What can we learn from Hyundai?

Yesterday Advertising Age Magazine announced Hyundai as the Marketer of the Year. The automotive company beat out the likes of Wal-Mart, McDonald's & LEGO for the 2009 award. If you haven't checked out the article on/in Advertising Age (Same article can be found on Automotive News), definitely take the time to read how Hyundai turned the current economic situation into a moment of redefinition and increased market share. This year Hyundai has increased market share from 3.1% to 4.3% while other auto makers have struggled. In 2009 Hyundai has staged a deliberate, edgy marketing coup that has capitalized on the "Big Three" giving up high visibility sponsorships and ad space. Combining these pivotal ad buys with a few key concepts they were able to turn consumer opinion and increase sales. Hyundai used a few key ideas to pull off this marketing campaign-all of which can be used scaled down at your local level.

1. Know your consumer. During the Superbowl & Oscars Hyundai rolled out their Assurance program. It spoke directly to the fears consumers had right then regarding job security & an unstable economy, and showed them they could help.
2. Create a plan and stick to it. I'm sure Hyundai didn't see an immediate spike in sales the Monday after the 'big game.' It's also been noted that on their new launch of the Luxury Genesis nothing happened over night-it took months of positioning and reinforcement to move the market.
3. Blaze your own trail. When everyone else ran out of the market and quit advertising they stepped in to fill the void. In addition to that Hyundai was able to secure long term contracts on high profile events for the future.
4. Take risks & Be forward thinking. When all the other manufacturers twiddled their thumbs waiting on bureaucratic red tape to clear Hyundai stepped up, backed their dealers, and started accepting Cash for Clunkers deals weeks earlier than everyone else.
5. Make your message different. Every car company has a website. Hyundai is the only one that also has a website completely devoted to what others are saying about them. What shows more credibility than a marketing campaign revolving around industry expert's opinions of products vs. the marketing department's opinions. Brilliant.

Congratulations to Hyundai and their ad firm Omnicom's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

R.I.P. 11x17 tri folds

I wore black today in honor of our old friend, the 11x17 self mailer, tri-fold.

People, I'm just going to be blunt--this thing is DEAD.

This is more of a public service announcement than advice to our current clients as most of them have known this for quite some time.
Here's the deal-we have this very cool, fresh technology that tracks all the traffic at mail sales. Over 90% of our sales have this tracking tool now so we know exactly how much traffic is walking through the doors off of different mailers.
.49% of people that receive an 11x17 tri fold (with a scratch off and a prizes, etc) will show up
2% will show up for a jumbo postcard with a key - that's an average not a "best sale" or the average of the good sales
So you have to do almost ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND 11x17 tri folds to get the same traffic you would off of 20,000 jumbo key mailers.
Don't skimp and think you are getting more because you are getting a higher quantity--with times as they are I know you all need to be spending as wisely as possible. The data speaks for itself

Where is Automotive Marketing headed?

First, a note from your local newspaper...

Hi Mr. Dealer,

It's your old pal here, the local daily paper. I feel like we don't spend as much time together as we used to. In fact, I feel that way about a lot of my old friends. Many homes have cancelled their subscriptions to me in the past year or so--something about the economy and they get their news from other sources. Others still pick me up off the driveway but I lay unopened on their kitchen table until they eventually throw me away. But, as we both know, you have to advertise in the local paper-what else will help keep your name in the public eye?

Sincerely,

Your Town Daily

Daily and Sunday Circulation Declines Percent declines in circulation by six-month period

See the complete story with this graphic here.

In all sincerity I do believe there is a place for ALL marketing-the big media stuff, the more targeted messages, online, on the air and in the mailbox...heck even to your phone. However, it's time to move past the 1980's in many cases.

Every day I talk to someone who let's me know how many years longer than me they've been in the business and how in the glory days all a successful sale needed was 100,000 newspaper inserts. They didn't even need prizes to get 1000 people to the lot. We are so far from the glory days that this type of advertising is an antique.

So where is Automotive Marketing headed? In the future it's going to be about personalized specific messages & relationships. As someone who has built a career off of saturation type-flood the market mail-it's a weird thing to say but it's the truth.

Over the next few days I'll be going through a few of these new ideas & technologies. Some, I hope you will have at least heard of--maybe you're already using them, and hopefully there will be one or new idea for you to check out.

In the meantime...

What is one change you've made this year with your marketing that has increased your response?

Does it Pay to Advertise in a Down Economy?

This was just released today from Ad-Ology: Does it really pay to advertise during a recession? Historical data says yes, but times and perceptions change, so what do TODAY'S consumers think?

"More than 48% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling."

Ad-ology Research surveyed consumers in late April 2009 about their perceptions of advertising in this economy. The report, Advertising's Impact in a Soft Economy, shows just how crucial advertising is right now for success today and in the future. Regardless of how you spend your ad budget, I hope you are still keeping your name out in your community and letting your past and future customers know that you are still here and plan to be for a long time to come. If you have stopped advertising because you don't know what is working (if anything). Call me. Let's talk-no pressure on direct mail-no pressure on anything, let's just set up some tools on all your marketing to see where your money is being spent wisely, and where it could be reinvested for a bigger impact.

Cut your advertising budget!

