Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nunzio Esposito on February 15, 2012 at 5:36pm

Great write-up... and I'm with you 100%. You can't take out of the equation the traditional means, nor am I saying you have to do it all. But not only do you need to test and integrate the efforts but you need to keep in mind that the demographic for your car buyer, or service/parts buyer might not have full emerged themselves digitally or socially. Its growing, but you can't take out it. Great write up Bobby!

Permalink Reply by Peter A. Bond on February 15, 2012 at 5:45pm

Traditional methods will never disappear completely. My company, Automotive Resource Group, LLC (argprofits.com) literally invented the Super Sale staffed and non-staffed events way back and we had no competitors for well over a year! All of a sudden we had hundreds. In the beginning we used flyers in Newspapers to draw huge amounts of traffic. We began with paying very little for newspaper insert charges. We also used 81/2 X 11 sized flyers printed in a lime green or other strong colors on plain stock. We would put only 60,000 of these flyers in the main newspaper in an area. We attracted 500 plus consumers with no give-a-ways, no pricing or examples of terms. We were conducting 75 sales each week and producing well over $300,000.00 gross profit average! We charged 28% of the gross generated and not a percent less! Oh, we miss the good old days! We then were followed by the masses. We also over saturated the newspaper markets and found ourselves having to insert hundreds of thousands of the flyers in ALL newspapers and over time it diminished. We then gravitated to shared mail as well as direct mail because we knew that the vast amount of the people in the market did not receive a newspaper and therefore, never saw the flyers.Now we find ourselves needing to head in another direction due to market saturation and the huge number of companies doing the same thing. Markets and practices keep evolving due to market saturation and we have moved ino another phase of attracting consumers that is working extremely well.

For the reasons stated, I believe all forms of conventional advertising has it's place and will continue to do so! All of us hast to have an open mind as change inevitably occurs and we must respond to embrace the new technologies. Fortunately for us, we have figured out who is most likely to be in the market for a new or used vehicle and instead of casting a broad net to find the 2% of the population who are most likely to be in the market by using television, radio, direct mail, bill boards, telemarketing to FIND people in the market, we market directly to the 2 % that are in the market! Our costs are a fraction of what they were and the results have never been better!

Permalink Reply by David T. Gould on February 15, 2012 at 5:49pm

Keep in mind that "Traditional Advertising" is not that traditional anymore... the digital age has hit "Traditional Advertising" with a sledgehammer. There have been sweeping technological changes in how we absorb "Traditional Ads". Consider ad placement companies that utilize viewer demographics, active billboards and newspapers / magazines printing their articles directly to the web. Digital Changes Everything. How you maximize it, I've been referring to this as digital efficiency, is the opportunity.

Good Selling,

DTG

Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on February 15, 2012 at 9:22pm

Thanks to everyone for reviving this thread and collaborating in a positive manner about such a topic so very relevant and beneficial to dealers and vendors alike!

If there is one message that I would like to clarify in this; dealers rely on vendors to provide services that will best suit their needs and not to support the needs of the vendor and or ad agencies. 

I've seen in too many cases where an ad agency and or vendor will be out of touch with the digital age, as well as online marketers can sometimes be out of touch with the rest of the advertising mediums. 

The true emphasis of this thread is to assist other vendors and dealers in educating them on all advertising mediums rather than push one or the other!~ 

Keep it going....................

Permalink Reply by Joe Clementi on February 16, 2012 at 11:07am

Bobby- Media is very market driven as is each brand.  Each market has different demographics that respond to different forms of media.  It may be accurate to say that internet driven media is dominant in one segment while in another the reach may be completely inneffective.  Conventional media has crashed as we might expect. In fact, in certain cultures T.V. and Radio are actually the preffered method of reaching customers.  Thanks for the share. It truly makes you wonder what works in your market.

Permalink Reply by Paul Accinno on February 17, 2012 at 2:39pm

Try to create the buzz that the Clint Eastwood Chrysler Super Bowl spot did via strictly digital means and you would miss the mark big time. It is difficult to create that type of emotion or brand building using only digital means. However as of this writing, there were 10,297,080 views on You Tube for that commercial. This is just one example that illustrates the power of a campaign strategy that integrates traditional, digital and social media.

And if you’re thinking….”oh well that’s just the Super Bowl and that’s for OEM’s…” I have launched annual campaigns for my dealers by purchasing spots locally on the Super Bowl, Grammys, Masters, IDOL, DWTS and other high profile programming…and as you can imagine it creates quite a buzz…especially when you put them on Facebook, You Tube and others.

Just another quick observation…I  find it interesting that those of us that are still in the ad business have learned to embrace, study, practice, create and measure digital media…however I have found very few from the digital world that show any interest in learning how traditional media can work effectively to support digital campaigns.

Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on February 17, 2012 at 4:02pm

@ Joe Clementi - You're spot on, and no question about it the markets do vary. 

@ Paul - Excellent example of bringing it all full circle - social media, seo and so forth. You're absolutely right,  that buzzz is exactly a direct result from T.V.. 

