Lexus is doubling down on customer service. Borrowing a page from Apple, the luxury brand known for coddling customers is helping its dealers create a sort of automotive Genius Bar of technology and delivery specialists to help buyers figure out all the state-of-the-art features on their vehicles.

"We're focusing on improving the delivery process, so [dealers] are hiring for new positions aimed at improving customer satisfaction," Mark Templin, general manager of the Lexus division, said. Many of Lexus's 230 U.S. dealers will staff up their sales departments by as much as 20 percent as part of this sweeping initiative, Vincent Salisbury, training manager of the company's Lexus College brand-education operation, told brandchannel.

For one thing, of course, Lexus wants to avoid the kind of fiasco that swept over Ford last year when MyFord Touch came without adequate customer or dealership-staff instruction and whacked the brand's "quality" ratings in J.D. Power and Consumer Reports evaluations. Continue reading...

Brands must understand that customer service is an important part of the "value equation" for consumers these days even though it might seem that price remains their most important criterion for brand satisfaction because of the continued financial struggles of so many Americans.

Apple, Cadillac, Four Seasons, JetBlue, Kohl's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Scotttrade, USAA and Wegmans are among the brands that understand the importance of people as a driver of service excellence has increased substantially these days, and that's why they were among the 50 brands named this week by J.D. Power & Associates as 2012 Customer Service Champions.Continue reading...

Facebook today unveiled Timeline for pages on NBC's Today morning show, which used the occasion to unveil the first official Facebook Timeline — its own — and give TV viewers their first look at the social network's latest suite of tools to manage their presence and build their brands. Similar to individual user Timelines, this iteration for brands and organizations loses landing tabs but adds new features including the ability for featured posts to be "pinned" to the top of a Timeline for up to one week.

Brands are jockeying for creative positioning that stands out in an increasingly crowded field, with a slew of Timeline launches today timed to Facebook’s inaugural Marketers World Conference in New York, where it's also introducing simpler premium ads: “anything you can do on your Page, you can do in ads.”

Coca-Cola, for instance, is leveraging 125 years of history through the lens of fans’ letters to the Company over the years, including one from a man who asked for the exclusive franchise on the moon when President Kennedy pledged in 1961 to put a man there. (As the brand mused in a blog post today, "What did Coke fans do before Facebook?"Continue reading...

It's not like using sex to sell is a new idea, but something about the popularity of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue keeps inviting brand innovation by the digital marketers at SI and Time Inc. 

For the 2012 edition, arriving in mailboxes, newsstands and tablets to eager readers this week, a couple of automakers are throwing some curves — in the form of promotions with their own bikini-clad models.

Lexus is running a campaign that matches the twists and turns in a depiction of a competitive driving course to the body curves of a swimsuit model. The objective: to spotlight the 2013 GS, the sporty sedan featured in the brand's Super Bowl ad and a key launch for Lexus's hopes of a sales comeback this year after last years's supply-chain woes. Previous swimsuit-issue model Tori Praver is the model in the Lexus campaign.Continue reading...

Yes, no one's quite sure yet how the flap over Chrysler's Clint Eastwood Super Bowl spot is going to end up. But it's pretty clear what the winning and losing brands were among other automakers after viewers and consumers, as well as the pundits, got a chance to react to their ads during the Big Game, which car brands dominated. Here's how how the other auto brands fared:Continue reading...

As the world's biggest stage for marketers, we'd have to give Super Bowl XLVI, generously, a B-minus. While the game was compellingly competitive right until the last play, and Madonna acquitted herself pretty well for a 53-year-old halftime-show attraction, America's brand marketers barely held up their end of the extravaganza.

For one thing, there was no genuine stand-up-and-cheer advertising moment during NBC's telecast as there was last year, in Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and its new Chrysler 200 "Imported from Detroit," although Clint Eastwood was a worthy successor.

In fact, stand-out moments in the ads were almost non-existent; the humor that carried most of the ads didn't come close to an outbreak of hilarity; and a few spots manifested jump-the-shark syndrome, such as an NBC promo that cameoed Betty White.Continue reading...

True to form and reputation, Lexus has raced ahead to a Timeline-inspired application called Points of No Return.

The first brand to develop a Timeline-inspired app, and an early adopter of Facebook’s new Gestures platform, Lexus has surged ahead of its automotive social media competitors including Ford, Audi, and GM. 

“We’re not waiting for the future. It’s all about innovating, including a ‘sneak peek’ of exciting things to come on Lexus’ Facebook page,” said Lexus VP of marketing Brian Smith about the Super Bowl-timed app. “We developed this application to empower Lexus fans to engage with the brand in a new way.”Continue reading...

One of the YouTube comments on the 60-second version of Toyota's Super Bowl spot (Camry Effect: "Connections") above: "I love how they show there older cars in real, used condition; paint flaking, dents, imperfections, eta. This is the greatest Toyota commercial yet."

The official description: "'Connections" is an expansive film made up of real and fictional stories. There are nearly 7 million Camry stories out there. Yours could start on Sunday, February 5th." The Camry is also the focus of a Super Bowl XLVI giveaway contest, which is powered by Shazam's mobile app.

Check out Toyota's other Super Bowl XLVI spots below.Continue reading...