Automotive Dealer Advertising

Monday, May 02, 2005

Chrysler makes interactive strategy key to its marketing

The Chrysler group is boosting its spending on online advertising by 20 percent this year. Chrysler executives say they hope to make the medium the center of their marketing efforts. Last year, the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands spent $34.8 million online out of a total advertising budget of $1.58 billion, TNS Media Intelligence reports. More than two-thirds of vehicle buyers use the Internet for research, studies show. Automakers have steadily shifted ad money from TV and other media to the World Wide Web. But the Chrysler group's plans are more ambitious, says Julie Roehm, the group's director of marketing communications. "The objective is to make interactive the center of the marketing strategy so that consumers can be spoken to individually," Roehm says. "Our strategy is that all media are going to become two-way." Bonita Stewart, the Chrysler group's director of interactive communications, adds: "Online is the integral part and the hub to our marketing process." Real people TV and print ads for the Chrysler group Spring Sales Event campaign last month displayed Web addresses for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge. The Web sites showed instant-picture snapshots of real customers. Viewers who clicked on the snapshots saw videos of the customers talking about their lives and their vehicles. One of them is a woman who calls herself "Glitter Goddess." She has teased, platinum-blond hair and a preference for pink apparel. She says of her Chrysler 300: "I can't believe I was able to afford a Motor Trend Car of the Year." Many visitors who watched the clips didn't leave the Web sites, Stewart says. Across the three sites, 53,000 viewers configured vehicles for themselves, and 46,000 linked to dealer sites, she says. "This was a great example of combining all mediums and utilizing the brand Web site as the integrator," Stewart says. When Dodge launches the new-generation Charger sedan this spring, Chrysler executives say, they will give computer users access to a toolbar device. The device will alert users to news about events or contests related to the Charger. E-mail push The Chrysler group is making a major effort to add e-mail addresses to the company database, which includes 17 million names. The group is pursuing what Stewart calls a "return-on-click" strategy. The Chrysler group has a partnership with WildTangent, a maker of video games, to include advertising in games. Players who provide their e-mail addresses get access to game enhancements such as tournaments. The group also plans to pursue wireless marketing "fairly aggressively" this year, Stewart says. Options include streaming TV shows to customers' smart phones and showing Chrysler ads before the programs begin. Online-marketing analysts say Chrysler has done a good job with its interactive initiatives. But Mark Bunger, an analyst for Forrester Research, a technology research company in Cambridge, Mass., says: "Nobody has proven or made repeatable what we think of as persuasive in Web sites." Bunger says that if Chrysler group executives are "listening as well as persuading, they will do well."

Elusive Gen Y demands edgier marketing

Automakers use Web, films, events to entice youth
By Jill Anne CiminilloAutomotive News / April 25, 2005

Star cars
These are examples of vehicle product placement in TV shows that appeal to young consumers.
· The Buick LaCrosse and Rendezvous have appeared on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.”
· Ford sponsored a commercial-free episode of NBC’s “American Dreams” last November. A 3-minute video featuring the Mustang ran at the end of the show.
· The Ford Mustang has appeared in segments of Fox’s “American Idol” and “The O.C.” and ABC’s “Alias” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
· Episodes last season of HBO’s “The Sopranos” featured the Nissan Xterra and Maserati Coupe.
· Pontiac vehicles have appeared on the reality series “Survivor” on CBS and “The Apprentice” on NBC.

