Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on January 22, 2011 at 12:34pm

I'm extremely impressed with all the AWESOME insight on Traditional Advertising, and more so AGREE 100% that online digital, print, radio, mailers and etc are still Powerful avenues to reach customers.

What I really like are the shares in regards to pursuing your special sauces even when others suggested to get in and out quick, and you're still going strong today!

Hats off to all for the absolute best in Collaboration Right Here on dealerELITE... B.C.

 

Permalink Reply by Craig Darling on January 22, 2011 at 1:07pm

The New York Times estimates the growth in non-traditional local marketing will exceed 77 Billion dollars in the next three years.  I believe this to be true based on several things. 

1) I do not watch commercials on TV unless I am watching something live.  football, basketball.

2) I do not any longer receive a newspaper.

3) I look up everything on line.

If you want to know how to overcome the hurdles to acquire the attention of propsects like myself check out this video.

http://www.adinhand.info

Permalink Reply by Tom Gorham on January 22, 2011 at 1:20pm

Hi Phil.  Extremely well-said!

Philip Zelinger said:

Advertising 101 -- conventional or digital -- suggests that you need to define your message, your market, go where your customers are and then deliver them a relevant message with a call to action.  Marketing may have a slightly different agenda and method but they both boil down to understanding human nature 

 

People will always take the path of least reistence to get what they want and trying to tell them what they want is much harder than letting them tell you.  Social networking and word of mouth advertising has always been a part of advertising. Social media -- including Facebook -- is simply a new channel to contain the conversation that is the market made possible by the Internet and the technology that has been developed to capitalize on it as an advertising medium.

 

My point is that technology may provide new ways to deliver the message, however there is no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater!  Generational preferences, cultural differences, socio-economic barriers and even geographical logistics will contribute to determining which media may work best for any particular target audience.  One conventional wisdom that has survived the WWW is that a diverse media mix delivering a consistent message will produce better frequency and retention than any single source.

 

The number of impresions are more quantifiable with digital media, however the subliminal messages delivered by the billboards, radio commercials between your favorite song, TV commercials that survive the DVR and print ads that you accidentally see as you are killing time in the bathroom -- (sorry for that image but I am getting to my point) -- still build awareness that will make 2+2=5, if you are using the right two! 

 

My point is that conventional media still deserves a seat at the table.  The trick is to monitor the R.O.I. sourced from every automotive advertising investment and adjust your allocation of funds within your budget accordingly.  The new technologies that drive the internet include referencing your mobile and conventional websites in your broadcast media and embedded short codes, (SMS text messaging links), and QR codes in your print media.  These tools allow you to capitalize on the ability to quantify your R.O.I. on old world media using the capabilities developed in the new world solutions.

 As always, inspect what you expect and focus on making friends vs. sales and your R.O.I. will increase.  After all, what are friends for!

 

Permalink Reply by Cheril Hendry on January 22, 2011 at 1:56pm

Having spent 30 years in automotive advertising from national to retail, I think I can speak here with some authority. Or, at the very least, a strong opinion. Traditional advertising will still be around for the businesses with big bucks. Almost every manufacturer is running one or more spots in the Super Bowl this year, which air time sold out 2 months ahead of expectations. None of it works as well as it used to, but as long as there are big bucks to be spent, traditional media will survive to some point. On the other hand, let's talk retail. Most dealers have never had enough money or patience to let traditional advertising do its thing. TV and radio are often very expensive in comparison to other alternatives. But, even more impactful with digital media is it's ability to be tracked and measured. Dealers always want the customer who comes in with the newspaper ad on their front seat, or the mailer in their hand. Most forms of digital media are even more trackable. That's a big difference. Last but not least, what has changed more than anything is the average consumer's lack of willingness to put up with cheap, shoddy creative messages. Sure, you can still send out a mailer to 500 Fico score customers telling them they either won a free car or a key chain, and many of those customers will respond. But pay attention to the lack of sales today compared to a few years ago. And think about the 99.9% of recipients of this message who never responded but got the mailer and said, "Oh here's another shoddy car dealer I'll never trust." Amen?

