In doing so, car dealers understand the changes in their customer’s behavior and truly recognize the opportunities being created. For the truly progressive, it doesn’t stop there. Showroom shopping experiences, online browsing and customer relationship management abilities are becoming more congruent.

Several pieces of technology — particularly the six covered here — are well positioned to speed up the historic change currently happening within the automotive retail industry.

Car buyers are a powerful segment, with a strong voice. Dealers are wise to consider adopting these ideas sooner, rather than later. If not, their customers will have moved on — and be happier with their decision.

1. Real-time search
   Google and Bing are squaring off in the first round of real-time search by providing results from the likes of Twitter and Facebook. While we don’t see these results in the same format as regular search results now, this will move from being a silo to being a primary search result visual. Search Engines such as Topsy will help the competition ramp up improved methods of displaying real-time results from relevant and influential sources; other players in this space: Collecta and OneRiot.

   Customer benefit: Having access to real-time content can help shoppers confirm a smart decision much faster. It can either speed up the decision making progress — or even keep a shopper away from a store due to the immediacy of this content.

2. Geolocation services
   It will become increasingly easy to engage with prospects and customers with the advent of GPS-style functions within mobile phones, social channels and smart phone apps that harness geolocation capabilities. Geolocation API’s will increase the ability to communicate with consumers; your own creativity is the limitation. For example, Whrrl’s Merchant Program is a simple way to extend your online footprint and offer an incentive for consumers to visit and engage them with new discount/promotional ideas.

   Customer benefit: Customers will have an opportunity to create better relationships with dealerships with these tools — while also actually having fun.

3. Mobile video
   Video has become a standard for the automotive segment within websites — mobile video will be a new frontier. Smartphone video usage will continue to explode as it becomes easier to stream from your phone — and to users’ phones. Network expansion from 3G to 4G and Google’s entry into the spectrum will open up new creative possibilities. The first step was gaining mobile acceptance and basic usage. Nine million users accessed their Facebook account via their mobile phone in 2008; that number exploded to 88 million in 2009. There is a huge opportunity for mobile video in 2010.

   Customer benefit: This is a pure convenience play for consumers. Shopping for what they want, when they want and where they want. The experience will become hyper-customizable.

4. HTML5
   The newest version of HTML will host a suite of user features and benefits that improve online experiences. Rich applications, such as video and animation, will be easier to integrate as Flash and Silverlight won’t be as heavily relied upon. The goal is to create simple user experiences that function like a desktop application and also allow next-gen features such as offline data support and drag-and-drop capabilities. Hopefully, more automotive web developers will recognize the opportunity this presents to provide dealers and their visitors more memorable and effective experiences.

   Customer benefit: Online shopping will become more robust as new content delivery methods emerge. Access to vital information will become easier and simply more enjoyable.

5. Social centralization
   This is my term for the direction of car dealer social networks and the value-added services they will provide automotive professionals. Dealer network sites will evolve into centralized destinations that provide more than blog posts and discussions. As user acceptance and awareness increases, greater value will be driven by segment-specific research, access to video libraries and vendor ratings. I see the culmination being the eventual cross-pollination of content and resources from major industry brands into their own specific communities. I also see users gaining greater access to this content, whether they act as contributors or readers, via simpler access points such as smartphone apps.

   Customer benefit: A rapid increase in the sharing of best practices is about to overcome the retail industry. Competition will increase as the bar is raised to proved a better, more impressive shopping experience.

6. Social CRM
   The entire CRM segment will be shaken up in 2010. Old systems that dealers have been subjected to will be turned upside down with the advent of more web-based systems. The biggest changes could also come from the integration of the social channels to these systems to help improve and monitor customer communications. Major CRM solutions have already made this leap; I’m confident these solutions will make their way into the newest CRM tools being rolled out. I wouldn’t be shocked if an open source DMS-CRM solution sprouted up. Salesforce.com is adding a new data tool to its offering called Chatter. Other companies, such as Yammer, have rolled out creative solutions that mesh internal and external communication efforts.

   Customer benefit: Greater communication and information flow with regards to items such as vehicle service and car care will become more important as ownership continues to increase.

We’re experiencing another round of significant changes in the automotive markets. Improvements in the retail process, customer service and online user experience will continue to move at breakneck speeds in 2010 and aren’t limited to the above list; they’re certainly not limited to simply technological solutions — these are simply tools to help make the improvements easier to achieve.

I’m confident we’ll see an ongoing wave of improvements as manufacturers and retailers continue to alter the automotive markets. As long as the consumer is placed one step ahead of the OEM’s and retailers, shoppers will reap more benefits than ever experienced within the industry.

