There is an interesting article in today’s Australian Financial Review about how the major Down Under car show of the year has “renewed debate over whether social media and sponsorship have taken over as the industry’s marketing tools.” Until the Australian International Car Show in Sydney began two days ago, most of the discussion about the event centered on car companies such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, Audi and Chrysler that chose not to attend and instead commit precious marketing dollars to “interactivity and customer feedback offered by Twitter and Facebook,” according to the piece.
Although the show still attracted 27 car brands accounting for 95 percent of all automotive sales in Australia, the head of Fiat Chrysler’s director of corporate affairs Lenore Fletcher stated that car shows are an excellent platform to showcase new products, but that must be weighed against massive expense.
It will be interesting to see if the same debate takes place at the New York Car Show 2013 slated for this March at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.