Permalink Reply by Chuck Parker on January 22, 2011 at 2:08pm

Michlele is right on. Those of you who shape, influence, create, and execute Marketing Communications for your dealer clients are encouraged to lead them to an "Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy", Plan, & a Line Item in their 2011 Business Plan-- this means using every possible channel, resources, or media to deliver their messages.  Your leadership and evangelism for MarComm instead of just advertising will make dealers more successful and provide justification for increasing your retainer, fees, or charges to your dealer clients

 

Michelle Dones said:

 

Many newspapers like mine have opted to offer traditional advertising with a twist. I for one offer all of my advertising clients a three for one package. You get your traditional advertising in our monthly print publication, you get online advertising on our web site www.adealersjournal.biz which we link it back to yours, and then we give the bonus of direct email marketing we your ad is placed on our weekly e-newsletter. As a perk we also place your ads on all off our social networking sites like our fan page on facebook, auttr, LinkedIn, dealer elite, and the many others. You have to meet your potential advertisers and you current clients in the middle with today’s advertising needs.

Permalink Reply by Philip Zelinger on January 22, 2011 at 2:24pm

Hi Cheril,

 

I have a limited Amen with regard to the fact that the message matters, however I don't know if I agree that traditional advertising is limited to those with big bucks.  The community newspapers will likely die before their willing local advertisers will.  Similarly, drive time radio -- now including satellite -- and Cable TV as a local broadcast media -- soon to include internet TV -- will maintain a position -- albeit shrinking -- in most auto dealer's budgets for the reasons that I have already contributed to this post; supported by some others. 

 

The technologies being developed to allow for geo-targetted TV messaging have only scratched the surface.  The moving target of empowered customers shifting online will certainly impact the way that we watch TV and the way that it is consumed but it will likely be a part of the puzzle for at least our generation and probably our first born.

 

As far as your point about bad messages costing sales vs. earning them -- again --- AMEN; but that wisdom was, is and always will be a part of the key to a good advertising/marketing/branding plan!   

Cheril Hendry said:

Having spent 30 years in automotive advertising from national to retail, I think I can speak here with some authority. Or, at the very least, a strong opinion. Traditional advertising will still be around for the businesses with big bucks. Almost every manufacturer is running one or more spots in the Super Bowl this year, which air time sold out 2 months ahead of expectations. None of it works as well as it used to, but as long as there are big bucks to be spent, traditional media will survive to some point. On the other hand, let's talk retail. Most dealers have never had enough money or patience to let traditional advertising do its thing. TV and radio are often very expensive in comparison to other alternatives. But, even more impactful with digital media is it's ability to be tracked and measured. Dealers always want the customer who comes in with the newspaper ad on their front seat, or the mailer in their hand. Most forms of digital media are even more trackable. That's a big difference. Last but not least, what has changed more than anything is the average consumer's lack of willingness to put up with cheap, shoddy creative messages. Sure, you can still send out a mailer to 500 Fico score customers telling them they either won a free car or a key chain, and many of those customers will respond. But pay attention to the lack of sales today compared to a few years ago. And think about the 99.9% of recipients of this message who never responded but got the mailer and said, "Oh here's another shoddy car dealer I'll never trust." Amen?

Permalink Reply by Cheril Hendry on January 22, 2011 at 3:32pm

Philip, I agree with you to a point. I just remember the days when direct mail brought a 2% response and radio ads could drive 10 to 20 extra sales a weekend for a medium sized store. I don't think we'll see those numbers coming back, so dealers and their agencies must manage expectations. And, as digital media in time delivers better closing ratios, I believe the traditional media dollars will not be as readily available. We work with a dozen or so dealers and still combine traditional with new media. As yet, online cannot replace traditional. But in time it probably will. Hopefully it will just help to make the industry better. Thanks for your response to my response! Good conversation.

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galbraith on January 22, 2011 at 3:40pm

    I have some respectful disagreement with a bit of what has been said here. I'm onboard with the notion that TV, radio, and print will probably all live longer than I will, but the discussion cannot be framed as "traditional" vs. new forms of advertising. The two distinct objectives for dealer advertising are branding and traffic now, and media need to be categorized along these same lines. Online listings, search terms, and print classifieds don't contribute much to branding. They are almost exculsively looked at by the 4% of the adult public in market for a vehicle at that point in time. These media are great for driving traffic now.  

    Television, radio, and outdoor are primarily branding media. Even with fantastic targeting, these media virtually never attract an audience of even 10% in-market shoppers. They are interruption advertising and great for letting the community know what the sign on your store stands for, your unique selling proposition. Behavioral target can contribute to a branding campaign, but it should not be used for the objective of driving immediate traffic. You are interrupting people you think are in market, but not at the moment they are thinking about a vehicle. We used to used to combine TV and radio with sales events as traffic-now media to make up for the fact the print classified was the only other thing we had in traffic-no. That doesn't work as well as it used to and many online options designed for traffic-now are much more cost effective.

