Is Ford Bringing Back The Edsel?

Is it possible after 50+ years, Ford will be bringing back the Edsel? Although ridiculed as a funny-looking, poorly-built car, the Edsel was actually well ahead of the competition in styling, engineering and technology. What it lacked was marketing foresight, coming out several years too soon - a mid-sized, junior executive level vehicle (without fins) debuting at a time when everyone wanted more sheet metal, more chrome...and more fins.

But the Edsel, had it been named something that sounded less...eh...dorky, and the timing been right, may have been a sure hit. It incorporated powerful engines with an electronic push-button transmission (the buttons were built into the center of the steering wheel, a la Speed Racer). It's styling was bold and completely new. And rode like a dream.

So why not bring it back? After all, today's cars are all about technology. A push-button transmission is only a designer's mouse-click away. And the styling? Well, it seems the '58 Edsel front end would fit perfectly on to a 2011 Taurus. Orders, anyone?

Gearing up for Halloween

Advertising-wise, Halloween is already here. The stores are full of Halloween costumes and decor, and some are even carrying Christmas decorations next to the pumpkins and skulls. Here at the agency, we've already nailed down creative for the Halloween season and are starting to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The best part of advertising for Halloween is we get to cut loose a little, and do some really fun stuff. Even with limited space in print and time with broadcast, we can still squeeze in some cool graphics and clever tie-ins. One of my personal favorites is "Dawn of the Deals", playing off the old horror flick "Dawn of the Dead." We've also done "House of 1000 Bargains", and "{Vincent} Price Breaker Sale". Kooky stuff.

Here are a few of our ideas for Halloween 2010:

Happy Labor Day Weekend from Engelhardt & Partners Advertising

Just wanted to wish all of our friends a happy and safe holiday weekend. Be careful driving, don't forget the sunscreen, and enjoy yourself!

The Future of Advertising

It's an early spring morning and you've walked the two blocks to the train station while listening to an audiobook on your iPhone. The train's on time and you get a great seat. On the arm of the seat is an ad, small but powerful: 50% off a Grande coffee at Starbucks, with coupon.

What coupon?

At the bottom of the ad is a 1x1 inch block of black ink, the design familiar but meaningless...until your realize what it is. You pop out your iPhone, take a photo of the insignia and your phone automatically takes you to a mobile site with a virtual coupon. Show the coupon on your screen to the cashier at Starbucks and get your half-price java.

Everyone knows the Internet is not only the present but the future. But the future holds marvels that have not even been thought of by most people. And along with web technology comes advances in print, video, and beyond. Imagine:

• Newspapers, magazines, greeting cards and flyers that have a thin, flexible video screen with a slide show or actual video playing. This technology is almost here - miniature batteries that can power the device for a few days, wafer-thin computer chips and inexpensive video displays will soon come together to give print that "Harry Potter" effect. And they say print is dead.

• Seamless connectivity between your home computer, laptop, phone, TV remote, iPad and car. The kind of connectivity that will allow you to listen to emails while driving, program your TV from anywhere and turn appliances on and off from your phone or car. A lot of this technology already exists. It just needs to be consolidated.

• Giveaways that send people directly to you site. For example: You go to a baseball game on bat day and get a free baseball bat, courtesy of Rustler Steakhouse. Until now the only advantage Rustler gets out of the promotion is branding exposure. But...add a scan-readable code (like on the subway seat ad) to the bottom of the bat and suddenly you've captured a client...they go to your site to get the coupon, and you get ROI.

This is just a taste of the exciting advertising opportunities that lie ahead. Remember, just five years ago the iPhone didn't exist, and using a smartphone to view websites was a slow, cumbersome novelty. Imagine what things will be like five years from now.

Engelhardt & Partners Automotive Advertising

Working on a New Agency Reel & Presentation

Every advertising agency has a reel. Of course the term 'reel' is as old a term as you'll find in the biz, going way back to when an agency's work was shown over Martinis in a darkened, smokey room on a 16mm projector. Today's reels are a little simpler - a DVD, or web video that can be watched by clients over and over again at their leisure, with the lights on.

Our previous reel was nicely done, with a short introduction about our company and what we do followed by samples of our broadcast, print, and web creative. But times have changed, and so have we.

