Carter Nies, Dealer Synergy National Sales Director & 17 Year Automotive Sales Veteran - General Sales Manager
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A car that drives itself? For the past few years, Google has been working on an autonomous vehicle. In other words, a car that can drive itself. As you can see in the video, they perfected such an idea. One of the first volunteers for Google's self-driving car was a man by the name of Steve Mahan, who is visually impaired.
The Self-Driving Car took Mr. Mahan to pick up his dry cleaning, to Taco Bell for a quick bite and then back home! It's absolutely incredible what technology can do in today's world! Additionally, this past week, Google was approved by the state of Nevada to work on testing several different self-driving cars on the road. And, the rumor is that Self-Driving/Autonomous vehicles could become a reality by the year 2020.
While everyone agrees that it's still a work in progress, the license that Google was granted in Nevada to do testing is certainly a step in the right direction. During their tests, they'll be monitoring the car's capacity and ability to brake, acceleration, and steering. According to Google, the car uses "artificial intelligence software, a GPS, and an array of sensors to navigate its way through traffic."
So, what's your take? Would you want to own one? Or, would you feel more at ease if you had full control of the wheel?
Sean V. Bradley Explains The "Orange Tie" Phenomenon
Sean V. Bradley "On Top of The World" - Automotive Sales is an AMAZING Career... If you make it one!
Former National Automotive Sales Trainer & Recruiter for TK Worldwide, Mark Manning a NEW Internet Director shares some of his experience & Wisdom
CarWoo! is an online new-car buying service and marketplace. Buyers come to CarWoo!, state which car they are looking for and CarWoo!’s network of over 5000 dealers compete to sell the buyer the car.
Technically the product is an semi-anonymous (first name, last initial, zip code) engagement tool. The buyer’s personal contact information (address, phone number, email) are kept private until the buyer accepts an offer from the dealer they want to buy the car from. This helps the consumer avoid spam emails and unwanted phone calls that are common when people buy new cars using “Request a Quote” processes many other online sites use.
CarWoo! has two plans for car buyers. CarWoo! Basic, a $19 plan, offers buyers a search for a vehicle and guarantees 2-3 dealers will compete. CarWoo! Plus, a $49 plan, offers buyers a search for a vehicle and guarantees 5 dealers will compete, but is not capped and as many as 15 dealers have participated in many deals. Both plans offer the buyer privacy protection and CarWoo!’s 100% Happiness Guarantee.
For car dealers, CarWoo! offers the highest quality online car buyers to the dealer for no charge. Dealers are offered the opportunity to engage with car buyers in an online setting that is social and non-threatening to the car buyer. A dealer that uses CarWoo! has an online dashboard where they can engage with all car buyers near them, make them firm offers on cars they have for sale and see how their offer’s stack up competitively against dealer’s vying for the buyers business.
(The Intro Video is from Google describing the "Brand Active Initiative")
Making the Web Work for Brand Marketers
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 |
Learning from the past
In the 1950s, brands slowly moved to TV, just as they have started to move online today. In both instances, buying and selling systems improved; audiences and new content quickly moved to the new medium; and the creative possibilities inspired great ad campaigns.
However, a key moment for TV came in the 1950 with dramatic improvements in measurement—like ratings and quantitative market research. Once major brands could see who they were reaching and what impact their campaigns were having, they fully embraced the medium, creating a multi-billion dollar industry...and TV’s golden age began.
Making better decisions with actionable brand metrics
Unlike the early days of TV, digital advertising is already incredibly measurable. The only problem is a very old and well-known one: the standardized metrics today are largely clicks, user interaction rates and conversions.
But as brand advertisers - such as movie studios or consumer goods companies - know, it’s a challenge to measure changes in brand favorability of a movie or whether an online campaign is driving more consumers to the store. And it’s even harder to take quick action on any such insights.
That's why today, at the Ad Age Digital Conference I'll be introducing the Brand Activate Initiative, an ongoing Google effort to address these challenges and re-imagine online measurement for brand marketers. With this initIative we're partnering with the industry and supporting the IAB's Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) coalition. We believe that the industry’s significant investment in brand measurement efforts can substantially grow the online advertising pie, for all.
Is a particular ad in your campaign especially useful at improving brand recall in Illinois? You should be able to immediately increase your coverage throughout the Midwest. Is one ad slightly less effective at driving purchase intent and in-store sales? Tweak the creative, straight away.
The first Brand Activate solutions
We’re working to build truly useful brand metrics into the tools that advertisers already use to manage their campaigns, so they’ll be actionable within seconds, not months.
