automotive performance Archives by Mark Murnahan

Fisker Automotive’s “Fisker Karma” vs. “Social Media Karma”

Fisker Automotive is a startup automobile manufacturer based in Irvine, California that holds some pretty valuable cards in the future of “green” car technology. Like any startup, how they play those cards will close the gap on their potential to become a Ford or a Flop. First, I want to tell you how amazing the product is, and then I will share some reasons you may or may not see this 100 MPG powerhouse in a driveway near you. I will also offer some solutions. This should be a lesson to any company.

Fisker has developed an extended range electric hybrid car that I would describe as being so sexy it makes me want to take my shirt off and rub the Karma all over my body. I do not apologize if that gives you an awkward visual, because their Fisker Karma holds many of the same elements which car lovers, like myself, look for in a proper mate. It has amazing curves, it is strong at over 400 horsepower and astonishing torque, plus it looks fast standing still. I suspect that it even smells like a new car, and we all know how sexy that is, right?

Fisker Karma: The Car You Never Let Your Daughter Borrow

The Karma shares signature design elements with distant cousins Aston Martin DB9 and BMW Z8 Roadster; cars which were also designed by CEO, Henrik Fisker. Fisker may be an unfamiliar name to you, but he has a pedigree in automotive design, and has made some bold statements since his liberating personal venture into Fisker Coachbuild.

An added attraction which bolsters Fisker Karma’s market potential is that it treads lightly on our planet. In common short distance day-to-day use, the Karma is a plug-in electric car. Any true car-lover knows that electric cars have full-tilt torque-on-demand to plant you firmly into the seat in an instant. The torque, which is what makes car enthusiasts’ heart race, is mind-blowing. Don’t fret if the batteries fade, because it will automatically kick into gasoline-augmented “Sport” mode with enough power to whack your skull back into the headrest far better than your average hot rod. Bonus points come to play while the Fisker Karma can do this and still achieve 100 miles per gallon, and 300 miles between energy stops.

Fisker is Easy to Hate

The automotive industry is an easy target which many people love to hate. We love the freedom our cars give us, while we hate things like breakdowns, smog, and car makers who get bailed out while other economy-drivers eat beans and try to keep their companies afloat. Anybody who ever met a stereotypical car salesman has likely forged a few dire opinions about the automotive industry.

Karma: “the concept of “action” or “deed”, understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect”
Source: Wikipedia

Some companies are easier to beat up than others. It is often not because they are doing something wrong, but because they are not projecting enough that is right. With too little positive representation, a negative portrayal is much easier for critics to propagate. In the case of Fisker Karma, the automotive rumor shylocks have come to collect their pound of flesh.

Fisker Automotive has received a significant share of negative public attention for a company able to produce over $300 million in private capital followed by a U.S. Department of Energy loan for an additional $528.7 million (REF: US DOE Announcement).

Matters such as production delays, pricing increases, and gouges aimed at corporate officers are readily available, and even prevalent in their online media mix. I am not sure I would call it overly punishing just yet, but I consider it enough that people with the high stakes of founders Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, are wise to carefully monitor and attempt to adjust the brand image. I would also consider it punishing enough to speculate that large investors in founding partner Quantum Technologies (NASDAQ “QTWW”) have cause for any spoken and unspoken concerns.

It is not uncommon for a startup automobile manufacturer to have critics, but it is disappointing that the company does not appear as a significant participant in their publicity, positive or negative, thus far.

Thinking Points for Fisker Automotive Executives

I would like to offer a short list of solutions for the company. I also want to point out that these can be modified and applied to most other companies, as well.