Our introduction has turned into a short but informative and exciting presentation on what makes Engelhardt and Partners Automotive Advertising a cut above our competition. It focuses on what matters most to car dealers today: The Internet, how to get the most out of it for the least amount of money, and how to tie it in effectively with proven traditional media.

This is our expertise. We've grown from a traditional advertising agency with strong creative and personal service to a fully-integrated digital and traditional house. And we've done it without sacrificing that quality creative and personal service.

Any advertising agency can produce ads. Most are pretty good at it. They can all promise you great results from great creative and money-saving media buys. But most of them fall short when it comes to the full package. And it's the full package that automotive dealers need to truly succeed in today's tough market.

We call it synergy. The synergy of digital and traditional advertising working together to maximize your potential. Our professionals working closely with you to provide solutions to your problems. We don't just work for you. We become part of your team. That's Engelhardt and Partners Advertising, or as we call it around here, The Power of E.
ENGELHARDT AND PARTNERS ADVERTISING HAS PROVEN SOLUTIONS FOR LACK OF TRAFFIC, TARNISHED IMAGES AND BLOATED BUDGETS. WE PRODUCE POWERFUL, FULLY-INTEGRATED AD CAMPAIGNS THAT REMAIN COHESIVE ACROSS ALL MEDIA: DIGITAL, BROADCAST, PRINT, & BEYOND, ENABLING YOU TO INCREASE YOUR MARKET SHARE.

It's time to integrate your digital and traditional advertising. We'll show you how...when our reel is finished! But if you can't wait, go ahead and give us a call at 954-927-2886. We'd be happy to speak with you about a more profitable future.

http://epadv.com

Mad Men and The REAL World of Advertising

by Christopher Pinto,
Creative Director
Engelhardt & Partners Advertising

When I tell people I'm the Creative Director of a national advertising agency, they often (jokingly) ask me if my job is anything like Don Draper's from Mad Men. I (jokingly) respond, "Not much, except for the minibar."

The Mad Men series, now in its fourth season, has given us a glimpse into the lives and work of ad execs during the golden age of cocktails and Manhattan advertising firms, in the days when all the best ideas hadn't yet been conjured up and media was limited to TV, radio, print and outdoor. In those days the Creative Director was the idea man; with his workforce of copy writers, art directors and graphic designers he oversaw the creation of fantastic advertising which grabbed attention and practically forced the reader to want to know more. It was from this era that some of the most fascinating and most powerful campaigns emerged, campaigns that are still recognizable today.

If Don Draper were frozen in 1964 and awakened now, he would be amazed at the changes that have developed in advertising over the last 50 years. Things started to really move in the 1980s as the desktop computer began to replace the art desk. Copy writing became more streamlined as ad space prices escalated. Cable television meant instead of three or four channels to advertise on, dozens, then hundreds became available, splitting people's attention and therefore each commercial's reach. As technology advanced in the 1990s, brighter, slicker, more extremely-stylized ads began to take the place of traditional photos and copy.

Then the World Wide Web sprung up. At first no one except a few handfuls of computer-savvy tech heads thought anything of it. It was slow, it was dull. No photos. No video. Just pages of copy, with the occasional flashing star or bright red headline in Helvetica Bold. Advertising agencies didn't give it a second thought. Makes you wonder if an old-timer like Draper would have embraced this technology, or would he have just wrote it off as an insignificant trend?

By 1999 it was clear that the Web was going to destroy everything that ad men and women had worked on for 50 years. The dull, lifeless pages began to look more like magazine pages with photos, clip art, and animation. People could see an ad for a product and buy it right on line. Then the technology really took off, and suddenly it seemed science fiction was becoming real. You could log on to the Web and check the weather, look up information on encyclopedia sites, watch small but interesting video, view slide shows of photos and post on social sites. And, most of all, you could advertise on these sites.

Somehow many ad agencies didn't see the potential here. By 2005 most agencies had missed the boat on Internet advertising, with the spoils going to Web Masters, Internet service providers and software developers. If you wanted a banner ad on the net, you called a web guy, not an ad agency. I think this is the point where Draper would finally see the potential, as portions of his ad budgets started getting siphoned away for the Web.

