The company will be known as PCG Digital Marketing with their new logo and marketing strategy to be unveiled in Orlando at the 2010 NADA Conference. All of their forthcoming marketing elements will also be branded with their new tagline, ‘Strategic Digital Marketing’.  

According to CEO Brian Pasch, the rebranding of his formerly self-titled company reflects their rapid growth in the marketplace as well as their ability to provide a comprehensive team approach to digital marketing solutions for a very diverse range of clients. 

“When we reviewed our business growth over the past four years, Search Engine Optimization and Website Design were just two of the services we’ve been providing. The term ‘digital marketing’ better reflects the scope of services and strategies we can implement for our clients which includes social media, paid advertising, branding and marketing strategies,” adds Pasch.

The digital marketing strategies provided by the PCG Digital Marketing Team includes leveraging social networking, blogging, Internet PR, Reputation Management, and microsite marketing, to name a few. According to Pasch, each strategy is custom tailored to the client’s goals and budgets. “We are a partner at the marketing planning table to see which digital strategies can bring the most benefit to the client.”

Brian Pasch has long been the public face and name behind the company’s remarkable success. He in an active writer on blogs and forums dedicated to digital marketing best practices, and is a nationwide speaker and educator at many of the automotive industry’s foremost conferences. Nevertheless, Pasch insists his company’s success is the result of a team effort complemented by his expanding team of professionals and industry experts.

PCG Digital Marketing will continue to serve varying industries including the auto community, legal, medical, manufacturing and retail. Their ability to provide strategic digital solutions to a number of diverse industries demonstrates the depth and breadth of their digital marketing knowledge. 

Coinciding with the name company’s rebranding is the promotion of Matthew O’Such to VP of Sales and also the addition of Tom Cowell as VP of Business Operations. The name change and shift in staff is consistent with CEO Brian Pasch’s commitment to providing excellent customer service and support as their clients leverage the ever-changing opportunities that exist in digital marketing.

For additional information on PCG Digital Marketing call 732-450-8200 or visit www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com

I would recommend that you scan some of the comments because they show the fear, confusion and anger that is building across America.

What Toyota dealers should be doing this week in their local media is a topic for a coming post. In the meantime….

While I was searching the phrase “Toyota Recall” in Google I saw that Chrysler was using this surge in search traffic to tell their safety and quality story. See the screen shot below:

Obviously Chrysler is trying to leverage the search traffic to drive their brand message and to drive consumers to their website.

Do you think this is a good strategy for Chrysler to pursue? Share you thoughts.

The Arbogast conversion van facility in Troy Ohio has grown over the years to make them one of the largest conversion van dealers in the United States. Since they deliver new and used Conversion Vans across the United States,  we have to create a national digital marketing campaign to reach their customer base.

We will be displaying Arbogast banner ads on our new national ad network which will create an additional stream of high quality consumer leads. When our ad network is completed in 2010, we will have over 400 websites in the largest metropolitan area targeting car and van buyers.

All clients that have chosen Pasch Consulting Group for their digital marketing strategies will benefit from our new national advertising network.

Conversion Van Dealers

Dave Arbogast is proud to offer a huge selection of conversion vans by Explorer Van Company. Explorer Van Companyhas been the leader in van conversions since day one. Both Dave Arbogast and Explorer have been close partners since the van company was created in 1980. Dave Arbogast was nicknamed the “Van Man” due to his success as a conversion van dealer.

Explorer Conversion Vans are practical for everyday use, reasonably priced, and of the highest quality. You will find that conversion vans on average are price lower than most SUV’s! It is transportation and luxurious comfort at its best! And Explorer Conversion Vans are custom vans, so you will have no problem finding one the suits your every need and desire.

Arbogast has many brands and models of conversion vans in addition the the Explorer line, click here to view their online inventory:

Arbogast Conversion Vans

Dave Arbogast Conversion Vans
3540 South Co. Road. 25A
Troy, OH 45373

http://www.conversionvansale.com

Sales: 1.866.975.3287
Service: 937.335.0068
Parts: 937.335.0068

Blame it on the swine flu but according to “The Advertising Specialty Institute” hand sanitizers are now one of the most popular branded items that companies are giving away to clients and employees.

Searches of the key words “hand sanitizers” by promotional products distributors via the Advertising Specialty Institute’s promotional products database jumped 439% for the period between October 2009 and October 2008.

