We are all familiar with how automotive manufacturers market the dream – exhilarating images of open roads, or small cars darting about a cityscape, but is this now an automotive experience that rarely exists in the real world?  The Department of Transport certainly think so, they recently reported that the average speed of Cars on UK A-roads is stable at a mere 25mph.

Nonetheless is that any reason to depart from a tried and trusted approach that has been with us since the 60’s?  Well, add into the equation that a drive to create fuel efficient cars has led to a harmonisation of design across the manufacturers.  Gone are the different shapes and sizes (do you remember there even used to be cars that only had 3 wheels) and in are the rigidly defined car classes where different manufacturers vary in size by mm.

And this harmonisation is leading to the erosion of brand loyalty.

Cap Gemini reports that in 2002 40% of consumers said they’d buy the same brand again. By 2010 75% of consumers said they were considering at least 4 brands for their next purchase.  The individuality of the brands, a hallmark of the romantic era of motoring, is being replaced by the efficiency of Kaizen manufacturing.

So is it time for manufacturers to re-evaluate how they sell the (realistic) dream and differentiate themselves at the same time?  Perhaps it’s time to make things personal.

Some have chalked it up to differences in culture, others to a complete lapse in taste and appropriateness. Whatever your take, there’s no denying that Kia Motors has this week felt the heat of a furious international social media response to a set of questionable cartoons for the Kia Sportage which went viral after being shown at the Cannes Lions awards.

Although only intended for the domestic Brazilian market, the fury elicited by the Kia Sportage virals was international, and represents an important lesson in managing brand image in a social media context.

The ads were supposed to promote the “dual-zone climate control” feature of the Kia Sportage, and even won the Silver Press Lion at the Cannes Lion Awards . The ads are in cartoon format, showing a single story from both “hot” and “cool” viewpoints. On one side, a primary school girl staying after classes for extra help, while the other side seemingly shows the teacher’s fantasy, where the girl is replaced by a busty teen in a short skirt asking to be taught “anatomy” lessons.

Oh my.

Who said social media was cheap? Social media marketing has often been thought of as a much cheaper way to reach consumers than traditional advertising. But that’s not necessarily true, especially when it comes to Twitter.

In a recent interview, Twitter’s director of revenue Adam Bain told ClickZ that the cost of the company’s in-house advertising offering Promoted Trends currently costs $120,000 per day for advertisers, a steep increase from the $25,000 to $30,000 the popular microblogging site charged for Promoted Trends in April 2010. Meanwhile, its Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets products are auction-based, but require advertising firms to spend a minimum of $15,000 over three months.