Luckily a few ad agencies (including ours) picked up on this trend. Some became completely digital, meaning they invested all of their efforts into online advertising. Some opened Web departments, others incorporated their Web advertising into existing creative departments. At Engelhardt and Partners Advertising we saw this coming a long time ago, and laid the groundwork for integrating Web along with traditional forms of media in order to brand our clients with a strong, cohesive message across the board.

Now, in 2010, we've conquered the change necessary to keep up with today's ever-changing technology. Our creative department has learned to think about campaigns that not only work in TV, radio and print, but on the net as well. Everything works together synergistically to exploit our clients' opportunities. Our ePulse Total Internet Package is unique in the industry as it incorporates all media together, concentrating on the media that works best for each client. And Creative is still considered the most important part of the process, as we know that no matter how much money you spend on advertising, if no one looks at it, it's all in vain.

If Draper were real, Engelhardt and Partners is exactly the kind of agency he would want to work at. I just wouldn't let him yell at the customers ;)

Engelhardt & Partners Automotive Advertising
www.EPADV.com

Goodbye, Mercury

It was 1938. The Great Depression was over for most Americans, Prohibition had been repealed for five years and the future looked bright. A new class of Americans was emerging...the modern middle class, and they wanted nice cars. The executives at Ford needed a brand that could slide into the price slot between low-cost, dependable Fords and high-end Lincolns. Mercury was born.

Through the next three decades Mercury models would prove themselves on the road as everything from "baby Lincolns" to full-blown muscle cars. The "50 Merc" became a favorite of customizers and hot-rodders, and the cars gained a respectable reputation as a good quality, well handling, moderately priced car.

Then came the 1970s, the era that closed the door on speed, power, good looks and the thrill of driving. Between new government standards for safety and emissions and multiple gas crisis, the power and styling of American cars got clobbered. Mercury was no exception.

The once proud brand started pumping out under-powered little Ford clones like the Capri, and under-powered, fat lead sleds (basically Fords with more chrome and a higher price tag) like the Cougar XR7. The price gap also began to close as Lincoln offered small luxury vehicles in the 1980s, and Ford offered trimmed-up models of their full size line.

Somewhere between the '70s and today, everyone forgot what the Mercury brand was all about. It no longer filled that niche between Ford and Lincoln; instead it just mirrored their models with slightly different trim packages, engine set-ups and design details. Except for the popular Marquis, they got a reputation as being nothing but rental-car material, and the number of retail buyers dwindled.

Ford says they have lost interest in Mercury because the public has lost interest. Ford is no planning to beef up efforts on the Ford and Lincoln brands. Although that's probably a good move at this point, there's no denying that Mercury will be missed.

About Flash & the iPhone, by Apple and Adobe

As a follow-up to our post on the lack of flash available for the iPhone and iPad, here's some info on what Steve Jobs has to say on the subject.

On the bottom left corner of the splash screen of apple.com is a button that says 'Thoughts on Flash'. It directs you to fairly long explanation by Jobs himself as to why Apple has decided not to allow flash developments on their products.

"...I wanted to jot down some of our thoughts on Adobe’s Flash products so that customers and critics may better understand why we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven – they say we want to protect our App Store – but in reality it is based on technology issues..."

In a nutshell, Jobs believes that with new technologies such as html5 (and other stuff that really only makes sense to developers, not end-users) Adobe's Flash will eventually become phased out. According to the article, Flash is too slow, takes up too much memory for small devices such as the iPhone, and allows third-party developers to create stuff that simply doesn't always work right on a Mac or Apple product (I can see his point there; I've used Macs for 20 years and have found out the hard way that Adobe releases software that works on PCs months or even years before it works well on a Mac).

Apple's views on the use of Flash vs. newer technologies is valid. After all, we no longer use serial ports, floppy discs or tape drives, and web pages have grown from simple text with one or two clip art images to the complex photo, video, and interactive-rich sites we enjoy today. And all that happened in what, 15 years? Apple believes it's time to move ahead, and believes the future excludes the 10+ year-old Flash software.

So where does that leave Adobe? We're talking about the company who has created some of the most powerful photo, video, publishing and web editing software available. Adobe founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock have their own take on this:

"...As the founders of Adobe, we believe open markets are in the best interest of developers, content owners, and consumers. Freedom of choice on the web has unleashed an explosion of content and transformed how we work, learn, communicate, and, ultimately, express ourselves...We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web — the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time."

