AUTOMOTIVE Oil Prices Dip     Oil is at its lowest price in weeks. A barrel of crude fell to about $83, a low since before a 2M barrel a day cut by OPEC+.   The dip is partly due to talks to release fuel from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserves. The released fuel will be part of a previously decided 180M barrels. The Biden Admin said the 10-15M new barrels will not reach the end of the allotted 180M.   Telling it like it is -  If gas prices keep inching down, it may be time to move the pickups to the front of the showroom. 🛻🛻🛻

 

 

 

The really strange part is data shows the demographic most likely to buy an EV soon is the same as the people Taco Bell already targets with their ads. Do with that info what you want. Taco Bell sure is. 

 

 

 

The company hopes the focus on customizable craftsmanship will become a new standard for what owning your car means.

TOGETHER WITH EFFECTV Whats On TV Tonight?     The dangers of only focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel tactics is not a hunch but mathematically measurable. Brand recall goes up 7x for customers who are served multi-screen ads.   But what is brand recall without sales? Effectv's study also found intent to purchase jumps up 68% when TV marketing is added to digital.   The data shows it is time to call Effectv. Check out the study for more findings, and start your multi-screen campaign today!

AUTOMOTIVE Checking in on Chips     👷🏭 The US is working to boost Chip production and limit the number of chips going to China.   📈🔍 However, the gap between US manufacturing's 12% of global chip production and self-sufficiency is, to borrow a scientific term, really big, y’all.   🏝🌏 Currently, East Asia produces about 75% of global chips, mainly in Taiwan. To borrow again from our scientist friends, Taiwan is currently a box of bees everybody hopes nobody kicks.   😕❓ One subject matter expert told CNN that while manufacturing is going up, the data is all mixed together. High-value semiconductor chips and simple chips are being counted as bulk growth. However, these improvements are not actually meeting the needs of the global shortage that has given automotive manufacturing a hard time.   Telling it like it is -  So to borrow a scientific term, only time will tell, but things currently look kinda sus, y’all.

TECHNOLOGY Self-Delivering Furniture     IKEA and Kodiak Robotics are teaming up to explore automated deliveries in Texas.   The startup's self-driving trucks have been operating in Texas since 2019, and will now begin delivering things from IKEA within a 300-mile range.   A human safety driver will be on board and alert, but the tech does all the driving.   Telling it like it is -  All this focus on robot delivery, and nobody is asking the real question - when will the robots build my IKEA shelf?!