Monitor: Monitor the Fisker Automotive brand. Act upon the horrid speculation and testimonies of others, using consumer-centric answers, instead of continued passive acceptance.
Qualify: Qualify benefits of issues such as price increases and production delays. There are clearly defined reasons, and they are not all embarrassing ones. The embarrassing reasons are the speculative excuses which people make up about Fisker.
Create: Create a respectable blog, for the sake of all things logical and measurable. Have a hub for the Fisker Automotive brand’s voice.
Strategize: Use Fisker’s massive technology, financial, and human assets to forge a strategy. “Sell more cars” or “Increase industry alliances abroad” are not strategies. Those are goals and tactics, but competing with Tesla’s Master Plan will require strategy.
Participate: Notice and participate in positive publicity. I have read a lot of good news about Fisker, too. In fact, I recently submitted a story to Digg.com about Fisker’s agreement with China Grand Automotive Group and watched over 40 Digg votes stack up within just a couple hours. In each of the news stories and online conversations I have read, I never witness any company participation to answer questions, but I have often seen the comments turn sour. In several cases, there is a correlation between that lack of participation and the souring of opinions.
Delegate: Be diligent in reviewing my qualifications and my drive to assist the company. My résumé is only a click away, and likely a great investment for Fisker Automotive.

I hope to see Fisker do well, and I am pulling for them. In fact, there is only a small list of companies flying this low on my RADAR for which I initiate prompts to review my résumé. Fisker Automotive is a company that I find a strong desire to work with, because I see their enormous potential, as well as their missing pieces.

The first step is to find out if Fisker is listening, and if so, whether they recognize a need to address their current and upcoming challenges of public opinions and brand marketing.

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Auto Racing Legend Says “Prove It!”

One of the greatest marketing one-liners in my recent recollection is “Prove it!”, and it came directly from a legend in the automotive racing industry. I think it can apply to nearly any company, in any industry. As a race enthusiast and driver, myself, I found a special attachment to this phrase. In racing, winning is not subjective, and you either “prove it”, or you lose the race. I will share the story with you, and hope to encourage you to do more than just make claims, but to actually prove it!

If you are an automotive enthusiast, you probably know the name, Brock Yates. Just in case you don’t have octane in your coffee and motor oil running through your veins, I will give you a quick background on this iconic man.

From Wikipedia:

“Brock Yates is an American journalist and author. He was longtime executive editor of Car and Driver, an American automotive magazine.”
… “currently serves as a commentator on racing and vintage cars for the Speed Channel”
… “wrote Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). Yates also wrote the screenplay for The Cannonball Run (1981) film”

Best of all, there are two Brocks! Brock Yates Jr. continued his father’s profound love of performance automobiles and racing, and became the next generation of legendary Yates gearheads. “Brockr”, as many know him, is the next generation of Yates to pour gasoline on the 27 year old tradition of “Cannonball Run”, now commonly referred to as “Cannonball One Lap of America“. Cannonball is no longer the cross-country race from coast-to-coast across America as it was portrayed (with relative accuracy) in the Cannonball Run movie. Cannonball Run is a fact of the rebellious auto racing past, but the event continues to thrive in its modern, and law-abiding, iteration of today. It is now a National Auto Sport Association (NASA) sanctioned event, with a strong following of sports car racing enthusiasts.

The Cannonball One Lap of America over the past couple decades is an annual event taking race teams from one race track to the next, crossing the United States to compete and prove their racing skill and endurance with sixteen events in just eight days. Short-named “One Lap” is where automotive manufacturers, and companies of all kinds, send their best amateur and professional racers from all around the world to compete and to “Prove it!”

When Brock Yates Said “Prove It!”

I called “Brockr” a few nights ago to see how the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Orlando went, and to further strategize my efforts to move deeper into the automotive industry, myself. We never seem to spend less than a couple hours on the phone, and I am not sure which of us is to blame, but we have great conversations, and I am delighted to call Brock a good friend.

Before Brock finally had to run and put his daughter to bed, he said “Oh, Mark, I have just one more quick story to tell …” He told that while he was at PRI, he approached several performance tuning companies with cars on display. He walked up to each of them and asked, “Is it fast?” Of course they answered “Yes! Very fast!” He then asked, “Is it durable?” Many automotive performance tuners will lie about this one, so Brock’s very appropriate answer to each of them was “Prove it” … and bring it to One Lap of America.

It is a message that I have given to companies at least a squillion times. If you have something better than the rest, and something that people should consider spending their hard-earned money to buy, you should prove it!