Flash (which was originally produced by Macromedia) has been a convenient plug-in for their users to create rich website experiences, and continues to get streamlined and more powerful every year. Obviously Adobe doesn't have any plans to phase out this investment just because Apple has their own views on the subject. After all, iPhones and iPads are popular, but like everything else they are being imitated. There are already iPhone-style devices available from all the major cell phone carriers. Soon dozens of manufacturers will offer iPad-similar devices. And if they can get them to run Flash without draining the batteries in half an hour, you can bet Adobe will be very happy to keep on supplying the software.

Read Steve Jobs' entire letter here, at apple.com.
Read Chuck Geschke and John Warnock's letter here, at adobe.com

by Christopher Pinto for Englehardt & Partners Automotive Advertising

Sorry, No Flash in the Future of iPhone

I just read an article on PCWorld (http://www.pcworld.com, Read the article) that had me gaping with surprise. Apple has closed off avenues that allow developers to use non-native apps for the iPhone and iPad; in response Adobe has stated they will be "ceasing efforts to bring Flash-based applications to the iPhone".

According to the article (and this was something I wondered about but never got a straight answer on) Apple basically doesn't want Flash to work on their iPhones and iPads. They want all apps to be native to Apple - a typical Apple proprietary move.

So anyone who has been wondering just when your i-Stuff will be Flash-compliant, you might as well forget it. Go with an Android.

(Does Apple really think this is a good idea? Maybe they're trying to make Flash extinct - they've done it before, first with floppy discs, then with Zip drives, then with serial cables. Who knows, maybe they will. It will be interesting to watch this unfold.)

SEO efforts paying off

by Christopher Pinto, Creative Director

The first thing people ask us when they talk to us about Internet advertising is, "How can we get our name higher in search results?" They're hoping for a simple, straight answer, preferably a short one. Unfortunately there is no short answer. There are a lot of techniques involved with optimizing your search engine results, and all of of them take some time to accomplish.

Due to the errors of a previous employee who wasn't nearly as talented as he believed he was, we were stuck for over two years with a website that looked pretty, but had nearly no search engine optimization potential. (The entire site was built in flash with no readable text.) Now that we've created a new website, keeping in mind what search engines (and people searching) look for, we've gone from an organic search ranking of somewhere on page 300 to page three in only one month. Not bad, huh?

The moral of the story is to be competitive on the net you've got to do things right from the beginning, or be willing to change for the better. It took us some time to learn about internet marketing, from SEO to Social Media, but we did it. We've applied what we've learned to our own resources and its paying off. Now we're smarter and stronger than ever, and that truly benefits our clients.

To learn how we can help you with all your traditional and web marketing, call 954-927-2886 or visit us online at www.epadv.com.

Car Sales Up, feature article on CBS

Good news, something we haven't seen much of lately, was the focus of a CBS evening news segment last night...and no, it wasn't an April Fools Joke...sales at GM, Ford and Toyota are up considerably from a year ago.

CBSnews.com reports the story today, including some very inspiring numbers: GM core brands up 43% (up 21% including brands being phased out), Ford up 40% and Toyota up 41%.

For the CBS News link to the full story, click here.

The sales increases are attributed to a slowly but steadily strengthening economy and major incentives doled out by the automakers (When have you ever seen Toyota offering 0% interest for five years?). The problem now is to keep up the momentum.

This is of course excellent news (and an excellent opportunity) for Automotive Advertising Agencies. Even with our best efforts and most creative ideas, getting people to the lot in a bad economy is hard. Getting those people qualified and selling them the car they want at the right price is even harder for the dealer. But with this latest shift in sales (and the unusual plug of good news by the media) we can start concentrating on targeting the people who are finally in a position to trade up to a new or newer pre-owned car.

We'll be watching this trend closely in the next few months. You should too.

- Christopher Pinto, Creative Director
Engelhardt & Partners Automotive Advertising Agency

Our New Website Is Live

The greatest thing about the Internet is that it is constantly changing, growing, evolving.

Our website has evolved several times over the years to meet the demands of our clients and potential clients. Our newest generation stresses the importance of Synergy - integration of traditional advertising media with hot new web & digital avenues.

We've included a lot of useful information on our site, not just for automotive advertising clients but for anyone who wants to market their business successfully in our changing world.

