http://www.headlightblog.com Digital Automotive Trends and Insights from Razorfish Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:54:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en At this point most automotive marketers know that search marketing is an incredible vehicle for reaching their target customers. It’s highly relevant, highly targetable and is generally one of the most efficient and effective channels in a marketer’s ad mix. The problem with search marketing, though, is that it doesn’t ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/02/three-ways-to-extend-a-search-marketing-program/ Facebook Fan Pages have become the most recent in a long line of social media "must-haves" for automotive marketers –- but what do they really tell you? And are they even helpful? Does a high fan count equal success? It's no surprise that lots of people feel strongly about their favorite automotive ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/01/using-facebook-fans-to-improve-automotive-marketing/ Mercedes-Benz mbrace, a new telematics platform that Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) launched recently, is the first such system to have a companion mobile application. The app lets registered mbrace customers lock and unlock vehicle doors as well as locate their vehicle from within the vicinity of one mile. The app also ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/01/a-more-connected-car-on-mercedes-benz-mobile-and-vehicle-telematics/ Editor’s Note: Headlightblog.com recently caught up with James Spahr, a UX Lead at Razorfish and pictured below, who has been working on the Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) account since Razorfish was selected as the digital agency of record in January 2009. This past summer James worked on a mobile website for ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/01/mobile-phone-as-a-second-opinion/ In a previous post for Headlightblog.com, I covered Citroën's plans to build a supercar that was originally designed for Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo 5 Prologue videogame. Recently, Mercedes-Benz announced that its SLS AMG supercar will be featured in Gran Turismo 5 (GT5), an expansion on Prologue that is scheduled for ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2009/12/mercedes-benz-sls-amg-in-gran-turismo-5/ Email offers the automotive industry a fantastic channel through which to build loyalty with consumers and add value to the car-ownership and brand experience. Further, with consumer spending dropping and marketers’ budgets being cut, it’s more important than ever to acknowledge the importance and effectiveness of the email channel and ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2009/11/a-step-by-step-guide-to-better-email-program-measurement/ Even though overall Certified Pre-Owned sales are down this year, a number of automakers -- including Hummer, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Subaru -- experienced double-digit sales increases between Jan.-Sept. 2009 compared to the same time period last year. Earlier this year the Digital Marketing group ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2009/11/media-case-study-lifting-performance-with-dynamic-creative-optimization/ Ever since the open source software movement started in 1998, businesses across all industries have learned the benefits of cooperative activity and collaboration. And with the recent growth of Web 2.0 technologies, cheaper creative tools and a cost-saving mentality forced by the recession, it is no surprise that there has ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2009/10/fiat-mio-bringing-crowdsourcing-to-the-automotive-industry/ The Landscape Back in September 2008 Lehman Brothers collapsed. The resulting shockwave had immediate and damaging consequences across the financial markets and, ultimately, the entire economy. An already struggling automotive industry was pushed to the breaking point. Why should we start a discussion on agile here? To survive, the decision makers in ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2009/10/making-a-case-for-using-agile-for-automotive-site-development/ While car dealers on Facebook and Twitter are nothing new, an increasing number of those retailers are using their status updates to list inventory. There is now software that can automatically update Twitter, Facebook and other social-networking websites to include a dealership's entire inventory. Rather than treating the status update as a ... http://www.headlightblog.com/2009/10/social-networking-for-dealers/