Only searches for pens – which for years have been the best-selling branded product in the promotional products industry – were higher that period. In addition, searches for sanitizer products of all kinds jumped by triple digits this year.

Novel Promotional Marketing

Novel Promotional Marketing has consistently been on the consumer trend by using hand sanitizers as a promotion for trade shows. The style shown below will be marketed at this years NADA conference in Orlando, FL.

I ordered this design from Kim for the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp which is being held the day before the official start of the NADA Convention.

To order your personalized hand sanitizers call Kim at 732-859-0426

Make Your Voice Count - Click Here For Survey

The initial data has been flowing in and the initial results are jaw dropping.  So, if you work at car dealership, we invite you to participate in the study.

With the 2010 NADA Convention less than 40 days away, the survey data will surely be a highlight of attendees and vendors when the data is published.  The initial data suggests that there are many large opportunities in 2010 for car dealers and vendors supporting the industry.

The initial survey data also speaks to a growing digital divide in the current organizational structure of US car dealers.   We are confident that the survey data will yield a number of follow-up surveys and discussions in the year ahead.

Click to participate today:  Take 2010 Digital Marketing Survey

The first three websites we referred and coordinated with Volusion were less complex. The Volusion creative and technical support team did well on these tasks.  This experience was completely the opposite and a strong warning to anyone with time sensitive or mission critical ecommerce websites.   If you don’t need to be functional and can stand a few weeks of downtime, then Volusion will suffice.

But if you have a complex project, find a bug in the Volusion system, or need to conduct sales every day you may be screwed. Case in point, we were ready to go live with a Honda car parts website three weeks ago when we found that their platform ”search” control did not work on a list of items in a category listing page. 

We submitted a ticket, and had placed follow-up calls and every time we got the same unacceptable answer.  The summary was “We have submitted a ticket to programming and we have not heard back from them.”  This is a great answer when your client is screaming in your ear and wants to go live!

Volusion Website Support

So I decided to create an escalation support ticket to describe that my client, who wanted to capture some of the December sales traffic, was getting impatient. I needed an ETA on when their bug would be fixed; I was clear on the urgency.    I explained that we had done our part and now were being held back by a bug in the Volusion base product. 

So the technical support representative told me to send an email to Raymond Black, which I did.  I attempted to convey the urgency of my case and that two weeks had gone by without a resolution.  Here is the response to my escalation email that asked for a date that the bug would be fixed so I could advise my client when we could go live:

Hello Brian,

I have not yet been provided with any updates from our development team on this issue. All bug reports submitted to the development team are subject to review and prioritized by the Project Manager. The Project Manager then assigns the bug to a developer and an estimated time frame is supplied to the Project Manager by the developer. As soon as any updates are posted to the bug report, I will be notified and can provide those updates to you. Until such time, all I can counsel is patience until the issue is updated.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for choosing Volusion!

Tells us how we’re doing: http://customercare.volusion.com/review

Raymond Black
Volusion Support
800-646-3517

Pissed Clients

Try explaining to your customer that has spent thousands of dollars in data formatting and setup that we can’t go live becuase the ecommerce platform you recommended has bugs.  Then try to explain that for the past two weeks we have not been able to get a clear timeline for the problem to get fixed.

This is so bad I had to hold back my full emotions on this post.  It seems that Volusion is treating their own bug with shameless low prioritization.  I just don’t get it.

Are you ready to test drive the all new 2010 Acura ZDX in New Jersey at Park Avenue Acura?  The new body styling and features of the ZDX are very compelling.  Our friends at Park Avenue Acura have a great selection of cars to serve Acura customers in New Jersey and New York City.

If you would like to get behind the wheel of a 2010 ZDX, call Park Avenue Acura today at:  (201) 587-9001.  We just love the look of this car.

2010 Acura ZDX

The ZDX defiantly blurs the line between modern luxury and flexible utility. In addition to a powerful 300-hp, 3.7-liter, VTEC® V-6 engine, Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD®), and signature technologies such as AcuraLink Real-Time Traffic and Weather™13, it offers new features like the available Integrated Dynamics System and blind spot information system that define the next era of Acura innovation.