Check it out at http://www.epadv.com

So many computers, so few back-ups...

It's been 20 years since I first started using computers for work, and looking back I find it amazing how much these machines have infiltrated themselves into our lives. In 1990, my computer was a Mac Classic with a 10 MEGABYTE hard drive, 4 MEG of memory, and a floppy disc drive. I used it mostly for creating letters and simple, one-sheet flyers, minimal email, and playing archaic games. By 2000 that exploded into rich email, sophisticated graphics programs and web browsing. Today, I have five email accounts, three websites, write for three blogs, and have a 300 Gig hard drive that is almost full. All of my email, graphics, programs, etc. sit on this six-year-old hard drive. As computers go, this is an antique - and as such, can die at any second, for no apparent reason.

Luckily, I back everything up constantly. I've been around the block enough times to know that computers can and will destroy everything you have on a whim. But I've been careful, and have lost almost nothing over the years. The secret to my success is keeping everything backed up.

Most people don't even think of this. Most people seem to think, if the computer goes just call a computer guy, pay the $400 and have him restore all your files. Most people find out $400 later that this doesn't usually turn out very well.

With some simple, inexpensive systems in place, you can keep from losing everything. Here are a few:

1. Backup your email weekly. Especially the email you use for business. If your email database, your hard drive or your operating system becomes corrupt, you will lose everything, and it's not retrievable. Outlook, Entourage, Mac Mail - they all have a simple way to save a compressed copy of your entire email database. Save this file remotely...not on your computer...and you will be safe.

2. Use "Super Duper" or a similar program to copy the entire contents of your computer to a remote hard drive. This will save all of your files plus all of your programs, settings, passwords etc. Save it to an external Firewire or USB drive, and do this every time you have a major update to your system or add a new program. If your drive dies, you can give the external to the computer guy, and he can format your new drive exactly the way your old one was set up.

3. Save all your bookmarks from your web browser. This is easy to do, and will save you a lot of frustration if your browser fries. You can also save your bookmarks online at sites like Delicious.

4. Save files often as you work on them. I can't tell you how many times people have cried to me that they lost a half an hour or more of work because their program quit on them and they hadn't saved. My response is always the same: SAVE OFTEN. I hit the save button about once every three minutes, by habit.

5. Use a program such as Retrospect to auto-backup your files. There are several good programs that do this - you set it up once to automatically make a backup of all your computer's or server's files to an external drive, then let it run on its own. We have ours set up to backup every night at 10pm, and we switch out the external drive every other week. The drive not in use comes home with me - so that if there's ever a disaster or theft at the office, we still have a backup of our entire server.

6. Too much is never too much. I have one computer at home and one at work. Between the two, I have two Firewire drives, a USB drive, three USB flash drives, and a stack of CDs with backups on them. When my home computer died a few weeks ago, I didn't have to worry about a thing because I had a two-day old backup of the entire hard drive on my Firewire. I also save copies of the most important files to my ftp site - so if some catastrophe wipes out all my machines, I still have a backup on the Internet.

Remember to save often and backup frequently, and you'll save yourself a lot of time, money and heartaches in the long run.

Posted by Christopher Pinto, Creative Director

Toyota Recall and the Used Car Business

This post is by Guest Blogger Tommy Gibbs, President of Tommy Gibbs & Associates specializing in Leadership Skills and Used Vehicle Management. Tommy Gibbs has over 23 years experience as a New Car Dealer. Today, Tommy focuses on increasing dealers' used car business through unique and proven methods.

Never in our history have we seen a deal like this Toyota thing. It proves the point that I’ve been trying to make that you cannot hang your hat on your new car franchise and you cannot stock primarily your own brand. Any Toyota dealer that has mostly used Toyotas in stock has a tough hill to climb right now.

First, I don’t think there is going to be a run on the bank so to speak with Toyota owners wanting to dump/trade their Toyotas. Even if you’re a Toyota dealer you’re not going to see a lot of these people showing up at your door step. If they bought a new Toyota recently they may show up wanting the dealer to buy it back and that may be the biggest can of worms for the dealers to deal with.

Dealers who don’t have a Toyota franchise will not see these people piling up at the front door either. Most Toyota owners are going to sit tight. Overall they are happy with their product and just want to see Toyota get this thing handled quickly. They are a loyal bunch.
So, what to do if one of the recall vehicles shows up at your front door to be traded? “Walk softly, but be not afraid.”

