The 12 Volt Initiative appears to be in hiatus. The vice chair of the industry group, Larry Rougas (Pioneer car electronics VP marketing and product planning) said, “We’re going to continue talks…there’s a lot of work to do.”
But in a troubled economy, suppliers remain unwilling to fund the joint campaign, said industry members.
The old steering committee has met twice since first industry viral video went live in November. “We all met after the campaign was over and reviewed the results and actually the Board was pretty pleased with the results considering our financial investment. We have been talking about what do to next. There has been continued interest with a number of companies and individuals but no formal plans are ready to be announced on the next step, Rougas said.
With the industry about to gather in Dallas at Knowledgefest October 10-12, it would be a good time to try to get things rolling again. Or have the car stereo buying groups that have emerged in recent years such as MESA and ICE taken over the role, on a smaller scale, that the 12 Volt Initiative hoped to play?
The 12-Volt Initiative was formed by a group of key car AV suppliers and retailers led by Pioneer Electronics to raise awareness of car audio. It released a “viral video” promoting car audio. This represented the first time the industry banded together in a unified advertising campaign.
Source: CEoutlook
Photo: Scene from the Car Dance Mob video sponsored by the 12 Volt Initiative
I would just like to say as being “in the industry”, the viral video was a joke and did not market to the professional, which in times of economic down turn, can spend money a bit more loosely.
Further, would any shop owner or salesman, use that video to promote their product to someone other than a teenager.
It was a poor attempt, though it was an attempt. But hey, isn’t pioneer marketing a $70 CD player??? let’s see how viral that will be…