Here are some highlights:

• 300-hp, 3.7-liter, VTEC® V-6 engine
• Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™

Though it has the same all-weather attributes of conventional all-wheel drive, Acura developed its revolutionary Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD®) system to enhance high-performance dry-road handling. The result is enhanced high-performance cornering that simply can’t be matched by front, rear, or conventional all-wheel drive systems.

• Available AcuraLink Real-Time Traffic and Weather™

Though it has the same all-weather attributes of conventional all-wheel drive, Acura developed its revolutionary Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD®) system to enhance high-performance dry-road handling. The result is enhanced high-performance cornering that simply can’t be matched by front, rear, or conventional all-wheel drive systems.

• Available Integrated Dynamics System
• Available blind spot information system

Park Avenue Acura

You can visit the sales professionals at Park Avenue Acura located at:

171 New Jersey 17
Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
(201) 587-9001.

If you have ever read an OEM press release, it is NOT written for the average consumer.   If a dealer automatically inserts posts from the manufacturer’s RSS feed on their website, they are likely to fail.  OEM press releases have too much CYA wording to be of interest to the average consumer.

In addition to OEM press releases, news articles from third party review websites like JD Powers and Consumer Reports are often verbose an need editing.  Editing outside content is the perfect job for an Internet Marketing firm because when done properly, car dealers social media websites can be filled with the latest news from their brand(s) that they carry.

The Pasch Consulting Group offers a consultative approach to social media so that together, PCG and their clients,  can achieve their Internet Marketing goals.

Hiring an Inside Specialist

Car dealership staff need to “step up to the plate” when interaction with their customers is needed. Who can best speak for the dealership better than a trusted employee.  That’s why Facebook and Twitter should not be a 100% outsourced management task.

If a recent car buyer sends the dealer a thank you on Facebook, the dealership needs to respond and leverage that praise.  Customer interaction tasks are BEST done from competent dealership employees.  If your staff needs training, get that scheduled.

The combination of outside content specialists and inside consumer communication staff can make social media portals turn into the best lead generation websites in their control.

According to a recent poll the 2009 Dodge Challenger was recently place at the top of Consumer Reports “Predicted Owner Satisfaction Survey” according to CNN Money.

Chrysler’s 2009 retro styled Challenger muscle car, is the car best loved by its owners according to the CR survey. The Challenger is one of the many former muscle cars in recent years that manufacturers took and modernized its design.

In the past five years redesigns of the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro have pleased muscle car fans of the 60’s and 70’s. According Jon Sherrell, Ecommerce Director from Rairdon Dodge in Seattle, the Challenger has been one of their top sellers in the Dodge line.

“Washinton Dodge owners love the Challenger’s new look, features and improved safety. Having an original Challenger in mint condition is not in every one’s budget. The 2009 Challenger has all the horsepower and responsiveness to please former Challenger owners who have fond memories of their high school ride.”

The Ford Fusion Hybrid was second place in the survey this year.  The Toyota Prius dropped to 5th place in the rankings behind the Chevrolet Corvette and Porche 911.

Accord to CNN’s article “The survey which asks car owners “considering all factors (price, performance, reliability, comfort, enjoyment, etc.), would you get this car if you had it to do all over again?” tends to favor vehicles that people purchase for design, driving performance, or other emotional reasons rather than to simply fill practical needs.”

You can read the full story at: CNN Money and you can see the full selection of Dodge Challenger’s by visiting www.rairdon.com .

Last night, Charles and Liz Komar were on Geraldo Rivera’s TV show modeling the pajamas along with Liz Claman and Geraldo’s wife and daughter.  Take a minute the watch the video.  Please consider passing the word about the great project.  Visit www.pjsforthecure.org to order a set of pajamas today.

Here is the record of the emails that I received on that day from VisiStat:

The emails all were blindly addressed offering me the opportunity to resell VisiStat products.  It would seem to me that VisiStat Inc. took the low road and purchased a screen scraped email list of websites that are in the SEO business.

Why did I come to that conclusion?  Take a look at the email addresses that were addressed to me:

• info@paschconsulting.com
• info@dealer-seo.com
• info@seomicrosites.com
• info@seony.com

Do you see the pattern?  All are “info” email addresses. All of these websites have words like “SEO” in the text.  A website scraping program would identify my websites as SEO companies and then just send emails to the “info” address to hope that they get through.

