An “integrated marketing plan” sounds like the natural result of a sound business process. Why wouldn’t a fleet provider’s marketing plan integrate all of the tactics in support of one set of goals?

Specifically, it makes sense that a company should use more than one medium to distribute a singular marketing message. A plan comprising different promotional methods ought to be designed so that each method reinforces the others. And, when there are multiple messages, distributed through multiple channels, they should relate to each other in support of an over-arching strategy.

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At NAFA’s International Fleet Academy last month, Kevin Moore, Vice President of OEM Sales at Telogis, delivered a fascinating keynote address on how telematics are changing the landscape for fleet.

Afterwards, we sat down with him and talked about a wide range of subjects, including the connected car and how it translates into efficiency and cost savings for fleets. In this interview, Kevin gives us some real-world examples of fleets – small and large – that have used telematics to make data driven decisions to improve their business.

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Apple and Google want to get in your car. The tech giants have partnered with automakers to bring technology into vehicles that’s familiar and intuitive. Both sides are hoping to solve a problem that has been vexing drivers for years: The inability to easily and safely access smartphone apps and functions in the car.

So these days, in-dash infotainment systems are essentially extensions of your phone. It’s a big change in approach for the car industry, and a hot topic of discussion on panels at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which wraps Sunday.

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To form a loyal customer base and to attract new customers, it is essential to have a strong community presence. Fleet tracking solutions, like GPS Insight, can help your business achieve this by improving customer service, accomplishing green initiatives, and increasing fleet and public safety. Help boost your business’s community presence by using fleet tracking technology.

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Nearly every business faces seasonal lulls and hotspots. For example, 61% of restaurants notice a decline in patrons during a seasonal holiday or major event. This is according to a report by Blue Sky Local. On the flip side, the National Retail Federation reports that November and December sales can make up to 40% of a retailer’s annual business.

The holidays for some, might feel like chaotic craziness. The holidays for others, might feel like long hours of trying to find things do or watching funny cat videos on YouTube.

David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom, contributors at Forbes posed a question to their networks: “Is the holiday season your slowest or busiest time of year at work?”

READ MORE to get the answers to that question.

The next big thing in automotive technology is WiFi hotspots.

In car technology and communication has come so far in the past 20 years that it would be incomprehensible to a plug-in mobile bag-phone user in 1994. Revolutions in navigation, audio and downloadable apps have changed the way we spend time in our automobiles.

And now we are on the cusp of the next big automotive technology advancement – in-car WiFi. For a while now cars have been capable of becoming WiFi hotspots as long as there was an existing signal from a mobile device to piggy-back off of.

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A teenage computer whiz hacked into software that controlled traffic lights in a southwestern US city. Once inside the program, the 16-year-old boy accessed systems that could wreak havoc. An investigator said the boy could have turned all the lights to a blinking-red default that would snarl traffic. Or worse, turned them all green.

That was 25 years ago. READ MORE

There used to be a lot of mystery and hokum around fuel additives. Are they needed? Even if they do any good, such as reducing engine wear, it will probably occur well after fleets have turned over their vehicles. A BloombergBusinessweek article lays out some questions about Techron, Chevron’s much-touted additive.

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Insights into fleet accident management from The CEI Group, Inc.

Supplements are additions to original estimates that can knock you for a loop. Ideally, you want your first estimates to be reliable before you authorize repairs. But how can you accomplish that? There’ s a cure that sharp accident management service providers take advantage of, but before revealing it, let’s define terms.

Supplements occur when there is damage inside the vehicle that wasn’t seen or anticipated when an estimate is written. They are revisions to initial estimates, and require additional customer approval for repairs to proceed. According to industry experts, supplements are issued for some 30% of all collision repair jobs nationwide, and the average dollar amount is around 25% over and above the original estimate. If that’s your fleet’s record, take heart: you can cut the number of supplements you receive by half or more.

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By Mike Sheldrick, Senior Editor

Call it what you will — the smart car, the connected car, or maybe even the autonomous vehicle. They all may seem a long way off, but maybe not.

While the automakers, aftermarket hardware manufacturers, and software giants work on the acceptable standards for future cars, a group of start-ups is hoping to get a leg up on the industry by offering devices and applications that will provide many of the functions and features of new cars just hitting the market and those planned for the future.

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