SEMA News

Marketers looking to get a handle on social media as a promotional tool have found an easy solution: Integrate the medium into existing e-mail marketing programs. The pioneers of this method say that a little creative contact with current and potential customers on social networks, such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter, can add new muscle to tried-and-true e-mail.

The economy and the environment have been the major drivers for many markets over the last three years, and they have also been consistent topics of conversation among tire and wheel experts. The tire industry underwent a sort of accordion buckling in inventory as the economic slowdown led consumers to balk at anything other than critical expenditures and then pent-up demand caused a sudden resurgence.

The seventh annual Global Media Awards program found 150 companies being recognized by an international panel of automotive journalists at the 2010 SEMA Show. Twenty-four of the top automotive journalists hailing from 15 important world markets for specialty products rolled up their sleeves, and each selected 10 products from the New Products Showcase that they thought would most appeal to consumers in their home markets. We talked to some of the winners about being selected, their overseas sales plans and how important these established and emerging markets are for their bottom lines.

When Petersen Publishing Company photographer Eric Rickman took this photo in October 1958, Paul Schiefer's involvement in developing a safe, "slipper" clutch for drag racers was still a decade away. So was the honor of being the very first inductee into SEMA's Hall of Fame, a milestone that took place in 1969. Instead, what drew Rickman down to Schiefer Manufacturing in the San Diego area on that fall day was an assignment to photograph an assortment of Schiefer's products as part of a lengthy review of competition clutches and flywheels that Bob Pendergast was putting together for Hot Rod magazine's April 1959 issue. [Read more]

It has been said that a rising tide lifts all boats. Well, the industry was buoyed appreciably in November at the 2010 SEMA Show, and I'd like to thank all who participated in once again delivering the industry's most valuable business gathering. We measure the success of the SEMA Show not just by the numbers, but also by the levels of participation and satisfaction as reflected by the industry. Below are a few answers to the questions "How'd the Show go?" and "What was new?"

John Stewart has joined SEMA as editorial director. In this role, he will supervise the monthly SEMA News magazine, the Show publications and SEMA eNews. His responsibilities include managing the SEMA News staff and collaborating with SEMA executive staff to promote and effectively communicate the association's news with members, while also serving as a voice for SEMA-member companies.

The 2011 SEMA News Rate Card and Editorial Calendar is now available. SEMA News is everything that professionals look for in a great trade publication: hundreds of new product announcements, the latest industry news, interviews with key decision makers and creative tips on how to make automotive accessory businesses bigger and more efficient. Download the 2011 SEMA News Rate Card and start crafting an advertising plan that works for your company.

When word got out that SEMA News was looking to identify future industry trends, our friends at Popular Hot Rodding presented us with the opportunity to feature their "What's Next?" hot-rod builder story. The forecast on the future of hot rodding originally ran in the September issue of Popular Hot Rodding and will no doubt be of interest to SEMA News readers. Special thanks to the folks at Popular Hot Rodding for allowing us to reprint the article in its entirety.

It was no accident that the NHRA brought the U.S. Nationals to Detroit in 1959. The Big Three were engaged in a growing horsepower war, and hot rodders were enjoying the spoils of that war, turning Detroit's big-inch, multi-carbed mills into quarter-mile terrors. Wally Parks, who at the time was both the editor of Hot Rod magazine and president of the NHRA, felt that there would be no better way to demonstrate the popularity of drag racing to the members of the Motown establishment than to have this national meet in their backyard. [Read more]