The first two Brand Activate solutions are rolling out today:
Active View: Advertisers have long looked for insight into whether consumers saw an ad on page 145 of a magazine, or switched the channel during a TV commercial break. It’s similar online, so we’re rolling out a technology, which will be submitted for Media Rating Council(MRC) accreditation, that can count “viewed” impressions (as defined by the IAB’s proposed standard, this is a display ad that is at least 50% viewable on the screen for at least one second).
Called Active View, this will first be available in coming weeks within Google Display Network Reserve. We’ll also be making this metric a universal currency, ultimately offering it within DoubleClick for Advertisers, as well as to our publisher partners. Active View data will be immediately actionable—advertisers will be able to pay only for for viewed impressions. Going forward, we’re working on viewed impression standards with the IAB, and our agency and publisher partners.
Active GRP: GRP, or a gross rating point, is at the heart of offline media measurement. For example, when a fashion brand wants their TV campaign to reach 2 million women with two ads each, they use GRP to measure that. We’re introducing a new version of this for the web: Active GRP. Active GRP has two key features:
- Built-in: Active GRP is built right into the ad serving tools that our publishers and marketers already use every day. Active GRP will enable real-time decision making, allowing advertisers to make adjustments to their campaigns at the speed of the web. We’ve kicked off a pilot program for DoubleClick for Advertisers clients as a first step, and will roll it out to other products, with brands able to specify a range of audience GRP segments.
- Robust methodology: Active GRP is calculated by a statistical model that combines aggregated panel data and anonymous user data (either inferred or user-provided), and will work in conjunction with Active View to measure viewed impressions. This approach overcomes problems of potential panel skewing and reliance on a single data source. This approach also has the advantage of never using personally identifiable information, not sharing user data with third parties, and enabling users, through Google’s Ads Preferences Manager, to opt-out. We will be submitting our methodology for MRC accreditation.
More to come
We look forward to bringing other measurement initiatives into our suite for brand marketers, including a brand impact survey pilot with Vizu, our brand lift measurement product (Campaign Insights) and various cross-media measurement research projects globally.
This is just the beginning of the Brand Activate Initiative, with much more to come for brands and publishers. We think that with brand new metrics comes a new brand moment - one that will encourage brands to invest in the web, help publishers show the value of their digital content, and stimulate digital media’s own golden age.
Global Consumers Place Highest Trust in Earned Media
Online automotive consumers place the most amount of trust in earned media, and the least in ads served on mobile phones, finds Nielsen [download page] in an April 2012 report. An impressive 92% of automotive consumers surveyed around the world said they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth or recommendations from friends and family, an 18% increase from 2007. Automotive consumer opinions posted online (70%) was next-most trusted, outpacing other formats such as editorial content within newspaper articles, dealership and car company websites (both at 58%). Text ads on mobile phones are trusted by just 29% of automotive consumers.
This finding contrasts with April 2012 survey results from Ipsos, which found that while automotive consumers worldwide may turn to their friends for advice on vehicle purchases and repair services, only 38% will trust a dealership, make of vehicle or a service department more because friends recommended it.
Traditional Media Takes a Fall
Data from Nielsen’s “Global Trust in Advertising 2012″ indicates that automotive consumer trust in traditional paid advertising messages has taken a significant drop. While close to half say they trust TV (47%), magazine (47%), and newspaper ads (46%), confidence in these ads has dropped by 24%, 20%, and 25%, respectively from 2009 to 2011, when the latest survey was conducted.
Despite this fall in trust, traditional media ads, particularly on TV, appear to have their intended effect. According to April 2012 survey results from ExactTarget, TV ads influence a larger proportion of online automotive consumers... a product or service than a variety of other advertising media. 53% of respondents said a TV ad had influenced them to purchase a vehicle or maintenance service in the past 12 months, putting TV ads far ahead of newspaper ads (32%) and magazine ads (30%). In fact, three times more respondents said they had been influenced by a TV ad than by a banner or other ad on a website (53% vs. 18%).
Trust in Online Ads Low, But Growing
The Nielsen study finds that trust in most online ads is relatively lower than on traditional media, save for ads found on OEM branded websites, which are trusted by 58% of consumers. For example, only 40% trust ads served in search engine results, while just 36% trust online video ads, or ads on social networks. These findings are similar to Nielsen and NM Incite survey results released in February 2012, which found more trust in branded website ads than any other form of online adv....
Despite low rates of trust in online banner ads (33%), this represents a 27% increase since 2007. Similarly, while the level of trust placed in mobile phone advertising is still low, at 29%, this is an increase of 61% since 2007, and 21% since 2009.
