Archive for April 13th, 2011

LaHood: “I wouldn’t want anybody in my family driving a Chevy Cruze”

April 13, 2011

Just dreaming …

Remember when the Secretary of Transportation took to the airwaves to to tell people not to buy or drive Toyotas because they were unsafe?

Turned out that the problem was an auto service guy sticking the wrong floor mat in a car and a couple of folks hitting the accelerator instead of the brake.

But, since the gov’t owned GM —  one of Toyota’s main competitors —  LaHood just let it fly.

Now the plot thickens.

The Chevy Cruze is being recalled because its steering wheel comes off.

That’s right. it steering wheel can become detached.

No driver error.  No servicing mistake.

The steering wheel comes off.

Oops.

Do you think LaHood will issue another driver’s alert?

I’m betting ‘no’.

Posted in Autos - Travel | Leave a Comment »

Not sure what to get? How about an experiential gift card?

April 13, 2011

TakeAway: People are starting to turn away from stuff and turn to experiences and memories.

The rise of “experiential gift cards” has shown that you can do more with just an old gift card. Gone are the days of unwanted toasters or even gift cards to stores you don’t frequent. 

Gift cards loaded with a value that covers a variety of different activities are becoming the new rage.

* * * * *

Excerpted from AdAge, “New Gift-Card Trend Swaps Stuff for ‘Social Capital'” , March 28, 2011

“Experiential gift cards” …are becoming more popular, because they allow creativity for the giver and flexibility for the recipient.

“People aren’t looking for ‘stuff’ anymore, they’re looking for experiences,” … You can post pictures of your African-safari experience, but you can’t put up a picture of your Mercedes. That’s tacky.”

Smartbox offers gift-card boxes that retail from $49 to $369 … Inside the box is the card, of course, but also a book of the possible choices for such experiences as dinner for two in New York City (50 choices for $99); adventures like white-water rafting and surfing in California (100 choices for $69); and upscale getaways in the Great Lakes (35 choices for $369).

Experiential gifts, … are relatively nascent in the U.S. compared to the other places in the world such as the U.K. and Australia.

“In the U.S., this is really new, especially at retail, …The growth is really happening now”

Smartbox …has pushed out an aggressive public-relations campaign and more recently begun spreading its message via social media. …partnership with Zagat Smartbox Table for Two, and was marketed at Valentine’s Day with PR and a social-media promotion. …

“All happiness research points to the fact that it’s not the things you have that make you happy, it’s the experiences you have,” …”The lag in experience gifts and the lag in consumers recognizing it was an option surprised me, but marketers are catching on now.”

Gift experiences have the added bonus of making the giver more memorable. You won’t remember who gave you socks or a sweater, but you’ll probably recall who gave you an experience where a memory was created,…”A gift is a connection between me and you, and things have far less meaning than experiences.”

Edit by HH

 

Posted in Gifts - Gift Cards, Mktg - Promotion | Leave a Comment »