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Fred Jacobs: At Ground Zero Of The Digital Dashboard Battleground
June 16, 2014 at 12:09 PM (PT)
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JACOBS MEDIA CEO FRED JACOBS devoted his latest JACOBLOG post to the current Digital Dashboard War -- and his take is that if you're currently, sitting on the sidelines, you're in the process of being left behind.
"A dirty little secret that insightful automotive marketers and engineers are learning is that while the so-called ”digital dashboard” has changed, the customer hasn’t," he wrote. "In fact, even smart auto industry insiders admit they often use the “set it and forget it” philosophy with their own personal vehicles. They may go to some length during the initial process to get everything just so, but few make substantive changes to these settings over the months and even years they own or lease the vehicle. If your station is fortunate enough to earn a preset or placement on the first screen when the car is delivered, you have an edge. And if not….well, you may be in deeper trouble than a station might have been back in those preset days. Many consumers may have a very difficult time simply finding you."
Bottom line: "The assumption that radio is entitled to prime dashboard real estate in cars is shortsighted, dated, and even arrogant. While it varies by vehicle and by OEM, the fact is that radio is often not front and center on “digital dashboards,” and even where the medium has a level playing field with PANDORA, SIRIUSXM, and other options, your station is not necessarily going to become a preset."
Read the entire blog here.

