Acura’s Ed Beadle walks a marketing balance beam.
It’s been three years since the brand resurrected “precision crafted performance” as its ad slogan and core promise to consumers. The tag line is intended to highlight Acura’s commitment to performance as well as bold design.
As senior manager of Acura’s integrated marketing unit, Beadle is tasked with building brand equity using that philosophy while at the same time doing the core work of any auto marketer: driving traffic to dealerships.
The challenge, Beadle says, is finding “that perfect balance between upper-funnel brand building and lower-funnel, targeted marketing.”
He says an efficient, multichannel approach that uses the full power of digital platforms is critical. It’s a unique position requiring special skills.
Before Acura, Beadle was a media director at Omnicom Media Group. When he was hired by American Honda in 2012, he expected that the media specialty “would serve me for years to come.”
But Honda had different plans for him.
“Soon after I joined, I was promoted and rotated to oversee digital, creative and retail efforts,” he said.
Beadle says he is most proud of supporting the team that successfully restructured Acura’s dealer advertising associations.
“America Honda removed me from my comfort zone in a very positive way and challenged me to learn and grow professionally,” he said. “Creating and launching this new brand direction … is something I am very proud of. And to see the market respond and consideration for our products rise is incredibly rewarding.”
-- Vince Bond Jr.
