Posts Tagged ‘Toyota’
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
 A modified Acura Many of the most useful automotive websites share a common thread—they consistently integrate access to social media platforms throughout their pages, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study(SM) (MWES)—Wave 1 released today.
The semiannual study, now in its 13th year, measures the usefulness of automotive manufacturer websites during the new-vehicle shopping process by examining four key measures: speed, appearance, navigation and information/content.
Wide variation in use of social media
All automotive brand websites provide users with the ability to access various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to connect with the brand’s social media presence or share information about a brand or model under consideration.
However, there is wide variation among websites in the pervasiveness of social media access—for example, whether it’s available from only the site’s home page, or from a variety of pages.
Most useful use social media throughout site
The study finds websites that are the most useful tend to provide users with social media access from a variety of pages, including the home page, model pages, configurator tool and photo gallery. Brands that do not perform well in usefulness tend to have limited social media availability throughout their sites, such as access only from the home page and model pages.
“The widespread usage of social media has created an expectation of constant availability,” said Arianne Walker, senior director of media and marketing solutions at J.D. Power and Associates.
“By integrating links to social media platforms throughout several site features, automotive brand websites enhance convenience for users and also increase the possibility that website users will promote the brand within their social networks.”
Overall satisfaction with the usefulness of automotive brand websites has decreased significantly to an average of 772 on a 1,000-point scale in Wave 1 of the 2012 study from 784 in Wave 2 of the 2011 study, which was released in August 2011. Much of this decline is due to decreased satisfaction with navigation and information/content. These declines may be attributable to the challenges that automotive brand websites are facing in designing sites that are usable on both tablets and desktop computers.
Sites need to accomodate tablets
While only 20 percent of new-vehicle shoppers say they own a tablet, among those who do, 47 percent say they have used their tablet to access automotive information. Tablet ownership is expected to increase during the next several years, which makes it particularly important for brand websites to be able to accommodate both tablets and desktop computers without sacrificing usability on either type of device.
“As automotive brand websites attempt to accommodate the dimensions, resolution and layout best suited for tablet use, some have changed their design in ways that inhibit usage on desktop computers,” said Walker. “For example, pages that require scrolling to view all of the content on a particular page may be preferred by tablet users, but they are quite frustrating for desktop computer users, who are used to clicking to access content directly, rather than finding it on the page by scrolling.”
In addition to differing levels of tolerance for scrolling, following are two key differences in navigation conventions between tablets and desktop computers:
- For tablet devices, big button links are preferable to text links, while text links work well for website navigation on desktop computers.
- Users of tablet devices often utilize finger swiping to access website content, while desktop computer users click and drag their mouse cursors. Effective websites should allow for navigation both ways.
Acura’s website ranks highest with a score of 808 on a 1,000-point scale, and performs particularly well in the navigation and speed measures. Rounding out the five highest-performing automotive websites are Honda (806), Hyundai (803) and Infiniti and Lincoln, in a tie (802 each).
The 2012 Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study—Wave 1 is based on evaluations from more than 9,400 new-vehicle shoppers who indicate they will be in the market for a new vehicle within the next 24 months. The study was fielded inNovember 2011.
| Manufacturer Website Ranking |
| (Based on a 1,000-point scale) |
| Acura |
808 |
| Honda |
806 |
| Hyundai |
803 |
| Infiniti |
802 |
| Lincoln |
802 |
| Kia |
796 |
| Jeep |
792 |
| Lexus |
790 |
| Porsche |
787 |
| Toyota |
787 |
| MINI |
785 |
| Buick |
784 |
| Mazda |
784 |
| Cadillac |
783 |
| Subaru |
776 |
| Volkswagen |
775 |
| Nissan |
774 |
| Suzuki |
774 |
| Audi |
773 |
| Industry Average |
772 |
| Mitsubishi |
771 |
| BMW |
770 |
| Mercedes-Benz |
768 |
| Ford |
763 |
| Land Rover |
763 |
| GMC |
762 |
| Jaguar |
760 |
| Volvo |
759 |
| smart |
756 |
| Chrysler |
755 |
| Dodge |
752 |
| Ram |
752 |
| Chevrolet |
750 |
| Fiat |
729 |
| SAAB |
721 |
| Scion |
691 |
Tags: Acura, Audi, automotive web sites, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, Deep, Dodge, facebook, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, J.D. Power, Jaquar, Jeep, Kia, LandRover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Ram, SAAB, SCion, Suzuki, tablets, Toyota, twitter, YouTube
Posted in Best Practices, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | No Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2011
 Apple's iPad2 Can Amazon’s new tablet computer, reportedly a souped up version of its popular Kindle e-reader, compete with Apple’s iPad? Thus far, would-be tablet competitors have not fared well against Apple brand power and the iPad.
