Measurement Matters More Than Ever

"I know that 50% of my advertising is wasted. I just don't know which half," retail guru John Wanamaker famously quipped in 1886.

It wouldn’t be a marketing blog without quoting Wanamaker at some point. iMedia just released a new report showing how important marketing dollar effectiveness is in this downturn. Clients are more interested than ever about how effective their dollars are being spent. With fewer customers, reduced demand and making the most of every dollar spent in a financial crunch are the utmost importance in every industry, especially automotive.

As an industry, automotive online media teams typically don’t suffer from a lack of data. So now is the time to bring those analysts in to see how media is performing and to move your buys more to behavioral targeted communications that have higher conversion rates. According to Jupiter Research, “When conducted on lower-funnel researchers, behavioral targeting increases online automotive ads’ effectiveness in capturing consumers’ attention—and therefore generating response.” (August 2007 Report on “Online Automotive Advertising”).

For the cost, homepage takeovers typically do not perform well. Why? Because most people are just not in-market and even if you do attract a higher click-through rate (CTR) with your creative, the quality is low when measuring shopping behaviors for an automotive brand. Autos are highly considered purchases. Focusing more on in-market, conquest and segment online media buys makes more sense in a marketplace where active shoppers are contracting. Better to focus your media on impacting these buyers than trying high cost awareness buys.

Also, if your media team is only looking at CTR effectiveness, than you need them to refocus their attention to measure shopping behaviors like build & price, dealer searches, and other shopping engagement activities. Understanding the quality of your click-through rate is imperative to making better decisions.

Super Bowl Advertising: Recession Edition

Hyundai is set to launch two ads this Super Bowl Sunday: One for their all-new Genesis coupe and the second spot will feature their Hyundai Assurance ad which promises unconfident buyers the ability to lease a new Hyundai with the option of turning it in if they lose their job in 12 months.

So, what can we learn from past recession advertising? I thought I'd share some of the advertising done during previous recessions.

Ford Trucks Beating (1976): Ford advertised their latest truck in 1976 by demonstrating the beating it could take. A classic quality ad for people who wanted a product that would last.

Dodge St. Regis - Value You Can Measure (1979): Competitive comparisons galore with some plush interior, of course.

Thunderbird Spread Your Wings (1980): Optimistic, new thinking is part of this spot from Ford. It is feature rich with "Electronic magic" like road speed and warning lights, not exactly as impressive as Ford's latest electronic magic -- Sync. All of this to bring "a better idea for the 80s".

Audi Take Control (1991): Audi mimicked the do-it-yourself mentality of getting out of the recession with their 'take control' messaging.

Dodge Dropping the Cost (1991): Biggest truck sale ever with around $4,000 off several Dodge truck models.

And by far my favorite recession automotive spot, Chrysler's circus music, straw hat, wheelin' dealin' sale:

Chrysler Car Clearance Carnival (1975): Values! Values! Values! With guess what? "A lot of cars to move... It's a carnival of values." And don't forget the sweepstakes; nothing gets qualified, serious buyers in like a sweepstakes.

Looking Back to the Great Depression to Predict the Next Automotive Campaign

We are definitely in a recession. No doubt about it. Are we in a depression? No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the greatest economic downturn in our history. Yesterday’s inauguration not only marked the beginning of Barack Obama’s Presidency; it also meant a ton of advertising from Pepsi Cola as they launched their Refresh Everything campaign.

The Refresh Everything launch gave a platform for citizens to share what they wanted to say to our new President. It combined some YouTube video upload functionality and came packaged with celebrity videos promoting everyone to engage with Pepsi’s call to share your words to the President. It was actually a decent campaign idea for a broad appeal product like Pepsi and linked the idea of the big change (aka “refresh”) everyone expected on January 20th.

It made me wonder what can we expect from automotive advertising as the recession deepens and marketing turns to use the language of the times? So, I went back into history via Google, of course, and found an example used during the height of the Great Depression. The Plymouth advertisement (above) ran in 1935 and used the headline "New Deal for Farmers" playing off of President Roosevelt's famous "New Deal" economic policy.

The Plymouth ad shows how little has changed in 74 years. "High-Powered", "World's Safest", and "Long-Life". Today's version: "0-60 in xxx", "5 Star Crash Rating", and "JD Power Quality Award". The "Saves 12% to 20% in Gas and Oil" line made me think of Toyota's latest ad for the Tundra where they claim less transmission fluid needs than their competitors.

So we have some language already in play in the economic environment: Change and Bail Out. I have already heard radio ads from a local mortgage company advertising; “it’s time for your own bail out with our refinance mortgage options…” It’s only a matter of time before Obama’s call for Change becomes a marketing campaign.

Drive Change. Get behind the wheel of Change. It’s time to change your keys. Change how you get there. Oh I can do this for hours, but I’ll spare you and wait for the Change language to make it into an automotive sales event or product launch.

I’m guessing GM will do it. They did “Keep America Rolling” after 9/11. The clock is ticking who will borrow Obama’s language first?

Hyundai Alleviates Consumer Uncertainty

Hyundai gets my award for Most Relevant Automotive Consumer Campaign. Ok, no such award exists but if it did - Hyundai would take it in a second. The Hyundai Assurance program promotes the idea of relieving car shoppers from the concern of job loss. What with Economists talking about a possible national 11% unemployment rate, it certainly is something very top of mind. Besides, who really wants to buy a car if one is concerned about not receiving paychecks weeks or months after adding a sizable car payment to one's monthly bills?

So, Hyundai came up with a program to let customers return a newly leased vehicle if they suffer a job loss. They teamed up with Walkawayusa.com, a company that insures people from their commitment when "unforeseen life events occur." The "We've Got Your Back for One Full Year" message is concise, culturally relevant, and hits a macro economic issue that has dramatically deterred car sales. It also gets a company away from more money on the hood to try to entice buyers. The discounts going on today have hit $7,000 to $8,000 in December on truck products with tons of promotions across the industry like 0% financing, employee pricing, or both.

Hyundai essentially gets to the root of the problem -- Uncertainty. Price isn't the issue. "The question for consumers right now is what is going to happen to their income in 2009," Joel Ewanick, Hyundai Motor America's vice president of marketing, told Automotive News. "That's what is keeping them on their couches. No matter how big the rebate you put out, the real issue is fear."