“Prove It” at Brock Yates’ Cannonball One Lap of America

I don’t hand out a lot of free “plugs”, but I can qualify this one. I have competed in Brock Yates’ Cannonball One Lap of America twice, in 2007 and 2008. Those were some of the most challenging days of my life, but days that I hope to repeat over and over again in future years, including the coming 3500 mile 2011 event.

The event comes early each May, and it is an amazing opportunity to see what you are made of. It also provides many excellent marketing opportunities, with multiple sponsorship levels to choose from. The marketing potential is especially strong if you take the initiative to publicize your participation well, and broadcast the whole eight days live on the Internet the way I did in 2008. Just imagine how many people would talk about that across social media, and all the new incoming links your website could have. There are a lot of imitators, but this is an event which really shows what a car enthusiast is made of, and it combines two of my favorite things … racing and marketing.

Here is an entertaining video of Motor Trend’s coverage of the event in 2010. It tells a great story of just how hard some people will work to prove what they can do.

John Heinricy Makes an Ideal One Lap Co-Driver!

As a side note to the story, and with a wink and a nudge, I offer a “brilliant” idea. I think that the uber-automotive-icon, John Heinricy, could make a mighty loud statement for Torvec, Inc. or the Hennessey Venom GT by pairing with me for a well-publicized live webcast of the event. Even better, he and Torvec’s CEO, Richard Kaplan, could appoint me as Torvec’s Marketing Director and implement high-torque strategies to demonstrate Torvec’s great potential.

Now back to the original thought. When you consider your business, I think you should always address this one very important question: How will you “prove it”?

Photo Courtesy of Steve Rossini’s Highland Design Studio

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Performance Auto Parts Marketing Exercise

Performance auto parts may not be on your agenda to buy, or to sell, but the automotive performance parts industry can still provide the basis for a useful marketing exercise. If you follow this exercise, I ask that you look for ways it can be related back to your industry, whether that is automotive-related or astrophysics.

Challenges of the Performance Auto Parts Industry

The performance auto parts industry, including an astonishing number of retailers, manufacturers, engineers, wholesalers, and users of automotive performance parts have each had a pretty hard time over the past couple years. The economy tanked, gas prices skyrocketed, and the world has tried to become more eco-friendly. The significance of these direct blows to the performance auto parts market makes it a great example of the importance of marketing.

Any of these challenges could single-handedly crush a small or shaky organization, but together, they have created havoc that puts gray hair and wrinkles on business owners. For those who are left while competitors drop off the RADAR, the market gets a little stronger. This creates an opportunity to generate brand loyalty from customers of fallen competitors, and use market failures to increase market share. Without addressing market share, a company will often be just a little closer to falling off the RADAR themselves.

Imagine for a moment that you are in the business of selling performance auto parts. The thought of having heavy financial interest in this market would send a lot of business people screaming and running for the exit, but not you. You are fearless, and you are in it for the long haul. Sure, it is largely a scared market with bad influences from many angles, but you are up to the challenges of looking long-term and setting a course to success. You want the kind of success that uses the lows to come out stronger than before.

Let us think about this as an exercise to stretch our minds and discover new success. I will be your partner in this example, and together we will do some thinking about how to keep our make-believe performance auto parts business bringing in the customers and giving them reasons to tell their friends about us. We need customers, but how will we reach them, and what will we do to place ourselves ahead of the competition? Come on, partner … we are in this together, so let’s get to thinking.

This will require a lot of ongoing work, but I will offer some ideas to get us started.

Maybe We Should Blog About Our Performance Auto Parts

Blogging is popular, and it can bring in a whole lot of valuable website traffic and build brand awareness, but what can we blog about? How much can we really say about fuel injectors, turbochargers, and race-tuned suspension parts? Wouldn’t that get pretty boring?

I am stunned by how many people I speak to who think of a blog in terms of simply reaching immediate customers, and neglect the blog’s contribution toward building a brand and creating a community of loyal readers. Many companies neglect blogging, because it all starts to seem like work, and they do not recognize the many benefits. So, if you don’t care about or understand all of the other valuable reasons to blog, just consider the enormous link building potential that will help your website rank better for more “performance auto parts” related search phrases.