Motorola, Acer, and Blackberry maker Research in Motion all tried to grab a piece of the tasty looking tablet computer market, but their efforts failed to make a real dent in Apple’s iPad share. Motorola did manage to see off its TouchPads, the most recent entry in the market, at fire sale prices of $99 each (and may make more available next month).
But the New York Times says a competitor is on the verge of introducing “the best-placed challenger of all: Amazon.com.” Quoting analysts, the Times says the Amazon tablet will undercut Apple’s price by about half and sell for around $250. It will have a 7 inch touch screen, with a bigger screen model coming in a year.
The Amazon device, while possibly not quite as powerful as an iPad, will handle the uses most people want from a tablet computer, easy access to email and the Web, and to Amazon’s vast store of books, music, and videos. It is the only Apple rival with the later advantage.
Whether it is a serious iPad competitor or not, it will certainly give Barnes & Noble’s color Nook some grief in the marketplace. B&N is striving to switch to digital before it ends up in the same place as its competitor, Borders, which will soon be completely gone.
One analyst quoted by the Times expects the Amazon tablets to sell as many as five million devices initially.
TechMediaNetwork nabs $33M financing to broaden reach
-TechMediaNetwork Inc. a technology media company that produces news and reviews in the technology and science verticals, today announced a $33 million Series B financing from ABS Capital Partners, a leading growth equity investor. Existing investors Village Ventures and Highway 12 Ventures also participated in the round.
TMN will use the funds to increase its acquisition program, further expand its growing news organization, enhance its monetization strategies and increase the distribution of its content. As a result of the financing, ABS Capital General Partner Ralph Terkowitz and Principal Paul Mariani will join TMN’s board of directors.
“Both organically and through complementary acquisitions, we are constantly looking to strengthen and broaden our expansion in the technology news market,” said Jerry Ropelato, CEO and founder of TechMediaNetwork. “The increased reach and influence of our network will continue to deliver more value to our readers, affiliates and advertising partners.”
TechMediaNetwork delivers technology news and product reviews across its 16 different web properties, featuring such flagship sites as LAPTOP, SPACE.com, TopTenREVIEWS and TechNewsDaily. TMN connects consumers, small publishers, advertisers and ecommerce vendors through a network of trusted information, revenue opportunities and audience reach. T
The Company has syndication partners, including Yahoo!, MSNBC.com and the websites of Fox News and CBS News, and advertisers such as American Express, AT&T, Canon, General Motors, HP, Kodak, Sony, Symantec, Toyota and Warner Bros.
Tumblr cranks the wheel on $85M funding
Tumblr, the blogging platform that soared from 2 billion page views a month earlier this year to $13 billion now, and boasts 30 million blogs generating 40 million posts a day, has raised a massive $85 million funding.
Led by Greylock Partners and Insight Venture Partners, the round included The Chernin Group, Sir Richard Branson, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
WordPress, by comparison, supplies the platform for more than 59 million websites.
Tumblr also surpasses both Wikipedia and Twitter in pageviews and does about half as many as AOL and Craigslist, according to TechCrunch.
More than 299 million people view more than 2.5 billion pages each month on WordPress.com, according to the site’s own statistics page.
Do you know why Tumblr generates so many pageviews? It’s because they make it easy to connect to other blogs and bloggers and scroll rapidly through page after page of posts. I sometimes look at 100 pages in half an hour. — Allan Maurer
Tags: ABS Capital Partners, Amazon Kindle, American Express, Apple iPad, AT&T, Barnes & Noble Color Nook, Greylock Partners, Highway 12 Ventures, HP, Insight Venture Partners, New York Times, Sir Richard Branson, Sony, Spark Capital, Symantec, TechMediaNetwork, The Chernin Group, Toyota, Tumblr funded, Union Square Ventures and Sequoia Capital., Village Ventures, Warner Bro.
Posted in Amazon, Blogging, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, social media | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 18th, 2011
 BONITA SPRINGS, FL – Paice, a company holding what an Australian study called “the most dominant hybrid (electric car) patents in the world, has raised $4 million from ten investors, according to a regulatory filing.
