Chrysler and BBDO
Word is the new Fiat marketing head told BBDO that the Ram Challenge stuff was "incredible."
Interesting comments from a source. Many BBDO creative’s were at work over Labor Day weekend. NY isn’t doing the creative for this pitch. Which prompted the assumption they (a) have great confidence in the Detroit staff pulling it off (supposedly Gary Pascoe is taking the lead and not Rick Dennis), or (b) they’re not wasting their time in NY and have already written off the account.
All BBDOers have received an email that said what a great body of work BBDO has produced thus far and that they were going to succeed in retaining the account. Word has it the new Fiat marketing head, had all raves for the current work a few weeks back, going so far as to tell them that the Ram Challenge stuff was incredible and that BBDO had received a lot of bad direction from Chrysler in their campaign work. Then Fiat suddenly did a 180 and put Chrysler up for grabs.
I would think that if BBDO loses the Chrysler brand, it’s only a matter of time before the other two went on the block. And who would take just the national work without the lucrative dealer work? And media buying money? All big buck generators. I can imagine BBDO holding on to Jeep since they just got that back from Cutwater, but that was under the old Chrysler regime, not the Fiat guys. Soooooo… And I heard that all the new creative for Jeep was done out of NY anyway.
BMW Hosts Major FedEx Cup Golf Event
Sponsorship of televised professional sports events by automobile advertisers has, like most TV advertising, been significantly cut this year. The spring has always been a so-so time anyway with the exception of golf, but this sport has also lost major sponsors and advertisers for both the men’s and women’s professional golfers.
Not too long ago, if a car company didn’t have its name on at least one tournament it was tantamount to not serving shrimp at the Christmas party. Most dealers love golf and so do many company execs. One exec who must go nameless, the head of a division of a Big 3 company, purportedly went from never having played the game to having a very low handicap and pairing up with one of the biggest names, all at shareholders’ expense, but I digress.
BMW has taken an aggressive approach with sponsorship of a key PGA tour event.
Pro golf and professional golfers have been hurt the most in advertising and sponsorship cut-backs. Buick, once the host of the most tournaments has cancelled everything including sponsorship of Tiger Woods. Ford’s left its named tournaments to go fallow. Chrysler dropped out of the famous Bob Hope Tournament and a couple other events. Honda’s taken a pass on golf and so has Nissan.
And when was the last time you saw a golfer with a car logo on his shirt, cap or golf bag? Couple years ago, right?
Only BMW and Mercedes remain for the car golf fan, make that luxury car golf fan to be demographically correct, with sponsorships of tournaments. The latter has the first PGA event of the year and provides vehicles for a couple events.
BMW has taken an aggressive approach in the U.S. with sponsorship and naming rights of a key event in the PGA Tour ending-play-off-event known as the FedEx Cup. This multi-million dollar prize event is centered on a players ranking at the end of the regular season with only those of with a minimum ranking invited to play in the first of four events. As the short play-off season – just four weeks long – winds down players are cut based on scores at each week’s events until the final.
This week’s nationally televised event, the BMW Championship, is the third and arguably the most important for getting into next week’s final with only 70 players being eligible for the $10 million dollar purse.
Televised golf is dependent upon Tiger Woods. Tiger’s playing in the event? Viewer numbers are up. Tiger’s not there, as in last year’s absence due to surgery, viewers drop faster than a ball in a water hazard. Adding former golfers as broadcasters, some funny, but most boring and chatterboxes don’t add much.
Even the addition of electronic techno- tchotchkes to follow the ball in flight, detail the undulating contours of the greens, the swing of the golfer and other gimmicks enhance the broadcast but do not add to the audience. Let’s be factual. Watching golf on television is boring.
It’s attending the tournaments, following pros, “ohhhing and ahhhing “at amazing shots and recoveries, getting autographs on all sorts of caps, shirts, flags and ephemera that’s fun – but in the end it’s the hospitality provided to select attendees and general gallery walkers and fans. This is entertainment with a purpose: Reward those who drive the sponsor’s car and recruit the others.
The 2009 BMW Championship is being held at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in suburban Chicago. All proceeds from the BMW Championship, which will run through September 13, will once again benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, which grants full college scholarships to deserving young caddies. Last year, those proceeds totaled $3.3 million.
A few examples: BMW has also encouraged owners of its vehicles to attend and be a part of the BMW Championship by giving away several hundred pairs of complimentary tickets. Attending pro golf tournaments ranges from $25 to $100 per depending on the event. Additionally, any owner who drives his or her BMW to the BMW Championship will have priority parking and owners will be granted exclusive access to the BMW Owners’ Pavilion overlooking the 14th green by simply showing his or her BMW vehicle key.
For gallery fans there are entertaining venues:
- BMW Experience
Gotta show the cars and there’s a large space for golf fans to explore the history and heritage of BMW and golf. They will also be able to touch, see and feel some of the newest BMW models and get a close look at the three extraordinary golf trophies on display.
- BMW Driving Experience
Take a test drive of anyone of ten Bimmer models.
- BMW Hole-in-One Challenge
Take a swing, score a hole in one and win a new BMW Z4sDrive30i by taking a swing in the BMW Hole-in-One competition.
- BMW Putting Challenge / BMW Biergarten
Drive for show, but putt for dough. Golf patrons can try their hand at the BMW Putting Challenge, on a recreation of Cog Hill’s 14th green. For the hungry and thirsty there’s a Bavarian Biergarten (think October Fest-lite).
Noting BMW’s over 25 years of golf tournament sponsorships, Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW of North America said, “We are pleased tobe at Cog Hill because this tournament is much more than just a sponsorship. It is an opportunity to be involved in something that fits perfectly into our company’s DNA. The performance and unwavering determination that is exemplified by the pros here today is something that we are equally passionate about at BMW.”
Fashionistas rejoice: Mercedes Sponsors Fashion Week in NYC
Starting today, Friday, September 11 literally thousands of buyers from retail stores across the nation and hundreds of A-list celebs celebrate the week-long homage to fabrics , colors, designs, skinny models, expensive hotel rooms, parties and unique amenities as the semi-annual bacchanal homage to fashion begins.
Again it’s sponsored by Mercedes-Benz and is held in a tent, albeit a big one, in a park behind the New York Public Library. Next year it’s moving to Lincoln Center. As the title sponsor, the release noted, “It’s known as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and there’s a retrospective exhibit of iconic Mercedes-Benz vehicles and fashion trends from the 1940’s through 2010 and the evolution of travel by automobile.”
The release also provided many, many names whose wares would be displayed and stated over 100,000 people are expected to attend the week long festivities. Hmm. Wonder how many are New Yooorkers and how many of ‘em drive, much less own a car.
No Surprise … Only Cable TV Advertising Up in First Half of Year
Of all media used by advertisers to get their messages to consumers, only spending on cable TV was up in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, according to the Nielsen Company, the arbiter and ratings authority.
Not surprisingly, the auto category showed the biggest decline in overall ad spending. Ad time bought by car makers and dealer associations declined by 31.4%. Ads by local dealerships declined by 26.2%. I assume there will be a bump for the C4C programs.
Individual media results are interesting. Cable TV was up 1.6%, Nielsen said. This was especially impressive since cable was down in the first quarter by 2.7%, according to Nielsen. Additional drops were reported by Network TV — down 7%. Syndication was down 11.6%. Spot TV in the top 100 markets was down 17.4%. In markets 101 to 210, Spot TV was down a whopping 32.1%.
Minority advertising was also affected. Spanish Language cable was up 6% in the first half of the year while spending on African American TV was up 14.3% vs. the first half of 2008.