MainStreet Communications

The Arches Stand Over A New Day

admin — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:20:20 +0000

A quotable moment for McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer Neil Golden. “Marketing can be used for good.” Take that cynics!

Look for McDonald’s to begin serving healthy-eating messages aimed at children. Their Chief Marketing Officer, Neil Golden, spoke at an industry conference. Happiness is healthier eating. He announced McDonald’s long lived Happy Meals are now more healthy. More news under the arches – No retirement party for Ronald McDonald and Mr. Golden likes the idea of industry self-regulation over the government kind. He added, “We continue to advocate the idea that giving consumers choice and information is the right way to go.”

Taking Social Media for a Test Drive

admin — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 13:53:38 +0000

Active Tweeters are being targeted to test drive the CHEVY VOLT. They’re going after bloggers and Facebook posters too. They want them behind the wheel of its Volt electric car to generate some online buzz.

From now until October these virtual communicators are being invited to actual test drives in six U.S. cities. The results so far? 29,000 tweets, comments, and “likes.” 187 million true impressions and two cars sold. That’s social media marketing motoring. Read more

Joe Phelan, of Chicago, is a muscle car aficionado and found himself somewhat unnerved by the Chevrolet Volt’s quiet electric power plant. While not completely sold on the car, Phelan nonetheless tweeted some 30 times about the Volt during his test drive. (Chris Walker, Chicago Tribune / August 1, 2012)

Love It and Leave It Alone

admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:07:31 +0000

The new GM “Love it or return it” offer didn’t seem to save sales from sagging. The Chevy brand suffered most, down almost 7% in June. Alan Batey is the interim marketing chief. His predecessor was sacked abruptly this week. “We are executing as per our plan,” Mr. Batey said, adding that he believes a decline in July sales compared with a year earlier was a “one time blip.” Read more

Comic-Con Advertisers Take to the Streets

admin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:00:03 +0000

Here in San Diego we’re used to the Comic-Con crowd. Sort of. Each year, at peak summer heat, the 125,000 or so rabid characters land on our city with their web shooters and bat capes. And the marketers follow. But this year they’ve expanded the playing field.

You can’t get a ticket, so don’t even try. Until our convention center is expanded, we’re full up. But wait, how about a little out-of-the-box thinking here? Gregory Schmidt of the NYT reports, “Like others on the waiting list, the marketing team for the Hub, a cable network owned jointly by Hasbro and Discovery Communications, found a creative solution this year, taking over the Broken Yolk, a San Diego restaurant. Everything in the restaurant has been re-branded, down to the condiments on the tables and the soap in the bathrooms, to draw in hungry fans on their way to and from the convention center.”

Facebook Tries to Save Face

admin — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:38:59 +0000

Under the rules of the Securities Exchange Commission, Facebook couldn’t make any public statements about its Initial Public Offering. But that period passed this week. So now Facebook officials could take on the task of justifying their business model after the stock debut went downhill last month.

Their challenge? Show the value of its marketing. They marched out a study showing that 70% of campaigns had an ROI of three times spending. Also, about half of campaigns returned five times what their client spent.

(Read more)

BMW Going Glam with Its Retail

admin — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:10:05 +0000

They’re trying it out in Paris. ”It’s like entering a really posh department store,” says Ad Age writer Rupal Parekh.

But it wasn’t easy to find. At least not as easy as U.S. dealerships with flags flying, balloons and searchlights. This is a little more subtle. So what’s the big idea? Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing for BMW, said in a statement: “The world of retail has changed significantly — customer behavior, needs and expectations have changed, as well as communication technology.” He added that BMW’s new retail approach, which it’s dubbing “Future Retail” will “entail a whole range of initiatives and tools designed to enhance the customer experience and to set new standards for retail in the automotive industry and beyond.”

It’s kind of like an Apple store. Except the products come in a variety of colors.

Positive Buzz from Beer Tests

admin — Mon, 28 May 2012 01:11:37 +0000

Bud Light was the only one of the three domestic light-beer megabrands to garner more positive than negative perception feedback during the test period, and since the end of April, has even been tracking higher than premium beer brands Amstel, Beck’s, Dos Equis, Foster’s, Heineken, Molson and Peroni. Really.

So what do they test about? The Index score averages perceptions of value, quality, satisfaction, general impression, reputation and willingness to recommend.
This Bud’s the buzz
Read more

Streaming Madness

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:51:09 +0000

$60 million dollars in ad sales were raked in by Turner and CBSSports.com for digital viewing of this year’s annual March playoff campaign. We’re talking about relocated ad dollars from TV to digital. Is the line blurring or growing more distinct?

The Red Carpet for Ads

admin — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:22:55 +0000

One Academy Awards sponsor, Diet Coke, ran a spot, that featured a little “Hooray for Hollywood” riff on the soundtrack. In the spot, produced by Wieden & Kennedy, was shown twice. Diet Coke is presented as fueling the people that make the movies – the scriptwriters, stunt performers and sound effects artists.

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McFade

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:33:05 +0000

Time to Shine

Global same-store sales rose 5.6% last year over 2010 — its eighth consecutive year of positive same-store sales. It’s rated the world’s No. 6 brand by Interbrand.

But something strange is happening on McDonald’s soaring arches: Its brand perception isn’t keeping pace with sales. According to people close to the company, its internal tracking system finds that McDonald’s consistently ranks near the bottom in quality perception when compared with rivals.

The company is working to reverse this trend, which will eventually impact it’s burger bottom line.
(Read more)