Related links:

• Topsy, a search engine powered by tweets
• Collecta, a real-time search engine
• OneRiot, a real-time search engine
• Whrrl Merchant Program FAQs
• Driving Sales, community for dealership managers, OEMs and vendor employees
• Salesforce Chatter, social application platform
• Salesforce Chatter: A Real-Time Social Network for the Enterprise; TechCrunch, 11.18.09
• Yammer, enterprise microblogging

]]> http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/02/six-technologies-that-will-facilite-change-within-the-automotive-retail-industry/feed/ http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/02/could-the-toyota-recall-crisis-be-helping-the-brand/ http://www.headlightblog.com/2010/02/could-the-toyota-recall-crisis-be-helping-the-brand/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:30:58 +0000 msb http://www.headlightblog.com/?p=153 There’s no question that Toyota is in deep trouble with its current recall crisis. But could these issues actually be helping its brand? Shockingly, an analysis of Toyota shows that its Social Influence Marketing (SIM) Score saw an uptick in January. Who’d have thought that a crisis of such significant magnitude could actually help a brand’s perception? This seems to be true, at least in the short term, even though sales may be dropping. Let me explain how.

A Look at the numbers
There are a number of ways to track brand perception. During my time at Razorfish, I have helped develop the SIM Score, a basic equation for calculating how a brand is faring on the social web. The SIM Score incorporates reach and likeability using conversation data sourced from the major conversation monitoring vendors (in this case Radian6). In the month of January, Toyota saw an uptick in its SIM Score relative to its direct competitors. Counter intuitive? Yes, most certainly. And there are two explanations for this.

Read the rest of Shiv Singh’s guest post on Mashable. You can read more by Shiv on his blog, Going Social Now.

While digital media spending was down for 2009 – the first time digital growth had dipped since 2002 – an eMarketer report released in December states that paid search spend has remained steady.

What is different about paid search that allowed it to keep its head above water in 2009? Paid search offers the best ROI out of the digital media portfolio because of its measurability. When thinking about your advertising moving forward in 2010, consider the following for why you should put more effort into Search:

Measurability

When prioritizing your marketing channels, it is important to remember the measurability of paid search. With traditional media, it is extremely difficult to obtain conversion data. Paid search, using Search Engine and/or third party tracking, helps identify patterns in conversions that can be tested, refined, and repeated. Many automotive marketers will not bat an eye at dropping $30K on a newspaper or magazine ad or $130K on a homepage takeover. The depth of data available to measure the effectiveness of these ads is significantly less in print than it is online.

Granularity of optimizations

Did your promotional tagline add much to your latest campaign? Through copy testing in paid search, you can tell if more users clicked on the ad, comparing it against a control. What difference do landing pages make? Do users searching on keyword X and landing on Page Y convert better than when they land on Page Z? Does paying a premium for top positions from 12 – 8pm yield more conversions and therefore make it worth your while to be more aggressive during those hours? Paid search is the one marketing vehicle that lets you measure these things. Coordinated, Integrated Digital Advertising Companies like Google are paving the way for fully integrated digital campaigns under one roof. This past year saw vast improvements in Google’s integration of Display and Video ads into its AdWords platform. Automotive marketers can now easily manage multiple tactics across different channels and obtain reports from the convenience of one Google login. Additionally, with its November acquisition of AdMob and the Nexus One phone release, Google is going to do a lot more to integrate mobile. You can already specifically target smartphones in the AdWords platform.

Peer pressure

“Come on, everybody’s doing it.” This is usually advice to ignore – especially during high school and college. However, with paid search, if you are not advertising your brand, odds are somebody else is capitalizing on your name. Even if you rank No. 1 in natural search results, advertisers get priority as the first listings on the page. This is especially important to remember since Google relaxed its trademark enforcement policies last year, which allowed resellers to use trademarks in ad copy and potentially steal search traffic away from those not owning their own brands in paid search.

A version of this article originally appeared in Razorfish Search. It has been revised to make it more relevant to the Headlightblog.com audience.