    Every dealer need some form of traffic-now advertising. As pointed out in previous posts, the cost effectiveness of each is going to vary from market to market. Some dealers have a very strong branding campaign focused on their unique selling proposition. These campaigns are well funded and last for years. Often they take many months to even start having an impact. If a dealer is not going to stick to a branding campaign and fully fund it, they shouldn't do it. There is an old saying among ad agencies about branding, "If you can't afford to do enough of it, don't do any at all."

    Integrated marketing communications does not mean using every media. It means knowing your objective and making sure everything sinks up with it. If you do have a branding campaign, it should be reinforced in everything you do to drive traffic now.

    In short, what you buy depends on what your objective is and what form(s) of media are most cost effective for that objective in your market. Bobby is spot on, in some markets the newspaper is a very cost effective form of traffic-now advertising, in some markets it is not. In some markets TV or radio may be the best kind of branding media, in other markets the reach may be the same but the CPM puts these options out of reach. 

    There is a free white paper on this for anyone who wants more. I developed this in 2009 and taught it at NADA Academy last year. http://RevenueGuru.com/content/dealer-marketing-strategy

 

Permalink Reply by Cheril Hendry on January 22, 2011 at 5:19pm

Dennis, as usual you have said it best. Always admired you. Not stopping now.

Dennis Galbraith said:

    I have some respectful disagreement with a bit of what has been said here. I'm onboard with the notion that TV, radio, and print will probably all live longer than I will, but the discussion cannot be framed as "traditional" vs. new forms of advertising. The two distinct objectives for dealer advertising are branding and traffic now, and media need to be categorized along these same lines. Online listings, search terms, and print classifieds don't contribute much to branding. They are almost exculsively looked at by the 4% of the adult public in market for a vehicle at that point in time. These media are great for driving traffic now.  

    Television, radio, and outdoor are primarily branding media. Even with fantastic targeting, these media virtually never attract an audience of even 10% in-market shoppers. They are interruption advertising and great for letting the community know what the sign on your store stands for, your unique selling proposition. Behavioral target can contribute to a branding campaign, but it should not be used for the objective of driving immediate traffic. You are interrupting people you think are in market, but not at the moment they are thinking about a vehicle. We used to used to combine TV and radio with sales events as traffic-now media to make up for the fact the print classified was the only other thing we had in traffic-no. That doesn't work as well as it used to and many online options designed for traffic-now are much more cost effective.

    Every dealer need some form of traffic-now advertising. As pointed out in previous posts, the cost effectiveness of each is going to vary from market to market. Some dealers have a very strong branding campaign focused on their unique selling proposition. These campaigns are well funded and last for years. Often they take many months to even start having an impact. If a dealer is not going to stick to a branding campaign and fully fund it, they shouldn't do it. There is an old saying among ad agencies about branding, "If you can't afford to do enough of it, don't do any at all."

    Integrated marketing communications does not mean using every media. It means knowing your objective and making sure everything sinks up with it. If you do have a branding campaign, it should be reinforced in everything you do to drive traffic now.

    In short, what you buy depends on what your objective is and what form(s) of media are most cost effective for that objective in your market. Bobby is spot on, in some markets the newspaper is a very cost effective form of traffic-now advertising, in some markets it is not. In some markets TV or radio may be the best kind of branding media, in other markets the reach may be the same but the CPM puts these options out of reach. 

    There is a free white paper on this for anyone who wants more. I developed this in 2009 and taught it at NADA Academy last year. http://RevenueGuru.com/content/dealer-marketing-strategy

 

Permalink Reply by Philip Zelinger on January 22, 2011 at 6:20pm

Hi Dennis,

No challenge to your clearly stated wisdoms built on established differentiators between branding and traffic now calls to action.  However, there has been a recent shift in the line that seperates the two objectives from the perspective of today's newly empowered consumers which might be worth injecting into this conversation.

We have always recognized the value of people and product vs. price, or at least the fact that price alone will not earn someone's business.  The continued shift towards the people part of this equation has been accelerated recently as social networking has surfaced the opportunity for consumers to source the opinions of other likeminded consumers before, during and after their own purchase decision.  When combined with the fact that the internet has replaced the auto dealer as the information source of choice the result is that consumers confirm that they now place more value on their shopping and buying experience than both product and price.

