Thursday’s Themes . . .

August 17, 2017Uncategorizedgmtartaglia@aol.com

NEXT BATTER UP IN THE VIDEO BALLGAME . . . APPLE: Well you knew this wouldn’t take long. Now that the likes of Netflix and Facebook are getting serious about video content as a way to disrupt the TV industry, get ready for other techs to run the same play. And now Apple is up to the plate. According to the Wall Street Journal Apple is planning to invest $1B in custom video content over the next 12 months. With that kind of bank Apple could launch its own production studio and fund about 10 new shows. Obviously the shows will have to be strong to attract an audience. As Netflix just proved with the Shondaland poach from ABC, the demand for high-end creative talent is soaring. It’s worth noting that Apple doesn’t have a ton of experience in content production. So far their organizational skill set has proven to have limits. No doubt they’re the preeminent hardware creators in tech, but they’re not as good at monetizing media. So video content will definitely require Apple to flex a new set of muscles. Should be interesting to watch this one play out.

GOING DEEP ON AUTO DEALERSHIP DATA: The NADA is out with a useful set of stats around auto dealerships’ revenues and correlated ad spending in the US. There’s ton of data in the attached Inside Radio link, with most of the auto info in the front half of the article. Here’s a quick summary of the most relevant points:

US Domestic Dealerships Ad Spending is +1.5% YTD at an average of $244,835 annualized
US Foreign Dealership Ad Sending is -1.2% YTD at an average of $325,043 annualized
Domestic Dealers spend 8.2% of gross revenue on adverting, while Foreign Dealers spend 8.5% of their gross
Luxury Brand Dealerships YTD Spending is -5.2%, while Mass-Market Dealers are +3.9% YoY
56% of Dealerships’ revenue comes from New Car Sales, and 31% comes from Used/Preowned

My take away on these stats – there’s so much doom and gloom going on with US Auto right now as sales hit a cyclical cool down after seven years of straight growth. But if you get inside the numbers at the dealership level you can find pockets of growth and marketing opportunities.

POWERFUL ADVICE, REAL INSPIRATION: Finally today, I’d like to leave you with one of the most inspirational commencement addresses ever. This video is from Denzel Washington’s speech at the Dillard University graduation ceremony in May, 2015. There are so many powerful themes in packed into this four minutes that it almost gives me goosebumps. Fail big. Problem solve outside the box. A dream without goals is just a dream. Hard work works. Don’t confuse movement with progress. When you achieve success reach back and pull someone else up. Each one teach one. And my favorite . . . don’t just make a living, aspire to make a difference. It’s almost as if Denzel was playing a part in one of his movies, but this is a real speech to a live audience. If you want a road map for going from good to great in your life this is as good a place as any to start. Go full screen on this one and turn up the volume – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!