Brea’s American Suzuki Motor Corp. has changed the way it buys its TV, print and online ads.
The automaker, part of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., shortened its media planning timetables to take advantage of deals amid the downturn.
The automaker has delayed decisions on media buys to try to get lower rates and to avoid looking into prices that are likely to be lowered later, said Gene Brown, vice president of marketing at Suzuki.
Suzuki, like others, used to buy space months in advance to avoid paying higher premiums on TV, print and online spots.
“The golden rule two years ago was ‘buy early, buy cheap,’” Brown said.
With the volatility of the market, the savings from buying up front have been diminished, he said.
“The premium you avoid by buying media late is nearly gone,” Brown said.
Media rates for TV and print are at historic lows as advertisers have reduced spending, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a unit of London-based ad agency WPP Group PLC.
Suzuki spends about $100 million annually on TV and other media, not including online, according to TNS Media.
The automaker also has shifted marketing to more measureable sources, including the Web.
“Online has definitely picked up share in our total marketing budget,” Brown said.
The automaker has been criticized in the past for its inability to boost sales through marketing.
It has spent the past year attempting to retool its marketing strategies.
Suzuki moved its advertising account last July from Brea-based Dentsu Next Inc. to El Segundo’s Siltanen & Partners to handle TV, radio, print and online advertising.
October proved to be another down month for the automaker with sales for the month falling 50% to 1,745 vehicles.
The automaker has been hit especially hard by the auto slump with sales since January down 55% to 35,270 vehicles.
“It has been a rough year for the auto industry and for us, but cars are one of the more expensive purchases consumers make,” Brown said. “We expect it to come back once things improve.”
Black Travel Site
Newport Beach-based digital ad shop Juxt Interactive is working with Chicago-based multicultural ad shop Burrell Communications Group LLC and American Airlines to launch BlackAtlas.com, a social networking site for African-American travelers.
The site features blogs and chat boards where users can share travel stories, videos and photos. There’s also travel video blogs and commentaries from best-selling black author Nelson George, who serves as BlackAtlas.com travel expert and editor.
“He’s our celebrity editor with a very accomplished background,” said Josh Mooney, chief marketing officer at Juxt.
The site also links to promotional fares on American Airlines’ Web site.
Juxt has been busy since it was acquired by Michigan-based event marketing company George P. Johnson Co. last October.
Juxt launched the first phase of San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc.’s flagship Web site for its mobile TV technology, Flo TV.
The shop also was named agency of record for University of Southern California football coach Pete Carroll’s charity, A Better Los Angeles.
Rick Warren Online
Lake Forest-based Purpose Driven Connection has shut down its print edition in favor of a digital one.
The quarterly Christian-themed magazine produced by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, and Pleasantville, N.Y.-based Reader’s Digest Association Inc., folded the print version after paid subscriptions failed to take off and users flocked to the Web site.
Launched in January, the magazine sought to tap into Warren’s popularity as a minister and author of the bestseller “The Purpose Driven Life.”
The print magazine included interactive DVDs, study group guides and access to the Web site. A one-year subscription cost $30, according to the Web site.
About 400,000 people visit the site daily, according to Warren’s Saddleback Church.
The magazine also sold well at newsstands, but paid subscriptions never took off.
“The service has been well received and the feedback has been that users prefer the online channel,” said William Adler, a Reader’s Digest spokesman.
The last print issue of Purpose Driven is out this month.
“When we heard the feedback and noticed subscriptions to the print magazine lagging behind Internet usage, in spite of the strong retail newsstand sales, we jumped at the chance to go all digital,” Warren said in a release.
Reader’s Digest, which jointly ran the Web site, is handing over the site to the Saddleback Church in March.
Saddleback Church will continue to update the Web site on its own after March.
“The Saddleback Church and Reader’s Digest part on very amicable terms,” said Larry Ross, a spokesman for the church.
The magazine represented one of Reader’s Digest larger ventures as it sought to grow revenue outside its flagship, the pocket-sized Reader’s Digest.
