Chrysler's revised logo - the merchandise program helps fund a variety of charities.
Sartorial Salute from IFD
Don’t recognize the IFD brand name? It’s the new Chrysler label, Imported from Detroit, a line of inexpensive sportswear that is based on the now-famous Chrysler Super Bowl commercial’s tag line.
There are eight different items listed at the special web site for men, women and kids, primarily t-shirts, hoodies and caps ranging in price from $29 for the T’s to $55 for the ubiquitous hoodies in three colors – white, gray and black – but available in sizes from S to 2XXL. Click here for the video.
To order Click Here and follow the links. The garments look good, as does the new logo and please consider the following constructive comments from an ex-fashion marketer. I must assume the fabric – 50% polyester, 25% rayon and 25% cotton — is of good quality, nice and soft, can be machine washed and is color fast but this was not detailed. And I was very surprised not to find a large ‘Made in USA’ on the landing page and commented on it to a Chrysler public relations exec when we chatted on the phone. It’s “Made in USA” spec is detailed on the style pages, but just part of the description. Given the “Imported from Detroit” tagline, this is important, very important!
An IFD hoodie.
And be forewarned: It’s not going to be an easy Amazon-style ordering process either. The items’ prices include shipping and sales taxes, but are not detailed, at least as I write this colum,n and which was noted in my phone conversation with Chrysler. This is a very big deal in web ordering. And filling out the form to get to the check-out could be made a whole lot easier than it is now.
Chrysler is doing some good too. A portion of the sales from the IFD line will be evenly split between Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, Habitat for Humanity Detroit, The Marshall Mathers Foundation, (created by rapper Eminem, who starred in the unusual 2-minute Chrysler commercial), and Think Detroit Pal.
“We hope that by partnering with these charitable organizations people will be encouraged to wear their ‘Imported from Detroit’ merchandise proudly knowing that a portion of the proceeds will go to programs and initiatives that contribute to the fundamental development of the children of Detroit and the communities in which they reside,” said Olivier Francois, president & CEO of Chrysler Brand and Lead Executive for Marketing for Chrysler Group LLC.
More items will be coming soon as will possible distribution in Chrysler dealers. And just like the real fashion business Chrysler has sued a knock-off of their merchandise.
Oh, and be careful – there are folks hoping to capitalize on Chrysler’s IFD campaign, including a small company started by a pair of Detroiters – who are now facing a costly lawsuit filed by Chrysler in federal court in Detroit alleging trademark infringement. (Click Here for that story.)
Led by Auto Brands Advertising Expenditures Increased 6.5% in 2010
According to data released by Kantar Media, total advertising expenditures increased 6.5% in 2010 and finished the year at $131.1 billion. Automotive was the leading category in both dollar volume and growth rate, finishing 2010 at $13,026 billion, up 19.8%, and almost double the size of any other segment. The auto category spending grew almost twice as fast as new vehicle sales, 19.8% versus 11.1%, reflecting a fiercely competitive marketing environment for manufacturers and dealers.
Both GM and Ford were in the top -ten list, with General Motors expenditure of $2.130 billion a drop of 1.3%, while Ford’s expenditure of $1.132 billion was up 11.1%. Deep diving the data, manufacturers accounted for 63% of the total or $8.224 billion, up 16.4%, while dealers accounted for 27% of total auto ad spending — but with retailers boosting their numbers 26.3% over 2009.
Measured Ad Spending By Media
TV ad spending remained robust through year end. Spot TV expenditures jumped 24.2% in 2010 due to the biennial surge in political advertising, a revived automotive category and a pronounced budget allocation shift among retail bank advertisers. Spanish Language TV spending rose 10.7%, assisted by the World Cup event. Higher sell out levels helped lift Cable TV expenditures by 9.8% and healthy demand from CPG marketers and credit card companies pushed Network TV spending ahead by 5.3%.
Internet display advertising increased 9.9% compared to the prior year, the second largest growth rate among media sectors. Outdoor advertising was close behind with a gain of 9.6%.
Improvements in Radio advertising were tilted towards local markets. National Spot Radio brought in 18.6% more ad dollars versus 2009 and Local Radio achieved a 4.9% increase. For each of these, higher spending was driven by the financial service, media and auto dealer categories.
Growth rates for print media trailed the overall ad market. Expenditures in Consumer Magazines were up a modest 3.3% while National Newspapers rose 2.7%, primarily due to publishing expansion at the Wall Street Journal. Ad spending in Local Newspapers sank 4.6% versus a year ago despite a small uptick in the volume of space sold. Local Newspaper spending has now declined for 21 consecutive quarters.
| MEDIA SECTOR • Media Type (Listed in rank order of 2010 spending) |
Full Year
2010 vs. 2009 |
|
| TELEVISION MEDIA | 10.3% | |
| • Network TV | 5.3% | |
| • Cable TV2 | 9.8% | |
| • Spot TV3 | 24.2% | |
| • Spanish Language TV4 | 10.7% | |
| • Syndication – National | -2.8% | |
| MAGAZINE MEDIA5 | 2.9% | |
| • Consumer Magazines | 3.3% | |
| • B-to-B Magazines | -1.2% | |
| • Sunday Magazines | 4.6% | |
| • Local Magazines | 0.9% | |
| • Spanish Language Magazines | 5.5% | |
| NEWSPAPER MEDIA6 | -3.5% | |
| • Local Newspapers | -4.6% | |
| • National Newspapers | 2.7% | |
| • Spanish Language Newspapers |
2.0% | |
| INTERNET (display ads only) 7 | 9.9% | |
| RADIO MEDIA | 7.6% | |
| • Local Radio | 4.9% | |
| • National Spot Radio | 18.6% | |
| • Network Radio | 2.2% | |
| OUTDOOR | 9.6% | |
| FSIs8 | 5.4% | |
| TOTAL | 6.5% | |
| Source: Kantar Media | ||
Next week I will have an update on 2010 media usage by General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai brands and their dealers advertising expenditures as well. Should be verrrrrrry interesting.
Celebs In Print Ads Bump Awareness; Entertainers Top Jocks
Sometimes celebs aren't good endorsers.
To use a celebrity or not to use a celebrity, that’s the advertising question today. The squeaky clean, morals clause the company has-your-back of yesterdays are gone, lost or simply forgotten, er … forgiven or ignored.
Starch Advertising Research’s recently conducted analysis indicates the use of celebrity endorsers provides significant lift to print advertising readership, despite the risks from those like Brett Favre, Charlie Sheen or Tiger Woods and, on the distaff side, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears … just to name of few problem children of both genders.
In an analysis of more than 81,000 print ads that appeared in consumer magazines between December 2009 and September 2010 Starch found that on average, the ads that contained a celebrity endorser produced 9.4% higher consumer readership than ads without a celebrity endorser,
Print ads containing an entertainment celebrity garnered 15.1% more readership, on average, than ads without a celebrity, while the use of sports celebrities raised consumer readership by 7.5%. There is no data on television advertising in their report.
Anne Marie Kelly, SVP Marketing & Strategic Planning at GfK MRI, says that “… in general, very few consumers will admit that a celebrity endorsement influences their decision to buy a product… however, in terms of… getting consumers to read the ad… a celebrity endorsement moves the readership needle in magazines.”