that fits well.

Nextel Campaign: What if Firefighters and Roadies Ruled The World?

One of my latest, favorites: Nextel campaign, "What is XXX ruled the world."