Things seem to be a little tight with everyone right now. Even dealers who are still growing are probably watching their budgets a little more than usual. One of the first places to cut seems to be the ad budget. I say - go to town!Cut all the advertising that isn't working. You don't even have to wait for an economic downturn to do this! That brings up the million dollar question (literally for some of you)-how do you know what to cut?How can you track all your different types of marketing? Here are a few ideas, and if you work with me, I can help you out with several of them for next to nothing. Just ask! 1. Add a different call tracking number to every form of advertising you do. Then (here's the hard part) take the time to look at the reports and see what type of call volume is coming in from each marketing form. 2. Add a landing page to everything too! A "landing page" is a fancy name for a website. It might be something like 'www.abcford.radio.com' (this is not a real site!). When people go there it will take them to your website, but now you'll be able to pull a report and see how many people went there off your radio commercial. 3. Don't assume! Set a system in place to spiff your sales people or someone working as a greeter to really ask each person how they came to be at your store that day. Sometimes, you've done such a great job with name recognition that they really did just stop in, but a lot of the time, they've recently seen, read or heard something that made them choose you over the dealer down the road. 4. Use MarketVision on your mailers, almost 90% of our clients do! If you work with Tri-Auto and aren't taking advantage of this exclusive technology to track who is coming in, where they are coming from and what sales rep they are talking to...you are missing out! We make mail the easiest marketing to track. After you know what's working, and what isn't. Why not cut your budget by eliminating the things that aren't producing for you, and taking some of the extra money you are saving to beef up the forms of marketing that are. How do you track!?

Top Ten Reasons to Continue Advertising in 2009

After my last post on how "scary" direct mail can be, I thought it was time for a Top 10 on why now is a better time than ever to continue investing in the branding and marketing of your dealership.

10. There is so much less noise! Be aware of the messages you are receiving. There are fewer ads on TV, Radio, in the paper and in your mailbox. Take advantage of others being too afraid to spend money. Get your message out now and it's much more likely to be heard.

9. Increase your market share. Following off of #10, a lot of dealers in your area are probably not advertising--why not tell their customers what you can offer them if they drive a few extra minutes?

8. It's working. I know with great certainty that direct mail is working, and from what I'm hearing for dealers out there so is Internet and social media marketing. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, it's time to learn. (email me if you want help with any of the above)

7. Your sales people need it. I know the job market isn't booming right now, but there are other jobs to be had. Invest in your people by bringing leads in the door for them.

6. The dealership's image is depending on it. I watch the Today Show every morning. I don't know why at this point-if I listened & bought in to all the negative crap on there daily I might as well go find the highest cliff in Indiana. But, perception is reality. People are hearing that domestic brands are begging for money and on the brink of BK. If you pull all or most of your advertising-what is that saying to your local community? Common sense tells me the perception might be that ABC Dealer has fallen on hard times and can no longer advertise...which may directly impact your traffic. A lot of people don't want to buy a vehicle somewhere if they don't think they'll be in business in 6 months.

5. You have to market to create sales. I'm in sales too. I mostly market by picking up the phone 10-50 times a day and personally talking to people. What do you do? I'm business to business, you are business to consumer--how are you "talking to people?" And please don't say you have a sign on the building and an ad in Yellow Pages. If you aren't talking to people, why do would you expect them to come in and listen?

4. People are still buying cars. ...why would they come to you if they've heard about a better offer elsewhere? Now, more than ever, people are looking for a deal--show them how you can help.

3. Henry Ford said to. "A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time."

2. You can afford it. It seems many dealers are just sticking to "what they know" right now...print, radio & TV. Is it working? If you cannot put an actual number on the ROI or you know it isn't working--why are you still sticking with it? Shrink what you are doing with the untrackables and reallocate some of it toward something new, something trackable, and something that has been shown to work in the past few months. You can't continue doing what you've done the past five years, and expect to get the same results you got five years ago.

1. Depends on you and your answer to this question: Are you giving in or fighting back? How much good has come from "waiting it out?" some dealers are actually going after the market and prospering in these times. Manufacturers are coming up with great incentives, and used car sales are up! Fighting takes a daily decision to have the attitude and the behaviors of a fighter. People do have money and people are spending it. Be the one in the ring telling them why they should spend it with you--or sit in the crowd and watch the ones in front of you win the fight.

What do you think? Are you investing in advertising? Why or why not? Am I way off here and deserve to be set straight? Leave a comment! I know over 50 computers a day log on to this blog-I'd love to hear from some of you!

Should you quit spending money on advertising?

I just got out of a meeting with our VP. She asked how things were going, and I told her I was struggling with really getting into conversations with dealers that are totally shut off to advertising right now. I've heard things like this from several of you lately: "we're just not spending money right now," "there is no reason to throw good money after bad," and "I can't move my market right not." Once you say it that seems to be the end of the conversation. I do have the pleasure of working with a lot of dealers, event teams and ad agencies that know even if they days of the $300,000 gross profit sale are gone for the time being, there can still be a huge value in investing in advertising. They aren't willing to give up and let the market take them on it's roller coaster with it, they are planning strategic moves to keep themselves profitable. These people are not only "weathering the storm" but becoming stronger so that when things start to loosen up they'll be positioned to be the leaders...while everyone else just starts to ramp up their TV, radio and mail presences again. Most of you have probably read this quote before, but when a colleague laid it on my desk last week it couldn't have been more timely.

“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time." -Henry Ford

So, if you're one "pulling in the reins," next time you talk with your marketing consultants--in radio, TV, print, direct mail and Internet--just be OPEN. Ask what others are doing, what's working, what new things have they released to help you get through these times? Some might not have any answers, but some will. An open conversation might lead to a solution you never knew existed... “If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” -Henry Ford All "Fordisms" aside, I wish you all crowded showrooms this Saturday and Sunday*! *Good wishes only offered toward dealers that choose to and are allowed to be open on Sundays. Any dealer that does not meet this criteria is only wished crowded showrooms on Saturday. Not valid with any other verbal or written tidings of joy or happiness.