With the Car Industry in Trouble, Nissan Rolls Out the Mobile Device

New York Times, April 7, 2009 — FORGET about thinking outside the box — or inside it, for that matter. Nissan Motor is betting an estimated $20 million during the worst automotive sales slump in a generation that a spirited campaign can get drivers to forgo the box for the cube.

Actually, it is the Cube, as in the Nissan Cube, a cute, smallish car scheduled to go on sale on May 5. And scratch the word “car,” for the campaign to introduce the Cube in the United States, which begins on Monday, takes a big step, er, outside the box by calling it a “mobile device.”

Big Three May Need to Trim Number of Brands

New York Times, December 2, 2008 — For the Big Three automakers to win over Washington lawmakers in their bid for federal aid, they will have to address a critical question in the business plans they give to Congress on Tuesday. Just how serious are they about shrinking their vast lineups of different brands and models to match the current harsh reality of the market?

GM Pondering Brand Cuts

BusinessWeek, November 28, 2008 — The Detroit Free Press reported today that General Motors, in its attempt to put forth a workable restructuring plan to keep it from going bankrupt, is looking at killing off three brands—Pontiac, Saab and Hummer.

Everyone knows that GM is over-branded. The problem has long been that the company does not want to have to pay dealers to fold the brands it does not need as it did with Oldsmobile in 2001. State franchise laws prevent a car company from simply ending a brand. Closing down Oldsmobile cost the company around $2 billion.

It’s unclear how GM could avoid paying big money to shutter the three brands.

Behind the Epidemic of Lousy Viral Campaigns†

Me-too-itis Hobbles Too Many Marketers' Efforts

Advertising Age, January 8, 2007 — Most of the online viral campaigns you hear about and see these days have one thing in common: They suck.