I founded Thought Leadership Summits (TLS) seven years ago with the goal of developing exclusive events that enable executives to have high-quality interactions with fellow thought leaders. Having worked in the automotive industry, I knew there was a need for a Summit addressing relationships between OEMs, Dealers, Captive Finance providers, and their shared customers.

With that in mind, TLS launched the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit in 2005. Every year since, the Summit has addressed important strategic issues within the automotive industry, such as OEM and Dealer CRM, lead management, collaborative marketing, and customer lifecycle management. In 2010, with social media emerging to provide new channels of customer interaction, TLS added the Automotive Social Media Summit, and created the Automotive Summit Series.

After the 2010 Automotive Social Media Summit, it was clear from delegate feedback that social media was a topic diverse enough to warrant a full-day agenda. While social media is a key aspect of customer centricity, it is also being used in many other areas of the industry. Expanding the Social Media Summit but keeping it linked to the Customer Centricity Summit allows executives responsible for one or both of these strategic areas to seek out the exact content they need.

About the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit

Now in its seventh year, the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit is the only Summit dedicated to helping the automotive industry improve customer relationships. In 2011, the theme is “Survive to Thrive – Maximizing Customer Value in a Slow Growth Economy.” The Summit will focus on utilizing customer relationships to strengthen OEM, Dealer, and Captive performance in the face of slow, unpredictable improvements in the economy.

“I’ve been on the agenda of both the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit and the Automotive Social Media Summit before, and look forward to speaking again this year,” said Gary Marcotte, Senior Vice President of Marketing at AutoNation. “I really appreciate that TLS is executing a different model that offers high-quality engagement and creates real value for their delegates as that’s exactly what we’re focused on doing for our customers at AutoNation. I’ve always had a really positive experience and am looking forward to participating in the Summit again in June.”

What You’ll Learn

While pent-up demand will drive sales in the short run, the brands that will dominate in the long run will work now to establish lasting customer relationships.  This year’s Summit will focus on utilizing customer-centric strategies to strengthen performance in the face of slow, unpredictable improvements in the economy.  The Summit will provide insight on how OEMs, Dealers, and Captives are working together to successfully maximize value – not only for themselves but for their customers as well.  Speakers will also explore options for using vehicle connectivity to provide unique value and deepen customer relationships.

Topics will include:

• Overview of key market and technology trends
• DCH’s low-stress car buying strategy
• Hyundai’s success creating true customer engagement
• Paragon Honda’s 20 new ideas that spurred growth
• Volkswagen’s philosophy on loyalty
• Univision’s view of the Hispanic auto market

The Summit will feature a keynote address from Thilo Koslowski, Vice President & Lead Automotive Analyst at Gartner, which will focus on the challenges and opportunities technology is creating for the auto industry, and how effective collaboration between OEMs, Dealers, and Captives is the next step in the evolution of customer centricity.

The full agenda for the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit features the following executives:

• George Liang, President — DCH Automotive
• Mary Lou Quesnell, General Sales Manager, Customer Service — Ford
• Thilo Koslwoski, VP & Lead Automotive Analyst — Gartner
• Toby Hynes, President & General Manager — Gulf States Toyota
• Allan Jenik, Director, Dealer Services — Harley-Davidson
• Jon Budd, National Manager, CRM & Interactive Marketing — Hyundai
• Chip Wells, Vice President, Strategic Customer Focus — John Deere Financial
• Brian Benstock, Vice President & General Manager — Paragon Honda
• Andrew Pine, General Manager, Customer Relations — Porsche
• Sara Hasson, Vice President, Automotive Brand Solutions — Univision
• Mike Sachs, General Manager, CRM & Loyalty — Volkswagen of America

About the Automotive Social Media Summit

The Automotive Social Media Summit is the auto industry’s only Summit focused exclusively on social media. In 2011, the theme is “Multi-Task Like a Millennial – Leveraging Multiple Media Simultaneously.” The Summit will focus on the challenge of leveraging the still-new “established” social media while also learning about emerging technologies to ensure that both OEMs and Dealers maintain full coverage across the wide spectrum of social media.

What You’ll Learn 

Consumer trust in social media is rising at the same time as their reliance on traditional media continues to fall.  Dealers and OEMs that successfully interact with consumers through social media have a distinct competitive advantage.  The key is to overcome the “3 C’s” of social media - Creating, Connecting, and Converting - each of which presents a distinct challenge.  The Social Media Summit 2011 will provide real-world examples and strategies to help you overcome these challenges and achieve positive ROI through your social media strategies.

Topics will include:

• AutoNation’s success creating customer engagement
• DARCARS’ social media strategy
• Ford’s “Focus: Rally America” program
• Hyundai of St. Augustine’s reputation management
• Volvo’s use of social media to connect with Millennials
• Nissan’s strategies to ensure a consistent brand image

The keynote address will come from Tamara Darvish, the Vice President of DARCARS Automotive. Her presentation will review the strategy DARCARS has developed to address the challenge of the explosion of different social media and how DARCARS plans to leverage social media to improve collaboration with OEMs, their own personnel, and most importantly — their customers.

The full agenda for the Automotive Social Media Summit agenda features the following executives:

• Elizabeth Barrera, IT Director — Ancira Enterprises
• Gary Marcotte, Senior Vice President, Marketing — AutoNation
• Tamara Darvish, Vice President — DARCARS
• Doug Frisbie, Automotive Strategist — Facebook
• Jeff Eggen, Experiential Marketing Manager — Ford
• Thilo Koslowski, Vice President & Lead Automotive Analyst — Gartner
• Andrew DiFeo, General Manager — Hyundai of St. Augustine
• Monica Peterson, Digital Marketing Manager — Lexus
• Don Foy, Executive Director — Manheim
• Robert Brown, Senior Manager, Social Media Marketing — Nissan
• Linda Gangeri, Manager, National Advertising — Volvo

To learn more about the Automotive Summit Series, hosted by Thought Leadership Summits, visit www.tlsummits.com or call 720-287-0145.