Recently a large metro Chevy dealer copied me on a heated email that he had just sent to VIPs at the factory. The dealer was enraged at the creative of a Chevy LMG advertising proposal... ...“This will not sell cars!” said the dealer. “This will not bring traffic into my showroom!” Just a few weeks before receiving that email, I read a blistering negative critique from an advertising columnist regarding one of the latest TV ads from Lincoln Mercury…”My dream.” The writer lambasted Lincoln Mercury for an ad that did absolutely nothing in terms of customer motivation or model differentiation. “A waste of Lincoln Mercury money (as if they had money to waste),” said the writer, “And a total waste of a viewer’s time.”
Lately, factory ads, especially domestic manufacturers, are pathetic. How about Ford’s BOLD MOVES? The Ford dealers I talk to (and they’re some pretty good dealers) aren’t impressed. Neither with the creative or with the (lack of) traffic this campaign has produced. How bout Dr. Z? I think the good Doctor should have spent some time watching Lee Iacocca’s masterful and convincing ads that did more than make a goofy attempt at wry humor. Iacocca’s straightforward, in-your-face ads drove traffic and turned Chrysler around. I really am starting to wonder if that IS a real mustache Dr. Z!
Not all is terrible. Some manufacturers actually do demand ads that work from their agencies. Case in point…the new Nissan Versa. Not only is this a good factory ad. I think it’s close to perfect. We posted it on our agency’s website so you can take a look at it and see for yourself. Click on www.CBCads.com/versa.cfm Here’s what I like about this ad. First, you get a real idea of what the car looks like. No shadow, reversed, digitized, 15 frame quick cuts. The ad starts by setting up a believable situation...the reason why so many avoid smaller cars. The Versa ad clearly demonstrates that this is not your ordinary ‘small’ people mover. A cut-away side shot shows a comfortable human in the back seat with a cake on his lap. You see this car from every angle and you clearly understand it’s unique selling propositions. Including the fact that it gets 400 miles per tank of gas. Pretty smart marketing here. Not miles-per-gallon…miles-per-tank. Most folks will figure out that a smaller car probably has a smaller tank and do the math. The music is not overpowering in this ad and digestible to virtually any socio-demographic group (read: no screaming mimis and pounding rap). The character generation stays on the screen for a reasonable read time and the spot ends with a bold declaration of the base price. When this 30 seconds is over, you know what a Versa is, what it looks like, several of it’s most important features/advantages and even the price. I said nearly perfect because about the only thing I think would have made this ad better was the addition of a web address at the end such as…www.versa.com where piqued interests could see the ad again, get more information and locate a dealer. The message is great. Now if Nissan gets the media buy right this ad will drive buyers to the showroom.
Honda also does great ads. They make the car the star and there is no confusion as to what they are selling and what you hopefully will be buying. I think Hyundai deserves an advertising award for the masterful way that they have re-positioned this car in terms of quality and value. Kia has done a great job selling not only their various models, but their warranty as well.
In the past few years factories (especially domestic manufacturers) have spent a considerable portion of their advertising budgets on promotion… such as low or no interest financing, rebates, etc. The problem is, the factories cannot do as good a job of promotional messaging as dealers can. Some may counter that factory ads like GM’s ‘employee pricing’ were in fact very effective in driving traffic. And they were for a short period of time. But what did GM sacrifice by selling the deal rather than the quality and value of their various models? In two words.. ‘market share.’ As did Ford. As did Daimler.
I have a suggestion for the factory folks, if they care to listen. You could not only increase your market share, but improve your bottom line by canceling some of the horrendous ad campaigns you’ve been running and give that money to the dealers to spend. If you’re not going to do the job necessary to establish your brands in the marketplace, then you might as well divert that money to promotional messages that drive traffic and dealers are much better equipped to do that than the factories. For instance, where the factory might spend $125,000 to edit running footage already in the can, most dealers can get the production done for a tiny fraction of that amount. Dealers and their agencies can run circles around the factories agencies buying time as well. More importantly, dealers and their local agencies can better monitor times that ads run as well as real-time response to specific promotions.
Assuming that probably won’t happen, more dealers like my Chevy friend should start screaming a little louder about the unproductive, unimpressive advertising that factories, as well as regional and local marketing groups are producing. If more dealers made noise, change would happen.
Twenty years ago a client of my agency, who is still a friend to this day, told me he hated advertising agencies. That’s why he hired my company. That might have been an insult to most ad agents. To me it was a great compliment. The best automotive ad agencies on all marketing levels are those who spend less time thinking about awards, and more time thinking about what happens on the showroom floor. Now, more than ever, we cannot afford to waste one dime, or one moment of time on silly, ineffective, non-relevant advertising.
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This issue of AdTalk is brought to you by Research Partners. Serving dealers for nearly 20 years to help reduce advertising cost: Research Partners