Andrew Demske Responds

I sent an email to VisiStat to inform the company that I would be writing a post about their bad decisions for email marketing.  A person named “Andrew Demske” responded apologizing for being bombarded and asked if I would send him a list of my email addresses to block.

Yeh Right!  I’ll send a stranger a list of the hundreds of websites that I own or operate.  Since “Andrew” was apologetic, I considered not writing about the sloppy email marketing practices of VisiStat.

Then on December 14, 2009 I received the SAME email from a “Scott Campagnolo” to one of the same email addresses listed above.

It was clear that VisiStat has a sloppy bulk email process in place. It may very well be that these people’s names are just ficticious.  Why would two different salesmen send me emails to the same email address 24 hours apart?

More importantly, you have to ask yourself if this is the type of company you want to do business with!

When I sent another email to the company about Scott’s stock email, Andrew added this statement:

“we bought a list from a company and include OPT OUT language in the email so it is not illegal. We do see a very high conversion rate from these emails. “

This is just bullshit.  These email addresses are all in a pattern and they are not used for “opt-in” marketing lists.  VisiStat is sending out sloppy bulk emails with no respect for people who create “info” email addresses for real business.

I do invite VisiStat to provide proof that these email addresses were confirmed “opt-in” addresses.  Just send the source and date that the persmissions were granted.

It’s a shame that VisiStat has decided to shit-bomb business consultants with crappy emails in the hope that 1-2% will respond and they will grow their business.

If you have received on of these form emails from VisiStat, send me a note.

The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp is designed for dealer staff that want hands-on training so that they can either implement marketing strategies themselves or to inspect the work of their vendors.

The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp is an intensive day of training which is bookmarked with two meals on Thursday Night and Saturday Morning.  

Here is a peak at the schedule:

Thursday February 11, 2010

• 5:00 pm Boot Camp Registration
• 6:00 pm Cocktail Reception
• 7:00 pm Boot Camp Dinner
  • Keynote Speaker: Jared Hamiltion from DrivingSales.com
• 9:00 Everyone is sent to their barracks

Friday February 12, 2010

• 7:00 am  Boot Camp Breakfast
• 8:00 am – 12:30 Morning Sessions
• 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Boot Camp Lunch
• 2:00 pm – 6:30 pm Afternoon Session
• 7:30 pm – Boot Camp Dinner
  • Keynote Speaker
• 10:00 pm – Everyone is sent to their barracks

Saturday February 13, 2010

• 6:30 am  Early Bird Final Courses
• 8:00 am  Industry Breakfast & Graduation Ceremony
  • Keynote Speaker – Brian Pasch, Pasch Consulting Group
• 10:00 am   Q&A Opportunity

NADA Workshops start at 11:00 am on Saturday

Register Online

You can register online as well as check out the entire program by visiting: http://www.automotivemarketingbootcamp.com .  I hope to see you there.  People who register by December 5th will save $100.

I am known for my Internet Marketing articles so this may seem like a departure in my writing but keep in mind that 75% of car dealership ups still walk-out unsold.

Dealers spend thousands of dollars every month to get people into the dealership and a majority leave unsold.

To keep your brand and phone number in front of consumers that leave your business without becoming a customer, give them something of value as they leave.

Ladies will drop these right in their handbags and use it every day.  Guys will drop them in their briefcases, computer bags or coat pockets.

Hand Sanitizers

With all the concern about the H1N1 virus and the flue, these giveaways will never be thrown away. In fact they communicate a great message; we care about your health.

I never used hand sanitizers in the past but when Kim Depalma, CEO of Novel Promotional Marketing gave me a sample, I was hooked.

I handed these out at my booth at the 7th Digital Dealer Conference in Nashville and they were a hit!  People were coming over and taking a few samples and said that with all the people at the Conference shaking hands, this idea was a winner.

Whether you are looking for a new giveaway for an upcoming trade show or just to give away in your dealership, these are great branding tools.   Kim Depalma will be able to discuss pricing with you based on the quantities that you order.  You can reach Kim at 732-859-0426 or via email at kim@novelpm.com.

At the 7th Digital Dealer Conference I heard  of many good promotional marketing ideas like mugs and chip clips but these hand sanitizers really strike at where the consumer mindset is at today.  With cold and flu season in full swing, this is a good time to place and order since turn-around is fast.

