One of SEMA’s primary tools in achieving its mission statement—to help its member businesses succeed and prosper—is providing market research that draws on historical comparisons and illuminates current trends. As a major part of that effort, the association produces an overview of where the industry stands each year. The 2012 SEMA Annual Market Report has just been released and is now available. The report is free to SEMA members and is available for a $250 fee to non-members.
While Facebook’s new look has left many businesses in a scramble, migrating to the new, mandatory change need not be accompanied by gnashing of teeth. Armed with insights from web marketing experts, companies will be able to cruise through the upgrade—and perhaps dust a competitor or two—unfazed.
In the most fundamental terms, the Great Facebook Migration of 2012 represents a move by the digital hangout to standardize the look and feel of every Business Page on its network. Essentially, Facebook wants every business on its site to be able to express what’s happening with its brand right now—as well as the heritage behind that brand—all on a single page.
Last year about this time, we noted that SEMA was ramping up resources dedicated to providing members with best-in-class research. We beefed up personnel, we increased the budget, and we looked for ways to take full advantage of outside resources.
While tech-giddy employees are prone to fawn over every new iThing smuggled into the workplace—devices that are often used in violation of company policy—IT security pros see something very different: a security breach waiting to happen. The hard fact is that many of those unauthorized devices can slash gaping holes in company security systems in a nanosecond, exposing company data and applications to hackers. Indeed, even some authorized devices keep security IT up at night, since their current software solution may not be designed to handle some of the brand-new phones and tablets.
Chrysler’s Jeep brand has seen a resurgence in recent years, winning awards that range from the Grand Cherokee’s 2011 Urban Truck of the Year to the Wrangler’s 2012 Four Wheeler of the Year. Its popularity has also blossomed in emerging markets. According to Chrysler Group LLC, sales of Jeep-brand vehicles in China in 2011 rose 64% compared to the previous year, climbing to 38,373 units. Sales also exploded in Russia, rising 85% to 2,327 units. Here’s a look at some of the particulars in those markets.
As a kid, John Waraniak, SEMA’s vice president of vehicle technology, never gave much thought to a college education. He did, however, enjoy building fast toys—plundering the neighbors’ throwaways on garbage day and reconfiguring found treasures such as washing-machine pulleys, lawn-mower engines, old wagons and bikes into saleable contraptions. That was the sort of vision and imagination that led him to two master’s degrees as well as engineering soapbox racers, B-2 stealth bombers and Chevrolet motorsports programs.
While the Internet’s white hats have done a great job of keeping the medium’s darker forces at bay, security experts predict that the web will still remain a dangerous place for businesses in the coming year—especially those without digital smarts.
The three-year-old SEMA enthusiast opinion leader research program was created in advance of the 2009 SEMA Show to provide SEMA researchers with consumer insights into industry trends, products, vehicles and the SEMA Show itself. It was built around automotive enthusiasts and opinion leaders who were active in car clubs, automotive websites or forums as well as active social media bloggers who follow performance automotive businesses.
Given that Facebook has become critical to any serious social media strategy, it’s no surprise that a number of tools, software packages and apps have sprung up to give businesses a leg up on maximizing their marketing campaigns on the service. Here’s a sampling of some of the most promising:
With the explosion of smartphones and mobile devices, this may be a question you’re asking yourself. After all, apps are fast becoming one of the latest marketing trends, offering significant branding and revenue opportunities for a company. Unfortunately, they can also prove to be a huge boondoggle. So how does a company decide whether and how to jump on the app-development bandwagon?