Mary Catherine Curry of Rice Toyota Scion’s sales and service alliance strategy chosen by dealers as 2011’s‘Best Idea’; ADP | Cobalt-sponsored award presented at DrivingSales Executive Summit 
 

 
DrivingSales (http://www.drivingsales.com) today announced that Mary Catherine Curry, Marketing Manager of Rice Toyota Scion, has won the 2011 DrivingSales Dealer ‘Best Idea’ Award, sponsored by ADP | Cobalt. John Holt, SVP ADP Digital Marketing Group, and Jared Hamilton CEO of DrivingSales presented the award at this week’s Third Annual DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas.

Mary Catherine Curry received the highest score for her strategy of a sales and service alliance with a local hospital group. Finalists were: Dan Boismier, Internet Director, Suburban Collection; Bryan Armstrong, e-Commerce Director, VW SouthTowne; Eric Miltsch, Internet Director, Auction Direct USA; and Gary Sanders, Internet Director, Stevinson Lexus of Lakewood.

“Our mission was to find the year’s smartest, best and most innovative dealership strategies for 2011 -- and we were inspired by each and every dealer entry,” said DrivingSales Founder and CEO Jared Hamilton. “Mary Catherine Curry, along with the four finalists, epitomizes the kind of visionary thinking that continues to drive our industry forward. These dealers continue to pave the way for innovation and creativity in the auto industry with strategies that translate into real results. Congratulations to our winner and finalists!”

The 2011 DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Award, sponsored by ADP | Cobalt, recognizes the most innovative dealership strategies of 2011 whose original approaches have produced significant results in the dealership. Dealership personnel submitted applications online, and a panel of dealers assessed each one. Five finalists were selected to present onstage at the Third Annual DrivingSales Executive Summit, where a panel of dealers scored each strategy. A total of over $10,000 in cash and prizes were awarded to the winner and finalists.

Each dealer strategy will be profiled at DrivingSales.com, in the DrivingSales newsletter, and will be featured in a video interview at DrivingSalesTV. For more information about the awards, go to: http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/awards/
About DrivingSales.com

DrivingSales is the auto industry’s fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information to auto retailers and industry professionals. DrivingSales’ media network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (http://www.drivingsales.com), the world’s largest car dealer social network where thousands of dealership professionals collaborate and share best practices in a 20-group style setting; DrivingSalesTV (http://www.drivingsalestv.com), an interactive web channel which helps car dealers and auto professionals keep tabs on their industry and emerging technologies 24/7; DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts; DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) the industry’s leading conference where progressive dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts, and DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, a quarterly free publication featuring case studies of the industry’s most innovative dealerships, solutions and best practices.

DrivingSales encourages innovation and excellence in the industry with its annual Dealer Satisfaction and Innovation Cup Awards, whose winners are determined solely by the dealer community. Founded by Jared Hamilton, a third generation car dealer, DrivingSales won a “Top 25 Under Five” award from the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF), which spotlights outstanding entrepreneurs and start-up companies in Utah; was named a 2011 Fast 50 “Emerging Eight” company by Utah Business magazine, which recognizes the entrepreneurial spirit, innovative business tactics and revenue growth of Utah’s fastest-growing companies, and received an Interactive Media Award (IMA) in 2011 for Outstanding Achievement in the ‘Automobile’ website category. Additionally, DrivingSales was named one of ten social media gambits for 2009 by Automotive News and one of the Top 10 Companies to Watch in 2010 by Auto Success Magazine.

About Cobalt / ADP Digital Marketing

Cobalt / ADP Digital Marketing is North America's leading provider of digital marketing solutions to the automotive industry. Cobalt currently provides marketing services to nearly half of the automotive dealerships in the United States as well as automotive dealers in Canada and Mexico. Cobalt's digital marketing services are endorsed by two-thirds of North America’s major automotive manufacturers. Cobalt / ADP Digital Marketing is a business unit of ADP Dealer Services. For more information about Cobalt / ADP Digital Marketing visit http://www.cobalt.com.

About ADP

Automatic Data Processing, Inc., with about $10 billion in revenues and about 570,000 clients, is one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing solutions. Leveraging over 60 years of experience, ADP offers a wide range of human resource, payroll, tax and benefits administration solutions from a single source. ADP's easy-to-use solutions for employers provide superior value to companies of all types and sizes. ADP is also a leading provider of integrated computing solutions to auto, truck, motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle, heavy equipment vehicle dealers throughout the world. For more information about ADP or to contact a local ADP sales office, reach us at 1.800.225.5237 or visit the company's Web site at http://www.ADP.com.

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie(at)mwebbcom(dot)com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Angela Jacobson (angela(at)mwebbcom(dot)com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776