The net effect is that the previously isolated "branding" message that was often associated with long term investments vs. the short term R.O.I. expected from a hard retail message has changed.  The reputation of the auto dealer and the relevancy and transparency of their advertising message has a new priority in the mind of today's consumer with dealer branding and reputation having an impact on today's decision vs. simply functioning as a residual impression to be applied later. If anything, a hard retail message will turn off today's more educated consumer who can simply click his/her mouse to instantly match or beat the promised best deal from a dealer who was less focused on the deal and more focused on the needs of his/her customers.

Of course the media of choice still serves as a differentiator between branding and traffic now messages with newspapers still holding the title for attracting "today" buyers.  However, if the message in print is not crafted using the same personality and consumer focused priority that is presented on the internet and other social media channels that the customer is also basing their decision on the retail message will be discarded in favor of the more credible branding and reputation based offers that the "deal" is being compared to.

Simply put, the line between branding and retail messaging and the media that delivers both is being blurred by educated consumers who want more than the best price and/or deal of the day.  They want to do business with someone that they trust and like.  Of course this is not a new concept, but it is a new dynamic that must be considered by advertisers who don't see the need to build branding into their retail messages for today buyers.   

Dennis Galbraith said:

    I have some respectful disagreement with a bit of what has been said here. I'm onboard with the notion that TV, radio, and print will probably all live longer than I will, but the discussion cannot be framed as "traditional" vs. new forms of advertising. The two distinct objectives for dealer advertising are branding and traffic now, and media need to be categorized along these same lines. Online listings, search terms, and print classifieds don't contribute much to branding. They are almost exculsively looked at by the 4% of the adult public in market for a vehicle at that point in time. These media are great for driving traffic now.  

    Television, radio, and outdoor are primarily branding media. Even with fantastic targeting, these media virtually never attract an audience of even 10% in-market shoppers. They are interruption advertising and great for letting the community know what the sign on your store stands for, your unique selling proposition. Behavioral target can contribute to a branding campaign, but it should not be used for the objective of driving immediate traffic. You are interrupting people you think are in market, but not at the moment they are thinking about a vehicle. We used to used to combine TV and radio with sales events as traffic-now media to make up for the fact the print classified was the only other thing we had in traffic-no. That doesn't work as well as it used to and many online options designed for traffic-now are much more cost effective.

    Every dealer need some form of traffic-now advertising. As pointed out in previous posts, the cost effectiveness of each is going to vary from market to market. Some dealers have a very strong branding campaign focused on their unique selling proposition. These campaigns are well funded and last for years. Often they take many months to even start having an impact. If a dealer is not going to stick to a branding campaign and fully fund it, they shouldn't do it. There is an old saying among ad agencies about branding, "If you can't afford to do enough of it, don't do any at all."

    Integrated marketing communications does not mean using every media. It means knowing your objective and making sure everything sinks up with it. If you do have a branding campaign, it should be reinforced in everything you do to drive traffic now.

    In short, what you buy depends on what your objective is and what form(s) of media are most cost effective for that objective in your market. Bobby is spot on, in some markets the newspaper is a very cost effective form of traffic-now advertising, in some markets it is not. In some markets TV or radio may be the best kind of branding media, in other markets the reach may be the same but the CPM puts these options out of reach. 

    There is a free white paper on this for anyone who wants more. I developed this in 2009 and taught it at NADA Academy last year. http://RevenueGuru.com/content/dealer-marketing-strategy

 

Permalink Reply by Lizelle Landino on January 22, 2011 at 6:56pm

I will only respond to this from the feedback that i get from all my dealer accounts - working with hundreds of dealers daily - They all believe it is not "over" and the money they still put into this is eye opening. I am not in this side of the business but good question to ask the people who spend money on this still. I had one dealer just spent 50k on this and it was a one time advertising deal...Good question that should be tracked down to the penny....Id love to know as well

Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on January 22, 2011 at 7:48pm

Awesome Point Frank.... I agree 100%...

Frank Drigotas said:

I will believe that Traditional Advertising is "over" when the major internet companies (like autotrader and cars) stop using TV to promote their websites.  :-)  The most effective dealerships have a strategy that incorporates BOTH!

 

Frank Drigotas

CBC Advertising

www.cbcads.com

"Working With A Handful Of Great Dealers"

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