During the oil crisis of 1979, Paice founder Dr. Alex Severinsky conceived the idea for a hybrid gasoline/electric car that could help reduce America’s dependence on oil. That led Dr. Severinsky to form Paice (Power Assisted Internal Combustion Engines) in 1992 as part of the small company incubator program at the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering.
Later that year, he filed a patent application covering his groundbreaking concepts for a hybrid vehicle. Paice was issued U.S. Patent No. 5,343,970 (the ‘970 patent) in 1994.
According to the company website, hybrid electric vehicles increase fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions by combining an electric motor with the vehicle’s internal combustion engine. The ‘970 patent describes a hybrid vehicle with a microprocessor that receives control inputs and uses that information to determine whether the internal combustion engine, the electric motor, or both should provide torque to the wheels. It also describes a system with a powerful electric motor that receives energy from a battery at high voltage and low current to increase dramatically the efficiency and performance of the system.
Paice’s United States Patents rank as the two most dominant hybrid patents in the world – and four of its patents rank among the 10 most dominant patents – according to a recent study of all hybrid patents filed worldwide. The company has licensed its patented tech to Ford and Toyota.
The company received funding in 1998 from the Abell Foundations, which it says has invested more than $20 million in its hyperdrive system.
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Tags: Bonita Springs, Dr. Alex Severinsky, FL, Ford, hybrid electric vehicle tech, Maryland Calrk School of Engineering, Paice, Toyota
Posted in Energy, Florida | No Comments »
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
By Allan Maurer
 Gregory Artzt CHARLOTTE, NC – Once upon a not so very long ago, it was tougher getting credibility for a service that measures social media sentiment toward a brand, says Greg Artzt, founder and CEO of General Sentiment. “It felt like an uphill battle in the beginning. Many traditional research executives reject that statistically relevant information can be gathered and measured by listening to social media.”
But an unending series of reputation disasters aided and abetted by social media have seriously affected Tiger Woods, Toyota, Lebron James, Mel Gibson, BP, and assorted other businesses, entertainment figures and politicians. The noise level woke some people up.
“So it’s become a lot easier,” Artzt tells us. “It’s still a traditional research world, but the use of social media listening is now seen as fire detection, making sure nothing bad happens.”
Artzt and his co-founders created General Sentiment in New York in 2008, although he says they didn’t really get rolling until January 2009. About six months ago, it opened its Charlotte office, where most of its researchers and its client services office are located.
Growing in Charlotte
The angel-backed company also raised $150,000 from National Science Foundation SBIR grants and may seek a funding round later this year. It employs about five people in Charlotte now, expects that to be seven shortly and is looking for addition
The company’s technology on six years of research and development from Stony Brook University and delves heavily into the natural language processing field. It performs deep natural language processing, sentiment, and media analysis across millions of sources of content daily.
In addition to quarterly reports it releases to substantial media coverage quarterly, the company sells custom reports and software as a service that allows the client to track Internet sentiment on its own.
Was my marketing successful?
Artzt admits the company is in a highly competitive field, but says “Our system is the most researched technology of its kind.” And it isn’t restricted to looking for fires than need quenching.
“We focus on providing high-level information executives really need,” Artzt says. “Was my marketing effort successful? Am I getting any tangible value from my efforts in Social Media? Should I drop my celebrity sponsor? Is my TV show creating a real impact, and if so, where?”
Of course, when it comes to such things as keeping or dumping a celebrity sponsor, what’s good for the company may not be just the opposite for Tiger Woods—both determined by the same viral firestorm.
Response is important
Artzt says the amount of damage to a brand is often determined by its response to a given problem. Toyota, for instance, did a good job of turning things around to bounce back, he says, while BP probably faces a long battle to regain its oil-soiled reputation.
Apple too, seems to have won the PR battle. “There has been quite a bit of discussion about how well Steve Jobs did addressing the antenna issue, but doing it was good for the brand,” says Artzt.
RIM’s Blackberry, a General Sentiment customer, also handled its end of the antenna flap well by coming out after Job’s press conference saying consumers don’t need a case to get good reception on their phones.
So the good side to all the bad publicity drowning BP, forcing Apple into press conference mode, and celebrity brouhahas, is that many businesses now realize that reputation matters, even though “They’re still in the early phases of that mindset,” says Artzt.
Still, he adds, many more clearly see that that these things have “real world impact” on the bottom line, on sales, on a company’s stock price and so on.
Tags: brand monitoring, Charlotte, General Sentiment, Lebron James, Mel Gibson, NC, reputation monitoring, social media, Tiger Woods, Toyota
Posted in Carolinas, Company Profile, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina | No Comments »
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