Sure, any dealer should protect themselves a bit by hitting a used Toyota a little low, but this problem will get fixed and then new and used Toyotas will come back strong. It has been said that Toyota is rich in cash. If that’s true they can advertise and rebate to a point that they grab lost market share back. They have the power to convince the public that all is well.

I think the biggest problem for a non-Toyota dealer is that if they trade a “recall vehicle” then they may be at the end of the line for getting the vehicle fixed.

Do you remember when the sky was falling on SUVs and Pickup Trucks and gas prices went to $4.00 a gallon? Don’t you remember what happened after the panic wore off and gas prices settled down? I advised dealers not to panic and not to dump those SUVS and Trucks in the wholesale market even if it meant letting some of them sit past the 45-60 day mark. I think dealers may have to take this approach with used Toyotas that might be sitting on their lots. In other words, don’t panic.

Dealers have to be careful that they don’t let this recall thing affect their thinking on the entire Toyota brand. Dealers need to get the exact list of the recalled vehicles and make sure their managers know which units are affected.

If I had owned a Toyota store today I would let the public know that their used Toyota is still welcome at my store. If I were a non-Toyota dealer I would do the same thing but, would walk softly on promoting this as you don’t want to offend anyone by putting this Toyota thing in their face. I would probably hit most Toyotas I appraise a bit back of book realizing it may have to sit a bit until this thing gets sorted out.

Ok, that’s my take. Hope to see you at the NADA convention. I'll be hanging out at the vAuto booth, #1631. If you stop by and say hello I'll give you a free copy of my little book titled "The Little Used Car Book." It's full of tips and ideas that will help your used car business.
-Tommy Gibbs for Engelhardt & Partners Automotive Advertising

iPad - Another gadget to advertise on?

Ten years ago, I said (as did many others) that someday soon we'd be reading newspapers on a thin electronic screen, and everything would be wireless. Some people thought we were nuts. Others knew it was coming.

On Wednesday, Apple introduced the much awaited iPad, the "tablet" that is sort of a big iPhone, sort of a small computer. With it, you can surf the web through WiFi or with an inexpensive G3 cellular plan, read eBooks like a Kindle, read newspapers online, play games, use SMM sites like facebook and twitter, run iWork on it, use it for Keynote presentations, and sync it with your iPod. (Knowing how fast Apple products get updated, it will also make a nice tray for your Martinis in a year.)

So what does this mean to the automotive world?

Well for one thing, it's eventually going to put the power of the Internet into even more hands, more often. It will be easier than ever to look up websites, and research products on the go.

For example: A customer wants to buy a new Toyota. They do some research and find that your dealership has the exact model they want in stock, in the pretty blue they've been hoping for. They show up at your dealership with tablet in hand, and talk to your sales person. When he gives them the price, they immediately check it against Dealer B up the street. Dealer B has it in white for $200 less. Guess what? You will probably drop the price for them to make the sale.

So how can dealers take advantage of this?

What if every sales person is armed with an iPad...They can do the price comparison first, and make a better offer to the buyer. With pre-owned, they can show other similar vehicles for sale in the area, and beat the price or point out the better value in their vehicle. Forms can be filled out right on the iPad to save time and paper. And with the advent of new apps, the possibilities are endless.

What about automotive advertising?

Eventually, targeted advertising will become so efficient that you'll be able to practically pick exactly who sees your ad. Someone accessing WiFi in the 33322 area code with a 700 credit score looks at an article on the new Camaro...and the local Chevy dealership's ad displays, with a Camaro and an offer. Plus, the electronics wiz-kids are finding new ways to incorporate sponsorships into the games, apps and pages you visit. Wouldn't it be great to have some product placement for your dealership in Grand Theft Auto?

The past 60 years has taken us from the Atomic Age to the Space Age, and into the Computer Age. Now we're at the beginning of the Digital Age, and it's going to be a wild ride. Are you ready for it? We certainly are, and we're looking forward to this incredible future.