Something we should perhaps consider is not just blogging about fuel injectors, turbochargers, and race-tuned suspension parts, but rather things like auto racing, race car drivers, automotive events, car maintenance, and a variety of other things car lovers are interested in. Maybe we could do a series of automotive performance “how-to” articles along with diagrams and YouTube videos. Maybe we could publish something about the American Le Mans Series Michelin Green X Challenge and how it is improving eco-friendly race technology. We could discuss how it affects consumers, now and into the future. Maybe we can create something interesting, informative, entertaining, or otherwise useful to our market influencers.

The racing industry and performance automotive engineers do great works to improve “greenness” of the automotive industry. If we get really creative, maybe we can even find some ways to grow our brand recognition for pointing out the good … and even great things our industry is doing to help people, economy, and our planet.

It is starting to seem like there could be a whole lot more reasons to blog than we thought. It seems like a good time to read “10 Really Good Reasons to Blog” and keep the thinking cap on.

Do Facebook Users Like Performance Auto Parts?

The fact that over five hundred million people are using Facebook seems to indicate that Facebook is useful for reaching people. With half a billion people, there is sure to be a race fan, race car driver, racing team, automotive engineer, ecologist, popular automotive blogger, or speed junkie in there somewhere who would like our company. There must be something there for us!

A mistake many companies will make is trying to pitch a deal to people instead of creating a reason for people to know and like their “performance auto parts”, and the people and culture of the organization. It is wise to note that name recognition always comes with an attached mental image. A sales pitch usually leaves little or no image at all.

See reason number 5 in 7 Reasons Your Marketing Sucks.

On the surface, it seems that nobody in our market is doing so great at reaching the Facebook speed junkies. Does this mean Facebook is not a good tool for building a community? After all, it is not working for most of the others in the performance auto parts industry. Maybe it is a waste of time.

Upon a closer inspection, it seems that this is largely because nobody is making significant creative efforts. Most of the performance auto parts people I found are only trying to advertise their performance parts like a bad used car salesman and do very little to create a genuine interest in their brand from people who purchase or influence the purchase of performance auto parts. It seems that since spewing advertisements fails so miserably for the majority of companies, many of the Facebook pages I saw have not been updated much.

Now, doesn’t this start to seem like an opportunity for us, or would we rather let other people’s failures of strategic planning and marketing creativity dictate our success? No? That is what I thought, my fearless performance auto parts selling partner … we are in it for the long haul, and that is why we will win the hearts and minds of Facebook. Let us go there and do something brilliant!

Automotive Performance Meets Twitter

Should we use Twitter to communicate with customers, potential customers, and market influencers? It seems like it may be just a big waste of time. Who is going to do that tweeting, and what will they tweet about? What if they tweet the wrong thing and make us look bad?

Have you ever looked at the competition to see just how terrible their marketing is? It is a pretty good place to find ways you may be missing the mark with potential customers. Sometimes it is a good idea to see what people are doing in some other random industry, because then it is even easier to be critical.

Maybe we should do some Twitter searches to see what others in the performance auto parts industry have to say, or what people are saying about them. Who knows, maybe we can pick up some good information and ideas as spectators. Then, maybe we can find an angle to help us build our market and find out what people like. I suppose that may be worth a shot, what do you think, partner? Should we see what Twitter is talking about and think about ways we could do better?

What Do I know About Performance Auto Parts?

I know that it can be hard to think outside of your own four walls, but with a little exercise, it can provide great benefit to your marketing. Most people, and most organizations do not have a really spectacular plan to improve their market. When you do, you can come out ahead, but it means that you have to try harder than them. You have to think differently than them.

I hope that giving a little thought to the performance auto parts industry will be helpful to you, whether it is actually your industry or not. I suppose I could be wrong with my automotive industry suggestions and analogies. Although, considering how many performance automotive parts suppliers’ logos I have put on brand new Corvettes, it would be a shame if I was wrong. 😉

YourNew.com Racing Corvette Z06: Driver Mark Aaron Murnahan

NOTE: There are winners and losers in every industry. Marketing is often the biggest determining factor.

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