Attitudes Towards Relevance Mirror Trust
The Nielsen survey also asked respondents to identify which advertising and brand messaging platforms are the most relevant to them when searching for information about the products, finding that the relevancy results often mirrored the trust responses. Recommendations from friends and family again topped the list, at 90% of respondents, followed by consumer opinions posted online (75%), branded websites (59%), and editorial content such as newspaper articles (55%). The relevance of paid traditional media platforms ranged from about 40-50%, while many online platforms scored lower, save for ads served in search engine results (42%).
Other Findings:
Latin American consumers had the highest levels of trust across 17 of the 19 advertising methods identified, when compared to other regions.
Trust in mobile phone ads was highest in the Middle East and Africa, with 40% indicating trust in text ads on mobile phones. These consumers also placed more trust in billboard and outdoor advertising than the global average (59% vs. 47%).
Consumers in Asia Pacific reported a higher level of trust in all formats surveyed when compared to the global average. They also had the highest level of trust in earned media, such as recommendations from friends and family (94%) and consumer opinions posted online (76%).
North Americans and Europeans appear to be the most skeptical consumers, with European respondents reporting the lowest levels of trust in all but 1 format (consumer opinions posted online - 64%).
About the Data: The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey was conducted in August/ September 2011 and polled more than 28,000 consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The Nielsen survey is based on the behavior of respondents with online access only. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60% internet penetration or 10M online population for survey inclusion.
Source - http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/global-consumer-trust-highest-in-earned-media-21766/
The 7 Secrets to Ford's Social Media Marketing Success
Last year I noticed articles and videos appearing online and on Social Media such as YouTube about the Ford Fiesta. So I decided to dig a little deeper to find out about what Ford were doing in Social Media to market their products.
Scott Monty is the Head of Social Media at Ford and has only been there since 2008 and put in place a Social Media strategy including multiple Social Media channels.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr
Scott said that his “Jewel in the Crown” is the Ford Fiesta Movement that involved selecting 100 socially vibrant individuals who were provided with the European version of the Ford Fiesta 18 months prior to it being manufactured and released in the USA. These socially media aware fanatics were encouraged to share their experience with the Ford Fiesta over the 6 months on their Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube channels.
What were the strategies that Ford implemented to create viral awareness without one dollar of traditional marketing spend?
The 7 secrets to Fords Social Media Marketing Success
People trust corporations less so with the rise of social media you need to allow other people through word of mouth create trust for you through Social Media (it amplifies your message)
Reached out to those who are listening and let them do the talking for you and to connect with people like themselves
Let them know that you are real people just like them and are passionate about what they do and the Ford Brand
Run a competition involving Social Media eg.. To be selected to drive a Ford Fiesta for six months – select 100 of those who are “socially vibrant” such as Michelle McCormack ..view her application on YouTube.
Aggregated the content on Fords Fiesta movement website (crowd sourcing content) without editing it!
Implemented multiple Social Media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to create digital buzz
“Get On Board” the executive team and the board of directors
The Results
11 million Social Networking impressions
5 million engagements on social networks (people sharing and receiving)
11,000 videos posted
15,000 tweets.. not including retweets
13,000 photos
50,000 hand raisers who have seen the product in person or on a video who said that they want to know more about it when it comes out and 97% of those don’t currently drive a Ford vehicle
38% awareness by Gen Y about the product, without spending a dollar on traditional advertising ( Fords model “Fusion” doesn’t have that awareness after 2 years of being out in production and yet it has received hundreds of millions of dollars in traditional marketing spend).
Following the Ford Fiesta movement the launch of the Fiesta Ford did run a traditional marketing campaign including TV, Print and and Outdoor advertising.
According to J.D. Power, about 9% of spending this year by automakers will be digital (Ford’s share spend is 25%.. and they were the only company not bailed out by the Federal Government), but that will rise to about 12% by 2012 as more companies embrace social networking, online gaming and rich media ads in place of traditional TV and print.
Scott Monty’s advice on whether Social Media Marketing is right for your company,
“If your customers are there you need to be there too” he also went on to say “You need to listen.. see how they behave and act similiarly”
Source - http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/
Top 10 Trends in Wheel and Tire Accessories You Need to Know
If you are a dealership selling wheel and tire accessories you know they are the driving force of the personalization business. Just like the fashion industry, car and truck personalization trends change fast and often. It’s the best way for a customer to get a look different from every other factory model. Accordy to USAtoday.com, Ryan Friedlinghaus, founder of West Coast Customs, a Corona, Calif., customizing operation says, "wheels is always the first question" for customers looking to personalize vehicles, even if they lack the cash for a complete rebuild.