Getting through to the powerful and elusive Generation Y is crucial to automotive marketers. To reach the 63 million Americans born between 1980 and 1994, car companies are relying less on traditional media advertising and more on event marketing, product placement and digital media. By 2010, Generation Y will buy one of every four new cars and trucks sold in the United States, say executives of Scion, the youth brand of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. By 2020, Scion says, that share will rise to 40 percent. "A lot of companies recognize that," says Dawn Ahmed, Scion's national marketing communications manager. As they chase Generation Y, automakers say their advertising plans include less mainstream media. Ford Division will spend less than 80 percent of its marketing dollars this year on traditional TV and print advertising, says spokesman Miles Johnson. Ten years ago, he adds, that figure was 98 percent. Ford is spending more on so-called customer-relationship marketing. That includes Internet promotions; integration of Ford vehicles in TV shows, movies and video games; and sponsorship of sports and music events, Johnson says. Many of these efforts by automakers are aimed at young consumers. American Honda Motor Co. Inc. is sponsoring a tour this year by alternative rock band Maroon 5. Toyota's new marketing deal with the National Basketball Association includes special advertising and marketing rights. They include signs during games and the use of the NBA logo in Toyota promotional efforts. No hard sell The key to reaching Generation Y, marketers say, is avoiding the hard sell. Young consumers "don't like in-your-face marketing," Johnson says. "They want to find you on their own." As a result, automakers seek TV options other than the traditional 30-second spot. Product placement is one such alternative. The April 14 episode of the NBC reality series "The Apprentice" assigned contestants to create a launch campaign for the Pontiac Solstice roadster. Pontiac has incorporated its vehicles into stunts on the CBS series "Survivor." "You will never see a vehicle on television by accident," says Pontiac advertising manager Mary Kubitskey. "Thirty-second TV ads just aren't working as effectively as they used to." Ford places its vehicles in music videos shown on Fox's "American Idol." Those placements are part of a larger deal that includes Ford commercials on the show, Johnson says. Such placements also occur on scripted series that appeal to young viewers. A central character on Fox's "The O.C." drives a new Ford Mustang. New appetites Some automakers simply aren't familiar with the diverse youth market, says Simon Needham, group creative director of Attik, a San Francisco ad agency that has the Scion account. Needham cites a youth-oriented magazine, Yellow Rat Bastard, in which he sought to run Scion ads. "Imagine trying to explain that one to the executives," Needham says. Generation Y has a constantly changing media appetite and is easily bored, Needham says. Many young consumers have access to technology such as the TiVo personal video recorder that allows them to avoid TV commercials. Scion's Ahmed says the growth of such technology is "something that's looming on the horizon that we need to address fairly quickly."

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Automotive Marketing and Advertising - Potratz Partners

Automotive Advertising Marketers Need To Take More Risk

DETROIT -- Automakers must take greater marketing risks if they expect to create "big buzz" in a cluttered media environment, marketing experts agree. A panel of marketing and advertising executives told the Automotive News World Congress that consumers have more opportunities than ever to filter out automakers' media messages. Devices such as the TiVo personal video recorder allow them to skip the TV commercials that remain automakers' primary advertising device. The industry will have to become more daring in communicating with consumers, even at the risk of failure, the panelists said. "We're not paid to watch events unfold in the market," said Roger Adams, General Motors' executive director of North American vehicle brand marketing and advertising. "We're paid to drive sales. "Buzz can create advocacy for the brand and perpetuate conversations for a product," Adams said. "Favorable buzz shapes people's perceptions much more effectively than almost anything else we can do as marketers." Marketers must be prepared to challenge orthodoxy, Adams said. He cited an ad for the retro-styled Chevrolet SSR that showed children getting their mouths washed out with soap after they expressed too much enthusiasm about the vehicle. Some people hated the ad, Adams said. "We thought it was a harmless ad that was just a little bit edgy," Adams said. "That's the point: You don't start buzz and you don't build advocacy by boring people." New media mix Julie Roehm, the Chrysler group's director of marketing communications, said automakers have plenty of opportunities to make their brands exciting. The challenge is to find the right mix of traditional and non-traditional advertising venues. Like other automakers, the Chrysler group is shifting part of its spending from network TV and print media to event and interactive marketing. Mini has launched vehicles successfully in the United States without using traditional marketing tools, said Kerri Martin, marketing communications manager of Mini USA. The company pretended traditional media did not exist when it came to this country in 2002, she added. "Big ideas don't have to cost much," Martin said. She described how Mini had mounted one of its cars on an SUV and drove it to various cities. The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and Automotive News all covered the stunt, she said. Mini often infuses its offbeat marketing with humor, Martin said. It put a Mini in a mall court and told passers-by they could ride it - for $16,850 in quarters. Mini's U.S. sales increased from 24,590 vehicles in 2002 to 36,032 in 2004. Shelly Lazarus, CEO of the ad agency Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide, said TV remains the most powerful way for automakers to reach large masses of people. Ford Motor Co. is among the agency's clients. But Lazarus agreed that automakers must adjust their relative use of TV advertising with risk-taking nontraditional branding efforts. Internet movies Lazarus cited the series of short films, made by prominent directors, which BMW placed on the Internet four years ago. The movies developed a cult following, she said. She also mentioned a series of Internet short films, called "Meet the Lucky Ones," which Lincoln Mercury launched late last year. That campaign has generated 33,000 sales leads, Lazarus said. "Active participation in a message is a marvelous thing and a remarkable thing to have as a way to reach consumers," she said. As another example of nontraditional marketing, Adams said that Chevrolet used cellular telephone technology to broadcast the unveiling of the Corvette Z06 at the Detroit auto show this month. Even bad buzz can be good, Adams said. A Corvette commercial last year portrayed a young boy taking a wild fantasy ride in the car. GM pulled the ad in the United States after a safety advocacy group complained it promoted risky and illegal behavior. But that action created more buzz. The New York Times editorialized that the spot's critics should "get a life," Adams said. Pontiac created marketing buzz last year when it gave away 276 new Pontiac G6 sedans on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Adams said that some of the recipients complained they had to pay taxes on the "free" cars. Visitors to the Pontiac Web site continue to seek information about the G6 as a result of the promotion, Adams said. Internet search engines provide 700 links to the event, he added. "That's direct and extended buzz," he said. The panelists also emphasized the continuing importance of public and media relations along with paid advertising. Lazarus joked that if she could control the press, she'd never spend another ad dollar. Automakers should not try to use news media as advertising tools, the panelists agreed. But when objective third parties add to the buzz about vehicles, it's a marketing blessing, they agreed.

