Automotive News Marketing Seminar 2015: Top Trends & Twitter Reactions
Yesterday the Automotive News hosted their annual marketing summit in New York’s Marriott Marquis. The summit attracted headline keynotes from marketing executives from Subaru, General Motors, BMW, Porsche, and Mazda.
As usual, there was a series of panels and speeches...but what were the main take-a-ways and crowd reaction? I captured the top moments from each speaker and some reactions of attendees on Twitter during the summit.
Alan Bethke: Vice President of Marketing, Subaru of America Inc.
Alan opened his presentation with the story of Cathy Miles, a Subaru drive on her way to a funeral before being hit by an oncoming vehicle. After a quick and speedy recovery, Mrs. Miles promptly went and purchased another Subaru. The intention here was to highlight Subaru as the safest vehicle on the market and the love that their drivers have for the brand. As Alan mentioned several times, “Subaru is going big now” and is relying on its messaging on safety, longevity, and adventure.
Tony DiSalle: U.S. Vice President of Buick and GMC Marketing, General Motors
While Tony manages marketing efforts for both the Buick and GMC brands in the United States, his presentation focused exclusively on what he called “redefining” the Buick brand. Traditionally known for skewing towards an older audience, Tony shared a series of video campaigns Buick had launched directly poking fun at that perception. In fact, he shared that around 80% of Buick vehicles on the road today are no longer in production. He closed his presentation by revealing that the 2017 Buick LaCrosse will take design cues from the hit Avenir concept.
Trudy Hardy: Vice President of Marketing, BMW of North America, LLC
If you want to get in touch with Trudy, don’t email her! She shared on stage that she had already received 100 messages from attendees asking to meet. More specific to BMW, however, Trudy spent the majority of her presentation outlining the new BMW 7 Series launch plan and what the brand calls the “Whisper” and “Nurture” phases. BMW had invited ~6,500 VIP guests and influencers around the country to local closed room events to share the 7 Series before its official launch on October 24, 2015.
Andre Oosthuizen: Vice President of Marketing, Porsche Cars North America
As Andre shared in his opening, Porsche started with a dream; the dream to have a car that could not be bought. The dream, Andre further explained, has always been fueled by the experiences which is why Porsche has continued to make major investments in this area. Most recently, their new U.S. headquarters in Atlanta cost $110 million dollars, a sizable investment for a company that sold ~45,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year. Andre emphasized the importance that these experiences have had in creating lifelong enthusiasts, which is the most important mission as part of each marketing campaign.
Russell Wager: Vice President of Marketing, Mazda North American Operations
For consumers fascinated with self-driving cars and even flying vehicles, Mazda is not the brand for you! Russell somewhat jokingly, yet accurate to the Mazda brand, shared that Mazda drivers love the experience of driving. In fact, the brand’s new “Driving Matters” campaign looks for the 25% of the market that identifies as enjoying the driving experience. Thus, Mazda’s marketing reflects that - the team works to create micro-moments of stackable content that is personalized to individuals and creates an emotional bond between the customer and brand.
In addition, here were some reactions / thoughts from attendees:
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