OFF ROAD WHEEL TRENDS
- Steel Wheels: They are strong but light weight (17 in) lighter wheels are more budget friendly and steel wheels are strong enough to carry speed off-road.
- Carbon Fiber: These tend to be strong and light weight for better fuel efficiency.
PASSENGER CAR AND TRUCK WHEEL ACCESSORY TRENDS
3. Painted Wheels with window designs: Customers can get creative with their favorite colors.
4. Flat and mono Black machined faced Wheels: For customers that desire a cleaner sleeker look.
5. Forged rotary and Forged Spin Wheels: extremely strong but lightweight alloy. Fits well with Hondas, Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and more.
6. PVD Wheels: Physical vapor deposit or vacuum chrome are favorites among customers who endure salty winters because they hold up better than chrome under those conditions.
7. Hellaflush Wheels: These are popular among the street racing fans.
TIRE ACCESSORY TRENDS
8. Eco Tires:The cost of all natural rubber has decreased. And orange oil tires have increased grip and reduced roll resistance. This is a great option for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
9. LRR tires: Low roll resistance tires are great for better fuel efficiency. They also fit well on the smaller SUVs and CUVs that more people are purchasing.
10. Wheel / Tire Packages: More retailers are offering the wheel/tire kits as a convenience to customers. When a customer chooses the wheel accessory the proper tire is automatically selected to come with it.
Insignia Group, the leading provider of accessories sales systems and training has helped dealers maximize profits for over 10 years. Supporting 20+ brands and dealerships nationwide, we help our customers establish and grow their Accessories Profit Center. Call 888-579-4458 to learn more or schedule a demo.
SELL THE APPOINTMENT!
Please REMEMBER to "Sell" the appointment... Don't merely just "ask" for the appointment.
3 Best Practices For Turning More Leads Into Shows - By Josh Vajda of AutoUsa
Automotive Internet Sales and Google’s ZMOT for Car Dealerships
By now, nearly everyone has heard of ZMOT and how it might possibly be relevant for the automotive industry. In case you haven’t, ZMOT stands for “Zero Moment of Truth,” a concept developed by Google. It states that today, decisions on brand selection are happening before a consumer arrives at a store to make a purchasing decision. This also applies to how consumers shop for a car. This might not sound like anything new; we have all heard from NADA, JD Power & Associates, Cobalt, Autotrader and the OEMs that almost everyone goes online before they step into the dealership. Personally, I’ve been immersed in Automotive Internet Sales for more than 13 years. So, the fact that people are going online first isn’t a huge revelation — it is what it is. However, what has evolved is what is happening and why. People are finding out about a product or business (whether they know the URL or not). To be specific, more than 72 percent of all transactions start online, from one-dollar transactions to jet engines. The first place people go to is search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.), or they may something on TV, radio, see something on a billboard or in a newspaper, magazine or hear about a product from a friend. In any event, they wind up on search engines relatively quickly. People believe that they will get the “real deal” on what they are looking for. “If it is on Google, it must be real,” they think. So, the consumer will do the initial research on the product or service online. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are accessing the Internet from a home computer or laptop. They can be accessing the information through their mobile device like an iPhone or Android. The next logical step for the prospect is to validate that information even further. Prospects can (and do) go to a myriad of review sites such as Google Places, Dealer Online Reputation, Yelp, Merchant Circle, Edmunds Dealer Reviews and Cars.com Reviews, just to name a few. The consumer wants to make sure that they do not waste their time with bad choices. They have access to too much information for them to have to deal with headaches. Take for example a couple choosing where to go eat out for their once a week “date night.” If you only had one time a week you were going out with your spouse because you have three kids, a puppy, a career, etc., try to imagine how someone will feel when they are spending $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 or more. That is why 80 percent of consumers say that peer reviews influence their buying decisions. An automotive purchase is usually the second most expensive thing the average human being will ever buy in their lifetime, next to a home. But there is another variable: social media. Consumers will also go to their social networks and ask their “friends and followers” thoughts, opinions on products or services before they ever go to the store or the dealership.
I am going to focus on online reputation for the rest of this article, and the next article I will dive deeper into the other parts of automotive ZMOT strategy.
Dealerships need to make it mandatory to collect client reviews and testimonials from both sales and service. It is not enough to simply “suggest” to your team to try to get a review or testimonial. You need to make it part of the standard operating procedure. You might want to create incentives for your team, for example:
• Whoever gets the most reviews wins a reward (gift card or cash, etc.)
