Driving TV Ad Spend with Comcast Spotlight's Automotive Advisory Council

In the quotgood old daysquot viewers were all watching just a few broadcast channels but the challenges for automotive were plentiful then tooamp160 For instance suburban dealerships were often faced with paying for urban TV ad time when only a fraction of the viewership was in their regionamp160 It was a blunt instrument approach often not costeffectiveToday broadcast and cable television remain important because for advertisers they39re the best way to reach millions of people all watching the same thing at the same timeamp160 This is now complemented by on demand viewing creating more personalized advertising experiencesDespite people watching on myriad devices it39s now possible for TV advertising to be delivered to specific audiencesamp160 The availability of data can be used to identify audience segments and deliver ads to the most motivated buyersAccording to Todd Hauser Vice President of Automotive Strategy at Comcast Spotlight quotWe are in the first act of helping dealers understand how to grow their business in the new TV environmentamp160 Data has enabled TV to become a fullfunnel solution moving beyond awareness to influence lowerfunnel purchase behaviorsquotI felt it important to speak to how different audiences have different priorities and interestsamp160 For example Millennials are less interested in engine size or performance and more into connectivity in the caramp160 Dealers should be finding ways to engage communities like LGBTQ just as automakers including Subaru and General Motors have done at a national levelamp160 While I also shared thoughts on online usedcar buying and dealership marketing suggestions at the retail level concierge pickup and drop off services etc the Philadelphia AAC event allowed marketing leaders from dealer groups and ad agencies to give plenty of anecdotal input about their own marketing tacticsDavid Kelly Chief Marketing Officer at the Floridabased Gettel Automotive dealership group was skeptical about a huge increase in exclusively online salesamp160 quotPeople still want to see the cars they39re buyingquot he saidamp160 quotThey want to touch and feel them even smell themquotKelly noted that usedcar vendorsamp160such as Carvana which buys its cars from auctions pitch the convenience of delivering prospective vehicles to customers for them to test driveamp160 But Neil Gandhi Director of Digital Marketing at the Faulkner Organization in Pennsylvania said select Faulkner dealerships have been offering some form of home delivery for ten yearsDealers often just rely on per a recentamp160DrivingSales surveyamp160of service departments waiting room amenities like a popcorn machine and coffeeamp160 But one forwardlooking respondent asked quotWhat if dealers had a virtual reality VR setup where customers andor their kids could play games while waitingquotThat39s more in line with what today39s customers wantamp160 According to Jake Rostollan Executive Vice President and Group Account Director at Pinnacle Advertising in suburban Chicago quotDealers are starting to align with what customers really likeamp160 From the moment the customer walks in there has to be a focus on serving their needs whether it39s paperwork completed early or something elsequotGandhi also pointed out that dealer groups such as the Faulkner Organization are working to develop an identity that goes beyond their individual brandsamp160 quotWe love it when people buy a Honda or a Mazda but it39s even better when they39re convincedamp160they need to buy a Faulkner carquot he saidInformation is king and much of the discussion in Philadelphia focused on how to most effectively use informationamp160 If dealers are getting half their sales from outside their primary market area PMA then they need to know thatamp160 According to LSA Insider 92 percent of consumers travel 15 minutes or less to make purchases even a purchase as big as a car but the internet is alerting prospective buyers of possible better deals outside that PMADealers also want to be able to make a connection between their advertising spend and sales on the floor and at the Philadelphia event Comcast showed the tools making that possibleamp160The task of accurately tracking sales is made more difficult Gettel39s Kelly said by a complicated digital trail amp160amp160quotThere may be four records opened on a particular transaction and the risk is that they could all be counted as salesquot he notedWhen it comes to the creative process some larger dealer groups may produce their own advertising but many appreciate the outside perspective and creative consistency that comes with agency partnersamp160 Crawford Miller an AAC member from Martin Advertising in Alabama said his team creates effective ads using extensive inputs from other auto marketing channelsamp160 quotWe run our ads with local offers for the individual markets using tags from OEMs and Tier 2 dealer groups to understand upstream influencesquot he explainedquotThe value agencies bring to the creative is very important to usquot added Gandhiamp160 quotIt39s at the top of the listamp160 Our own forte is data and strategyquotComcast research indicates that dealers who run a quotdeeper schedulequot of ads across more networks see a 43amp160increase in web trafficamp160 The dealers in the AAC respect numbers like thatamp160 They39re convinced of the value of TV advertising and they want to use it as intelligently as possiblePhoto credit Comcast SpotlightClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Driving TV Ad Spend with Comcast Spotlight's Automotive Advisory Council

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Jim Motavalli

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Driving TV Ad Spend with Comcast Spotlight's Automotive Advisory Council

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