Jim Huebner Hmmm V12

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"Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes."

—Jim Carrey

July 31, 2012OLYMPIC EFFORTS

BRAND OBSERVATIONS OF THE DAYFrom my random collection of info sources, here are some highlights related to the brands of our times...

• Looks like McDonalds is sponsoring the Olympics. Now, I know they’ve changed their menu—in fact I LOVE their grilled chicken wraps—but there’s still something about it that doesn’t seem right. As someone pointed out, doesn’t it feel a little like Jack Daniels sponsoring the AA convention?

• Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones in a race to the top this summer. Advertisers supporting the Olympic Games are in a mad dash, too, seeking the most viral growth for their commercials. So far, Proctor & Gamble leads with 2.16 million “shares”. Adidas follows with 132,000 and Samsung is headed for the bronze with just over 80,000.

• Speaking of Proctor & Gamble, have you seen the Crest white strips commercial featuring the pretty girl with (look out, I’m gonna hurl) REALLY yellow teeth? It’s pretty effective, and the interesting thing is that Proctor & Gamble used social media and YouTube exclusively as the only media vehicles for the campaign.

• Apple has announced an announcement that they will be announcing the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini on September 12th. (Gotta love the way only Apple can pull that stuff off, don’t ya?!)

JIM HUEBNERj i m h @ h u e b n e r p e t e r s e n . c o m

C E L L U L A RT E L E P H O N E970-420-3382

Hmmm.

Brought to you by popular demand of a client, my mom, and some folks I met at a church potluck

From the remaining gray matter of Jim Huebner

Information that will make you smile, groan or think...

From my“WHO REALLYEVEN CARES?”

file...

© 2012 Hmmm by Jim Huebner

Last weekend, we flew to Las Vegas to take in some serious...basketball. My son’s team travelled to the annual Las Vegas Classic Basketball Tournament where they hoped to pick up some wins and bring home a little hardware. While the win column didn’t turn out the way they’d hoped, I did have a remarkable experience with a brand of which I’ve had minimal experience—Hertz.

Personally, I’m a big fan of Enterprise. Unparalleled service. New cars. Friendliest service in the business. Extremely professional. And very competitive rates. However, when I went to reserve my car at Enterprise.com for our trip, they were SOLD OUT. I was forced to resort to my secondary means of car rental reservation-making...Hotwire.com.

At Hotwire.com, they show you the rate you’ll pay, but you don’t know which car rental company you’ll get. When it resulted in Hertz, I was a little surprised that the company was willing to discount their cars like that...being a premium—or what I perceive to be a premium—brand. But I was happy to give it a try.

When we arrived at the rental car station in Las Vegas, I was frustrated to see a long line of people at the Hertz window. I knew they were the #1 car rental company, so more customers made sense. I was just hoping they had balanced the larger demand with more personnel assisting customers.

Reluctantly, I headed for the end of the line, when suddenly a staff person announced that video check-in was also available. Curious, I headed for the kiosk to experience something completely new, completely state-of-the-art, and exactly what you’d expect from the car rental leader.

Once I touched the “BEGIN” screen, a live customer service rep showed up on the monitor above the kiosk and walked me through the entire

check-in process. She was friendly, helpful and extremely patient with this less than tech-savvy fellow.

But here’s the question: Will this extremely cool check-in service (and it WAS amazing) cause me to choose Hertz instead of Enterprise? Probably not (unless, of course, Enterprise is out of cars again!) However, will this video kiosk check-in system help keep Hertz’s millions of customers happier, resulting in even greater loyalty? Undoubtedly. And THAT’s good marketing.

Jim Huebner is President of HuebnerPetersen Marketing Communications.The firm was established in 1989 and specializes in helping make manufacturers heroes to their dealer and distribution networks through strategic brand positioning, integrated marketing, and front lines marketing services. You can reach Jim at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

WORDS TOLIVE BY

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good.

–Romans 12:9

Looking to drive in Vegas

...and on it’s way to the HuebnerPetersen blog...! PAGE2

My son Jakedriving to the hoop

(and yes, he made the shot)

Hertz video kiosk...

I’m ready to drive!