Traditional Branding Still Works

Don’t forget traditional marketing strategies and local branding.  I may be an Internet Marketing advocate but successful promotional marketing and branding offline can also be a hit!

A new website called SurChur (http://surchur.com) can actually be used as an Internet Reputation Management tool.

The tabs make it easy to quickly see what is being said about your dealership across the web. This is a very convenient dashboard for what is currently being written about any search phrase and I recommend that dealers use it regularly along with Google Alerts and Google Reader.

Internet Reputation Management and monitoring will need to be part of auto retailers standard operating procedures in 2010. If dealers are looking for assistance and training in Automotive IRM, call the Pasch Consulting Group for a free consultation at 732-450-8200.

My first real business computer was an IBM PC/XT and I’ve owned PC computers with every CPU upgrade since that first 8086 Intel processor.

Many readers may not understand the mixture of smiles and cursing that was associated with AST Rampage memory boards, ATI Video cards, Seagate Hard Drives, Phoenix BIOS chips, serial port cards, SCSI hard disk drives, ESDI hard drives, Novel networking software or the turn in the marketing when Compaq came out with the first 386 desktop.

I feel old just recalling all those names that once were very important to me as a computer consultant.

Tomorrow Is A Day of Change

Tomorrow, on Black Friday, Apple is planning a special one day sale and some have reported that the Apple sale will include discounts on hardware and software. After all the years as a PC advocate, I am going out to purchase six iMac desktops (List: $1,199) and two Mac laptops for my newly hired staff.

I’m sharing this story because the world of PC hardware and software has dramatically changed in the past few years. Most of the work done on computers today are either web based applications or productivity software like Microsoft Office.

In fact, my office recently switched most of the productivity software to “Open Office” which is a free software platform with features comparable to Microsoft Office. Adding a thousand dollars in software costs for every new employee was getting old fast. All my WordPress microsite developers need is a text editor, FTP software and a web browser to work all day long and all of these tools are free.

As more open source, free software becomes available and more application move to the web, the hardware platform will become less import and the OS will rule the day. The Apple iPhone and new Blackberry Phones can surf the web in a pinch very nicely and they are a PHONE. This is one reason why Google has decided to go into the OS business, but more on that in a minute.

With the emergence of cloud computing, large server closets or data centers in corporate America will soon be a thing of the past. Being a PC hardware specialist has less demand in the current marketplace. Hardware is becoming disposable just like when a phone breaks, you don’t decide you open up the device and fix it. The world is becoming a network of web browsers connected to cloud computing data centers.

Operating System Alternatives

As previously mentioned, Google has even moved into the Operating System (OS) business with new devices based on their web centric OS. It is not as robust as Windows 7 but it does not have to be to gain momentum in the market. Many consumers use their computers for only email, web surfing, social networking, photos, music and video. All of these common tasks can be done seamlessly on a Mac and in the future, maybe Google OS.

Google Chrome and Firefox have made Internet Explorer obsolete. WordPress Guru Rich Galiano calls IE “Internet Exploder“. The web experience on a Mac is richer and the tools that come with a Mac are more user friendly and innovative.

Hardware Costs Can Be Deceiving

PC hardware is less expensive than Mac hardware so if you just look at price, you would never buy a Mac. That’s why I think there has been less of a conversion to the Mac Operating System. You can purchase a decent PC laptop for $700 and the new Mac laptops start at $999.

Those $300 in hardware savings can quickly evaporate with PC support costs. My top of the line Dell PC and Windows Vista locks up every week and is annoying. Vista has been a train wreck and my last batch of Dell laptops with Vista have been a nightmare. Of the five that I purchased, two of them have intermittent software problems that cause hours of nonproductive time each month. Dell can’t fix the problem.

I’m planning on purchasing the Apple Care support package and have all purchased hardware covered for three years. This locks my costs in upfront and based on my experience, the added costs will be paid back for me in the first two months.

Goodbye Microsoft Operating System

It’s been a love hate relationship since the early 80’s but I have to admit that I have been courted by a slick operating system and sexy hardware that is more reliable and easier to master in a web based world.

I need to focus on my business and productivity and I believe the time has come to face the reality that in a web based world we can lose the tether of the Microsoft Operating System.

P.S. I’ll be at the Apple Store in Freehold at 5:00 am.

Brian Pasch

http://twitter.com/automotiveseo

http://facebook.com/paschconsulting