Christopher Pinto,
Creative Director
Engelhardt & Partners Automotive Advertising
http://epadv.com
954-927-2886

Excellent article on Advertising Age

On Advertising Age:
Sooner or Later, Facebook Will Launch Its Own Phone
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=141627

Talks about the future of advertising as it relates to mobile devices. You may need to register to read the article, but it is free.

The Future of Automotive Advertising

We have seen the future of automotive advertising, and it is fantastic.

We're eager to embark on this exciting journey through the age of digital media. We've been very successful with traditional forms of automotive advertising...print, TV, radio, direct mail, promotions...and have been working with Internet advertising for some time. Now, we are expanding full-throttle into the wide world of the web, integrating it completely with all forms of advertising.

In doing so, we've met some of the people who are creating new forms of communication every day. We're learning new technologies and how to apply them to benefit our clients. And most of all, we've found the key to integrating traditional advertising with these new technologies.

The future of advertising truly is fantastic. It's going to be hard work, but it's going to be fun, and it's going to be exceptional for our clients.

If you're interested in learning more about the future of automotive advertising, contact Dayna Engelhardt, President & CEO of Engelhardt & Partners Advertising at 954-927-2886.

To Automotive Dealerships: Why the "Buy Here, Pay Here" Guys are hurting your business.

Posted by Christopher Pinto,
Creative Director

If you have a major dealership moving 100+ new units plus pre-owned each month, it's easy to ignore the little guy on the corner pushing $1500 rides on Craigslist. But have you considered the damage many of these small, used-only lots are causing to your business?

Recently I started looking for a cheap car for a friend's kid to run around in. I was surprised at what was out there in the $1000 to $3000 range: A lot of junk, with an occasional good car in between. And a lot of lies, from small-time car dealers.

After researching, calling, and visiting several "mom and pop" used car dealers in my area, here's what I found:

• Every one of these 'dealers' advertised cars that looked great online, but where absolute junk when I saw them in person.

• Every one of them had excessive dealer fees, anywhere from $299 to $899...remember, this is on a $1500 car.

• All of them had a mechanic shop on site, but none of them seemed to know if the cars had any mechanical problems.

One ad read "Absolutely perfect cosmetically and mechanically. Mechanic's special. $899". Yeah, there's a little bit of a contradiction with that one, huh? As soon as I walked up to the car in question, the salesman came from across the lot, practically yelling, "That car's no good!" He went on to explain it had a blown head gasket, a job that he admitted would cost him between $1500 and $2500 to fix, depending on which part of the conversation he was in. He said he'd sell it to someone who understood what that meant, as the car books for $2500 retail, tops.

Another guy tried to sell me a $300 used car warranty over the phone on a car I hadn't even seen (It was an eBay auction, and I couldn't see the car before the auction close because he was in Key West on vacation...yeah...sure.)

The worst place was basically a junk yard with a used car sign in front. The vehicle was a 1996 Cadillac DeVille. The ad for this car showed it being in great condition, and said it looked and ran perfectly. It was advertised on Craigslist for $1999. I found the same car advertised on Cars.com for $995. When I got there, I found out why: It was a wreck. Cracked windshield, dents down the side, two bad tires, hood wouldn't shut right. Car had 180k miles on it. There was a screwdriver where the gearshift was supposed to be. When I opened it up, it had the distinct smell of a car that had been sitting shut up in a scrapyard for a lonnng time, with an air freshener in it. It started, and sounded like "Christine" from the movie when the car is all beat to hell and in sad shape. This car had all the earmarks of being pulled out of a junk yard and given a fake title. AND...for this $995 car, there was a dealer free of $899. That's right. So, out the door, with tax and tag, the guy would "let it go" for $2000.

Yeah, right.

Now you're thinking, "We would never do that at our dealership." Of course you wouldn't. You know that your reputation in the community is what keeps your business going and growing. Your mechanics check out your cars carefully, you recon them, and price them fairly. Many of you don't even have dealer fees on pre-owned, and if you do, you post it clearly on the car and in your ads. People at your dealership know exactly what they are getting.

Don't they?

Consider this: Millions of people out there start out in life with little or no equity. They go to school, start a job, try to build credit and go from there. Most college kids drive junkers...if they're lucky, they get a hand-me-down car from the family. If not, they have to buy something cheap and reliable. Most major dealers won't bother with cheap used cars (except as price leaders) so where do people like this go for cars? Private sellers, and mom and pop shops. So basically, their first impression of car dealers comes from these shady characters. Hence, the stigma of the stereotypical "Used Car Salesman".