• Whoever gets the most video testimonials wins a reward
You can create a mini-survey (maybe three to four questions) at delivery (mandatory). For example:
1. How would you rate your experience at the dealership from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest)?
2. Did I (sales consultant) exceed your expectations? If so, how?
3. What did you like (or appreciate) the most in this experience in purchasing this vehicle?
4. Would you recommend me and this dealership to everyone / anyone?
You should then have at the bottom of the survey a legal disclaimer (have an attorney draw up a simple disclaimer) that says that they (the customer) give you full permission to post (or use) this (review/testimonial) anyway and anywhere you want. By doing this, you can repost or repurpose all of these reviews to all of the relevant reputation sites like:
• Google places
• Merchant circle
• Yelp
• Edmunds reviews
• City Search
• Yellow Pages
• A review blog you’ve created yourself
It is TRUE that some review sites are IP Address specific and do NOT allow a client to post a review at the dealership, Here is the reality... there are a LOT of ways around that.
*** Please understand what I am saying here... I am NOT advocating using fake reviews or irrelevant reviews. I am saying ONLY to use REAL reviews that REAL clients give you and give you permission to use.
Try to image if every salesperson and service writer made 100-percent attempts to collect testimonials both in text as well as video, and you posted (syndicated) them to all of the relevant places online. In a short matter of time, you will be able to dominate the search engines with a ton of positive reviews.
I want to show you a quick example of a highline dealership that has bad online reputation. I happen to think they are an awesome store (and they are not a client). I serviced my brand-new vehicle there and I was so impressed with their service that I felt bad for their bad online reputation. On my own, as simply a customer, I shot a quick positive video review and posted it to YouTube and did the proper video optimization. Now, when you Google them, my video shows up prominently on the first page of Google (just Google “Cherry Hill Porsche”). That is just me as a client — can you image if this dealership did what I did? Their online reputation will turn around very quickly!
Here is another screen shot:
If you have any questions about this article, Google’s concept of “Zero Moment of Truth” / automotive ZMOT or how you can better equip your dealership (or individual sales consultant) to dominate with a positive online reputation, please feel free to call or e-mail me.
Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 856-264-0564, or by e-mail at Sean@dealersynergy.com.
4 consumer points to consider when selling car accessories
Since the release of the popular film “The Fast and the Furious”, car accessorizing has shifted from being a secret of car gear enthusiast to a main stream phenomenon. Two sequels later and the aftermarket accessory market continues to average 8% growth annually. Car dealerships would be wise to keep up. The demand for car accessories is high. And, just like fashion accessories there are hundreds of options. And, trends change rapidly. Here are four reasons why people love certain car accessories.
1. Making a Personal Statement
Crisp leather jacket, “I’m a rebel”, Eco-friendly seat covers “I care about the planet”. Just like fashion accessories, car accessories help your buyer make a statement about who they are. A car is an extension of its owner, and we all want to present a certain “self” to the world. So, whether it’s a bike rack on a rugged Jeep Wrangler or a spoiler on a sporty Mazda 3, accessories gives buyers another way to express themselves through their car.
2. Affordable Luxury
It’s inevitable. There is always going to be a prospect that’s eyeballing a Mercedes-Benz but their budget lines up more with a Toyota Corolla. The right accessories can make that Corolla feel like a Benz. With today’s economy more and more people are learning to live within their means. That doesn’t mean buyers don’t still desire luxury. But, in terms of cost efficiency it’s harder to justify. Rather than stretching their budgets almost $20,000 more on a luxurious brand consumers will invest $5,000 more in alloy wheels and seat heaters giving an economical brand a very similar look and feel.
3. Protects the Value
A new car loses 11% of its value as soon as it leaves the lot. So unless they plan to ride until the wheels fall off, it’s not an ideal investment. People are aware of this and are more concerned than ever about protecting the value. Accessories like bed and trunk liners, covers, and deflectors can protect the resale/ trade-in value of a new car. This makes your buyer more confident about shelling out so much of their hard earned cash.
4. More Convenience
We as Americans are always on the go, we love to multitask, and prefer to be able to do things in our car just as we would if we were in our homes. Certain accessories were designed to offer a level of convenience that many buyers are looking for. The iPod adapters are one of the hottest selling accessories right now. It offers buyers the convenience of listening to their favorite music without needing CD changers. Navigation systems and Bluetooth are other accessory options that appeal to a buyer looking for convenience.
Insignia Group, the leading provider of accessories sales systems and training has helped dealers maximize profits for over 10 years. Supporting 20+ brands and dealerships nationwide, we help our customers establish and grow their Accessories Profit Center. Call 888-579-4458 to learn more or schedule a demo.
