Does A Care Free Auto Purchase Signal The Apocalypse?

This to me feels like a sign of the apocalypse.

If you buy a Hyundai and you lose your job, you can return the car with no issues and they will take it back. It sounds like a move of utter desperation to me. Does Hyundai have sales problems that make them move to such a last minute offer?

The auto industry is just going to have to re-do quite a bit of its infrastructure. I really don't think they can survive doing things like this. The next step is to offer consumers to buy a car and return it any time for no reason at all.

I know there's a lot of debate regarding the auto industry and what will fix it, but my guess is they need to do a whole scale infrastructure shift to energy efficient cars and find a way to service them in the long term. I know that not everyone wants a fuel efficient, green car right now but they will. People are coming around to the idea and that is the inevitable future. Instead i see ads for such amazing innovations as a tool box built into the side of the new Ford F150. Is that really going to sell more cars??

By going energy efficient you would be planning on the future, and truth be told you should plan on selling fewer cars each year. Create some pent up demand for cars and you will likely see your brand re-emerge as a desirable brand. People tend to overlook what they know they can get at any time. There's no demand for the mundane.

Make limited editions and manage your growth rather than keep looking for year over year exponential growth and stop investment spending in products that have a finite life cycle. A new Hummer, anyone?

Of course, what do i know. I am just some lowly marketing guy.

Interesting Prediction from Jon Fine

I recently got around to catching up on the articles I missed and this one from Jon Fine was interesting because of the last prediction regarding a shadow media industry.

I love predictions regarding media that refer to the ingenuity of the people involved. The whole reason our business has grown year over year, even in the face of 2-3 recessions, is because of entrepreneurialism. Jon is correct; there will be a shadow business, but i think he underestimates it. I think it is always there. There are always the folks who leave companies to start new ones and this recession is nothing short of an opportunity. The opportunity to explore new ideas.

Jon is a very good writer and I have had the pleasure of grabbing breakfast once with him, so i applaud the call out of the idea of a shadow industry.

The only one i disagree with is that About.com will get sold by the NY Times. About is the only profitable portion of their business right now and I don't think they can afford to sell it off. It is what is keeping them afloat!

Happy New Year Jon! Keep writing the good word!

Merge My Reporting

When will Doubleclick and Atlas and the others start offering a unified reporting platform that marries together online, mobile, digital outdoor and TV? Will Doubleclick and Google figure it out first?

It's only a matter of time.

A Regulatory Question

If the government is going to start getting more involved in regulating our online advertising business (which it appears it will), will they also be thinking about mobile?

Probably not - I am sure they will forget about that and leave it alone for awhile. Unless of course they are reading my blog and I just gave away the secret.

Will Nintendo Create A Cell Phone?

Why not, right? The idea was posed in a Mediapost article and I think it has merit. I wouldn't be surprised to see them come out with a handheld platform that combines gaming and telephony. Other folks are working on it, so why shouldn't they be doing so, as well?

They are are easily just as inventive as Apple. They are as well poised and Apple cannot be the only company that is known for innovative designs. There has to be more to the story. There needs to be some competition.

Could happen. Let's chat again in 6 months.