If someone gets burned buying a $1100 car for $2200 and it breaks down in two months, forever will they never trust anyone in the car business again. These are the people who will go through life buying cars cash, or getting loans from their bank to buy cars through private sellers. What does this mean? It means you can be losing thousands of potential customers through no fault of your own.

Mad, aren't you? Appalled that someone so dishonest would be in the same line of business that you've worked so hard to make successful. You've played by the rules, you're more than fair with your pricing, and offer good used cars with a warranty. So what can you do? Is there any way for you to off-set this destructive behavior?

There is. Some of it you're already doing now. Some of it will need some time, effort, a little money, and the right message. Getting that message out to the right people – that's where we come in.

THE MESSAGE: Ask any car dealer in the country what customers want when buying a used vehicle, and you will get the same answers: Honesty, integrity, no hidden fees, warranty, no hidden flaws, vehicle in better than expected condition for the price, and the greatest value possible (or, in other words, the lowest price possible on the nicest car you have).

This is the message that you need to communicate. You back that message up with price points that match or are slightly below market value. You monitor your competitor's pricing and adjust as necessary. You only sell good quality cars, and back it up with at least a 90 day warranty. If you have any "As-Is" cars, you throw them in a Bargain Corral and make it clear that these cars are 'what you see is what you get'...and still give your customers a 10-day warranty. Scrap the dealer fees on anything under a predetermined price (ie, $3000) and proudly post it. Get testimonials from satisfied buyers as proof you are men and women of your word. Then broadcast it to the world.

COMMUNICATING:

Too many dealers today try to stuff their advertising with inventory, offers and price points. This works in some markets, but eventually it's all going to be a worthless waste of your advertising money. Anyone can sit down at a computer and find the car they want, in the color they want for a decent price. Those who don't are the ones who will get hoodwinked and swindled into paying $2000 for that $500 Ford Escort. You need to use a good section of your advertising to communicate that message of honesty and value to all of your potential customers.

DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM THE SHADY "DEALERS"

This is particularly important if your business is in an area saturated with junk-shop car lots. Communicate to the public that you don't need to use any bait-and-switch tactics to get people on your lot, because your quality of inventory and reputation are enough. Go as far as to say "Buyer Beware" of hidden fees and poor quality in other dealerships (you'll of course run it by your lawyers to make sure you're not crossing any lines or breaking any laws in your state).

BARGAIN CORRAL

Rope off a corner of the used car lot for a Bargain Corral. This is an old trick that still works today, and is being used successfully by most of our clients. Keep this area stocked with at least ten to twenty vehicles priced under $10,000, the cheaper the better. Offer a short-term warranty, Carfax, and inspection to show you have nothing to hide. Drop any dealer fees so you have a bottom-line price posted, and make a big fuss about "no hidden fees". Even if buyers aren't aware of big fees at other dealers, they'll know it must be an issue if you're advertising no fees.

STAND BY YOUR CARS

Never sell a car that is questionable. Stand behind your quality. If something simple breaks three weeks after they buy the 10-day warranty car, fix it. Fix it for free, and make a big deal about it. Make the buyer write you a letter and post on your social media sites how great you are. You can get hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of positive publicity by occasionally replacing a $300 part.

KEEP THEM HAPPY, AND MAKE THEM TELL THE WORLD

Similarly, whenever you sell any vehicle, get your customer to give you some form of positive feedback, whether online, through a customer survey, or letter. Take a photo of each new customer smiling with their new purchase, and post them on a wall in the dealership for potential customers to see. Ask them to be your friend on facebook and follow you on twitter, and follow up with them in a few months to see how they are enjoying their car. If they bought a $3000 car from you in May, by November they may be ready to trade up to a $10,000 car.

I hope this post opened your eyes to (or at least reminded you of) one of the difficulties in trying to sell quality used cars. If you'd like to discuss possibilities on promoting these ideas, give us a call at 954-927-2886. We'd be happy to talk turkey.

*If any buy-here-pay-here dealership owners are reading this, and you think I'm being unfair, I'd like to hear your input. If you're an honest company, you face the same challenges the big dealerships do.

Visit our automotive advertising website at www.epadv.com