dorchester heights

On March 4, 1776 British General William Howe received word of the American position overlooking Boston. He had to wonder if Boston was defensible.

Howe

What tipped the balance was American Brigadier General John Thomas. He had slipped 2,000 troops along with cannon and plenty of supplies into Dorchester Heights the night before. The Americans had enough time to dig trenches for the artillery.

Thomas

Howe had no choice but to evacuate Boston. He sailed his army to Nova Scotia. Howe stayed there until March, when he moved to New York. He engaged Washington there to disrupt the Colonials, who marched away from New York as a result.

Dorchester Monument

The Dorchester Monument was erected in 1898. It is part of the Boston National Historic Park.

The history.com post was the source of this post.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-forces-occupy-dorchester-heights

instagram use

I came across this post on socialmediaexaminer.com which gives a great overview of Instagram marketing.

Most people would probably think of Instagram as a personal platform. The home of the selfie. But the post points out that this platform goes much deeper. Visual content is huge. There have many articles posted on visual influence. You've probably read several yourself. Stories are fortified with pictures.

One item I learned from the article I mentioned earlier, is that Instagram is used to create visual content for other sites. Instagram engagement is detailed by Jenn Herman in a podcast that is very helpful. People can be reached better with Instagram. You'll learn profile optimization and strategic hashtag use. You can use as many as 30 hashtags per post! Keep in mind created images, as popularity is gaining.

many filters to choose from on Instagram

Exploring Instagram is fun and a neat learning experience. Make the time to get more familiar.

fiesta roll

When Ford Motor Company prepared the 2010 North American roll-out of the Fiesta, its initial marketing push was solely through social media. Ford supplied 100 people with a Fiesta to drive for six months. They were the right 100 people. They were digital influencers (bloggers, podcasters, YouTube celebrities, and automotive journalists) who produced tweets, videos, podcasts, posts, and articles relating to the Fiesta.

Fiesta interior

A single Web page was made aggregating all this data where folks could watch the test drive unfold in real time. Ford did not edit, script or delete any of the information. The YouTube videos got 7 million views. There were 40 million tweets that contained the campaign's name ("Fiesta Movement"). 130,000 people registered online to receive more information when the Fiesta went to dealers. 83 percent of those people had not owned a Ford. U.S. brand awareness went from practically zero to 58 percent! Talk about "buzz" creation.

All that "buzz" wasn't mere chatter. Ford converted 10 times more pre-launch purchase reservations into actual orders than it did for previous model rollouts. People got to witness people enjoying the benefits of the Fiesta.

I know this event is not new. I decided to create a post on it since "consumer-driven" brand information is so popular these days. In this case, the 100 people were practically responsible for creating the Fiesta brand. Certainly an excellent example to talk about when thinking of brand engagement.

Information for this post came from the January/February 2011 edition of CFO magazine.
CFO.com

performance brand sales

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has stated that the Dodge needs to have SRT because Dodge is a performance brand. SRT has been folded into Dodge, but the new Viper will have the SRT badge.

Viper is technically and legally a Dodge due to ID numbers. SRT became a brand in 2011. Did you notice?

Just because Chrysler put the SRT brand onto the Viper, sales should have took off. But they didn't. In 2013 Viper sales were not stellar. Only 591 were sold that year! Granted, the Viper isn't for the general car buying public, but when put it into the performance car mix, Viper didn't rise to the top. Putting the SRT badge onto the Viper didn't drive sales. Sales through April 2014 was 255. Dealers were charges $25,000 to sell the Viper.

Performance brand, performance fee. What about performance sales?

Let's go back to my question. Did you notice that SRT became a brand in 2011? Frankly, I didn't. Perhaps a brand extension, but its own brand, no. Why? Well, no advertising foundation, except through the dealerships. An internal brand then. Is this satisfactory? I think not.

The Viper aside, Dodge has put the SRT badge onto the Charger and the Challenger. I see these two car models as brands themselves! That's just me. If the SRT badge is a brand, could Chrysler recreate it as an umbrella with the Charger and Challenger underneath it?

Should dealerships exhibit new signage? Should a new ad campaign for SRT be launched? These are questions only Chrysler can answer. I say yes, if they want to create new brand awareness.

Does your business have a performance brand or do you wish to create one? If you wish to create one, allow for promotion of that brand. When you do promote, have products in mind that will have the badge. These products need to speak for themselves. That's where visual content marketing comes in. 

An Automotive News post was a source for this story.

mclaren 650 S

The McLaren 650 S gets a makeover. New add-ons. New paint (changes color in direct sunlight) to spellbind the viewer. New, new, new.
Ideas are still in production..... so much that the car's tour will create data from consumers. This information will be used to make the finished product. How's that for innovation?

Wonder what a make-over will do to your business? New paint. New interior. New style.

Look at your surroundings. Make choices that you (and your customers) can live with. I've been amazed at what a little renovation will do. Compare looks. Storyboard a little. Think a little.

Look at your Social Media platforms. Twitter has a new look, which I haven't used.... yet. Imagine.

The new concepts you come up with will amaze you.

McLaren Story found on the needs.com from AutoGuide.com

content marketing: 2014

One item: spend money on blogging. Product identity can be helped by blogging.
5 Content Marketing Trends & Predictions for 2014 

Social media, newletters and blogs will be the top content distributors.
Use social media to increase customer engagement and interaction.
More traffic comes from mobile devices.