This Article was poster in Automotive News Jan, 28, 2005

Potratz Partners Automotive Advertising
http://www.exclusivelyautomotive.com
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Why Many Auto Dealers Lose Out Online

Ten years ago, most auto dealers didn't know how to access the Internet. Though most now recognize how important the Internet can be for business, many are missing opportunities to capitalize on it. Underuse of the Internet may be hampering their ability to market effectively to prospects and customers. As dealers evaluate how well they use the Internet, they should ask themselves these questions:
· Are you sending visually stimulating e-mails to prospects and customers? Are e-mails personalized and targeted to recipients' needs?
· Do you use the Internet to get to know your customers better? Do they know you?
· How quickly do you respond to customers' requests? Significant time and cost savings come only when dealers use the Internet as a relationship-building tool, not a meeting scheduler. Virtual showroom Some dealers set up a dealership Web site and think that is all they need to do to reach online customers. Creating an interactive environment to support the site brings a much greater return for the investment. Corresponding with potential customers via e-mail is important, but the key is for dealers to translate what they do for showroom customers to their online prospects. Online customers are serious about purchasing and respond positively to personalized outreach from dealers - from information on options to price negotiation. Dealers' e-mails should focus on customers' buying profile and specific inquiries. Dealers should send regular e-mails that include add-on options, price quotes and even a photo of a salesperson. Those steps can have a serious impact on a prospect's likelihood to respond positively. As some dealers have learned, sporadic outreach via the Internet is not enough. Coordinating online communications with more traditional outreach works. Dealers should follow up e-mail with phone calls to get a prospect's attention. This may require more than eight attempts. Dealers should equip their staff with phone scripts to help the process. More outreach needed Dealers also should send mailers and e-mails with special, targeted offers and discounts to draw interested parties into the showroom. As dealers correspond with prospects online and learn more about them, dealers can focus on prospects' favorite vehicles and options. In addition, dealers should issue regular broadcast e-mails to their entire customer base. A personalized broadcast e-mail should be eye-catching and colorful, and, most important, convey a call to action. A lead-management tool enables dealers to follow up online inquiries, generate e-mail easily and schedule phone and mail follow-up, easing the duties of management and sales staff. Move fast One of the biggest mistakes dealers make is being slow on the draw. Ensure quick response time. Two-thirds of car buyers who initiated online communication in their buying process purchased a vehicle within 90 days, according to R.L. Polk & Co. research from September. The study showed that the average online purchasing cycle is slightly more than 50 days, although one-third purchased within the first 30 days. So dealers must speed their reaction time to online inquiries. Many dealers may not know how essential it is to respond to an initial request within 30 minutes. Whatever their response time, they should aim to decrease it. They also should not give up on a prospect too soon. Now is the time for dealers to take an honest look at the holes in their online strategies and work to push their business to the next level.