Great point - Just another quick observation…I  find it interesting that those of us that are still in the ad business have learned to embrace, study, practice, create and measure digital media…however I have found very few from the digital world that show any interest in learning how traditional media can work effectively to support digital campaigns.

This thread is full of excellent input from many different marketers that all can learn from!~ 

Keep it going..............

Permalink Reply by Andrew Myers on February 19, 2012 at 3:45pm

It will never be over, once people start to shift away from it, it will start to work better again for the dealers that stay, and then some will come back... eb and flow. They're are all just tools in a dealer's belt. Batman was the best because he knew how to use ALL his tools together, and because of Robin.

Permalink Reply by Thomas A. Kelly on February 19, 2012 at 5:13pm

A pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Kelly!

My wife does tax returns and takes payments via smart phone.....too easy...too natural...When my kids visit our home my wireless Sony Media Box links with their smart phone the minute they step in the door....I can play their media for everyone in the room on the big screen...(word of caution: remember what is stored before you give permissions!)

Things are moving at lightning speed...It is a way of life for the younger folks and they demand it or they have no interest....I have 5 boys, 16-37...what little TV they watch is recorded on DVR (no commercials) ...None of them read newspapers or mags...If it is not digital, they won't see it.......and don't think they are uninformed for a minute....they are more aware of what goes on in the world and how things work than most......They feel if it is important it will be digitized and they will see it.

Kevin W. Kelly said:

@ Bobby Compton, @ Andrew Myers 

 I completely agree that traditional and digital marketing complement each other today.  However, the trend is moving towards digital and by the end of 2012, it will be significantly pointed towards digital vs print.  TV and digital will remain merging and you can take this to the bank in 5 years, there will be no more print.  What you see on your smart phone, tablet, laptop, pc will be identical to what you see on your TV.  Today in my Cisco world, I use Google + more than my phone.  I can tell who is there, I can share docs, spreadsheets and video,  and if needed I can video live with anyone I need instantly.  With Google + upgrading twice a month, by June it will be amazing, by the end of the year fully integrated with Google TV.  

 How long will be before dealerships start taking down payments and service payments via smart phones?   Dealerships should start doing live Google + walk arounds of the vehicle their customer is interested in now.        Hence, is traditional print adv dead?  My answer is not yet, but sooner than most think. 

Permalink Reply by Andrew Myers on February 19, 2012 at 5:40pm

Kevin, 

 

 Our business model is banking on the fact that you are right. I think print will linger for awhile longer simply because of the old network of ad agencies that have loyal customers. The technology is headed places that dealers cannot predict, and things will change much faster then they have in the past. We currently DO shoot vehicle walkarounds, and dept walkarounds now on G+, and it DOES work. As a company we have gotten tremendous feedback. Both in sales, but also in branding.  Everything is headed in that direction because soon customers won't even stop by - if you don't get their attention digitially first. But the old ugly mail piece will always work!...unless the post office goes under.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on February 20, 2012 at 3:09pm

@ Kevin - Thanks for your input my friend. I agree with you 100% in regards to T.V. and the digital field coming together. I suppose what I see this thread turning into is a current and accurate scope of all advertising mediums as without a fair understanding of each we would all be cutting ourselves off short.

The T.V. world is changing dramatically, as I am a partner of Comcast media, Americas largest media company. I will tell you this much, interactive technologies such as (RFI) "Request For Information" is a cutting edge way for a consumer to request quotes, apply for credit and more, and all from the click of a T.V. remote. Without saying, the same videos that are produced for T.V. are the best of content that Google would appreciate in their search engine, as well as the absolute best way of creating conversions. Better the content, better the SEO, better the conversions - a win win strategy for dealers to combine them all, and especially via social media!~

There are other awesome technologies that will be introduced to the market sooner than later as well, stay tuned.

In respect to print; no question the news paper has taken a major hit in most markets but far from out of the game. In some markets print is the dominant as the local paper is the driving source. As a marketer, I like to assess all mediums available as every market is different. In some markets, believe it or not - SEO and the Internet isn't even viable as it could be the local radio station - just as an example. My message in this; don't count any of them out until they're out. I'm a promoter of seeking just that extra little bit of business for any and all sources available based on each market. 

Regarding mailers; I see them being a viable marketing option as well. I currently offer this service and utilize many mailer sources depending on the market place. As I said, so much of all of this is driven by the individual market place and what it will call for.

@ Andrew - I agree with you regarding vehicle video demonstrations. Our company has been providing this service as well for quite some time. No question that a quality produced video is the ultimate testament of how a dealer chooses to represent their people and business with. You're heading in the right direction. 

Year 2011 Our company produced well over 200 Plus Video Productions. T.V. Commercials, Web Videos, Infomercials, Spanish Spots, Customer Testimonies, Employee vidz and more! I will tell you that Video is King - and will continue to dominate and grow in leaps and bounds for an endless amount of time. 

Awesome way to share in this thread gentleman. 

Keep it going!~ 

Permalink Reply by Troy Spring on April 3, 2012 at 8:44am

Sometimes I think great blogs fall off ther radar to quick... This was one of them. So hope you don't mind me promoting it Bobby.

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