ASC Industries Launches Canadian Print Advertising Campaign
ASC Industries is expanding its international advertising reach through a new agreement with Canadian magazine publisher The Automotive Group, which focuses on the automotive aftermarket. ASC said it will concentrate its advertising in The Automotive Group’s warehouse distributor and technician-oriented publications: Jobber News and SSGM (Service Station and Garage Management).
Defining The Process Enterprise
In this week’s article we’ll deal with a fundamental question: What is a “process enterprise” and how does it differ from the kind of enterprise most of us are living in today?
DST Asks: Can Your Business Measure Return on Customer Investment?
Although most businesses have the means for measuring their Return On Investment, DST has coined the term Return on Customer Investment as a more accurate method of determining profitability of the customer base. Many firms believe that their largest customers, or the ones they have been supplying for the longest time, are the most profitable ones, but access to pertinent data can contradict those assumptions.
Monro Muffler Brake Completes Mr. Tire Acquisition
Monro Muffler Brake has completed its previously announced acquisition of 36 leased Mr. Tire locations from privately held Mile One Automotive. The acquired locations generated approximately $50 million in sales last year. Monro said the acquisition will expand the company’s market share in the mid-Atlantic region, particularly the Baltimore market. The transaction, valued at approximately $29 million, is expected to contribute between $5 million and $6 million to Monro’s EBITDA in the first year.
Campaign to Bring Back the “Midas Touch”
Midas wants to return to its core value of trust with the resurrection of a marketing campaign first used in Midas advertising in the 1980s. The company’s new national advertising agency DDB Chicago is collaborating with Ogilvy & Mather Toronto on the “Trust the Midas Touch” campaign. The campaign will include commercials that take place in a Midas shop and show a humorous dialog between a customer of Midas and a Midas service employee, who is hooked up to a polygraph machine. The commercials are the first in a long-term campaign to grow Midas’ category-leading shares in brakes and exhaust and to support the expansion of its services, including oil changes and other routine maintenance services.
Alcoa Named ‘Most Admired Company’ by Fortune Magazine
Alcoa has been named one of Fortune magazine’s “Most Admired Companies” in the magazine’s upcoming annual report on reputation. Alcoa is one of the world’s leading producers of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina, and is active in all major aspects of the industry, including the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets.
Aftermarket Technology Corp. Appoints Don Johnson to CEO
Aftermarket Technology Corp. (ATC) has announced that Don Johnson will succeed Mike DuBose as CEO and president. DuBose is stepping down as CEO but will remain chairman of the company.
AAIA Executives Make Presentation to Wall Street Investors
Kathleen Schmatz, AAIA president and CEO, and Al Gaspar, president emeritus, addressed a group of 30 Wall Street investors at a luncheon meeting at the Yale Club in New York City last week. The latest statistics and trends on the size, shape and structure of the aftermarket were addressed, as well as profiles of AAIA’s market-growing initiatives: Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES), category management, Right to Repair Act and the “Be Car Care Aware” campaign.
Bosch Promotes Platinum Spark Plugs with Rebate Offer, Sweepstakes
Robert Bosch Corp. hopes to draw customer attention to the advantages of installing Bosch Platinum spark plugs with its new “Get the Big Picture” sweepstakes. The promotion gives customers a chance to win an RCA 61-inch DLP HDTV, in addition to a 60 cent rebate on the purchase of four Platinum Spark Plugs.
Republic Names George Strickler CFO
Former BorgWarner Executive Vice President and CFO George Strickler has been named executive vice president and CFO for Republic Engineered Products, one of North America’s largest producers of special bar quality steel. Prior to joining BorgWarner in 2001, Strickler served as vice president of finance for Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. He held finance and treasury positions at the tiremaker for 30 years. He was also executive vice president and CFO at Lake West Group, a retail consulting company based in Cleveland, Ohio.