Related links:

• Auto Advertising: 2010 Outlook - Running On Empty, Borrell Associates, 11.12.09
• US Online Ad Spend Turns the Corner, eMarketer, 12.11.09

Image credit:
Local ad spend image appears courtesy of Borrell Associates

So how can these marketers get the efficiencies of search when their search campaigns are tapped out? What are the next most efficient opportunities they can explore? Here’s what we’re recommending:

1. Contextual targeting
   If this seems obvious to you, good. You are taking advantage of a search extension tactic that drives returns near or equal to that of search. A fully scaled contextual targeting campaign through Google can add 10 to 15 percent incremental volume to your overall campaign results; that’s like adding another Yahoo to your search buy.
2. Remarketing
   While remarketing is a display media tactic, it’s one that often drives returns equal to or greater than search marketing. (Yes, there is a display media tactic that can actually outperform Search). While scale can be limited, remarketing is a highly effective way to target the 98 percent, on average, of customers who interact with your website but do not convert. Remarketing campaigns are also an effective way to push out promotions, offers and targeted messages to existing customers when you encounter them offsite; think of it as a CRM channel extension. You can buy remarketing impressions through most ad networks, through major portals like Yahoo and the Microsoft Network, and through agency trading desks like Cadreon, Varick Media Management and Razorfish’s own ATOM Systems.
3. Intent Targeting
   There is no better indicator of consumer intent than the active entering of a keyword query. Several companies, including Yahoo and a niche targeting player, AlmondNet, allow advertisers to tap into query data and re-target searchers with display ads outside of the search environment. As with search itself, scale can be limited with search retargeting but quality is assured. Beyond search retargeting, data marketplaces like BlueKai and Exelate allow advertisers to target customers who are “in-market” for specific products and services. For example, an auto advertiser could use data from these providers to target consumers who are in-market for a specific vehicle, down to the exact make and model. Where this level of ad targeting was previously available only on a highly specific auto site, OEMs can now target in-market auto buyers anywhere across the web with considerable price efficiencies.

The three tactics described above are effective as stand-alone opportunities, or in combination. Either way they can help extend a search-marketing program and get more out of one’s current investment.

A version of this article originally appeared as Search Extension and was published in MediaPost. It has been rewritten in parts to make it more relevant to the Headlightblog.com audience.

Image credit:
Image appears courtesy of SEO Expert

Does a high fan count equal success?
It’s no surprise that lots of people feel strongly about their favorite automotive brands and show their allegiance to those brands by flocking to automakers’ Facebook Fan Pages. Consider the high fan counts for some of the best-known automaker Fan Pages: As of Jan. 22, 2010, I found an average of nearly 111,000 fans across 33 OEM Fan Pages, which is pretty amazing considering the average fan count across all Facebook Fan Pages is only 4,600. Even for the 24 OEM Fan Pages with fewer than 111,000 fans, the average was just shy of 30,000 while the nine above-average pages weigh in closer to 330,000 fans each. The top five, in descending order, were Porsche, BMW, Audi, Jeep and Volkswagen.

However, high fan count alone is a poor measure of Facebook Fan Page success. Yes, the total fan count is the equivalent of reach, but the message you put out to that audience and the interactions and insights you pull back will determine the real Fan Page winners. Also, you are not limited to your own fans as a source for strategic insights; automotive marketers who learn to leverage other pages have a chance to really pull ahead.

What Facebook tells you about your fans
If you own a Facebook Fan Page — you are the creator, administrator, or otherwise have backend access — then you can access data that will help leverage your fans for free.

Take a look at the aggregate demographics. Examine the fan growth over time, overlay that with other campaigns or key product launches, and see which ones had a Facebook halo effect — then talk about those campaigns to that audience.

Look at interaction rates — page views, comments, etc. — and match your messaging strategy accordingly. Passive audience? Broadcast offers and updates (think Toys “R” Us). Interactive audience? Leverage them for feedback with surveys or projects (think Audi).

What Facebook doesn’t tell you … but you want to know
It will be the marketers who learn from their fans — and their competitors –  and then apply those insights both on and off Facebook who will really win.

Because my employer, Rapleaf, recently launched the ability to study Fan Pages and offer insights beyond what Facebook provides, I decided to look at what can be learned by studying Facebook fans of two competitors: Audi and BMW.

I looked at roughly 50,000 random fans from each of the Audi and BMW Facebook Fan Pages, with an overlap of less than 1 percent. The results showed both striking similarities and insightful differences.

Audi and BMW fan similarities
It is not surprising that fans of German sports-luxury vehicles are similar. It is, however, the extent of those similarities that caught my eye. Demographically speaking, they could be twins; both groups are just over 70 percent males in their mid-to-late 20s (26 for BMW; 28.5 for Audi). Socially, twins again; Audi fans have 206 friends on average while BMW has 212. More surprising still is the near-identical distribution of friend counts between the brands (see graph at left).

What this tells me is that any media targeted to social males in their mid-to-late 20s should focus on brand differentiation within a narrow segment. Basically, you need to tell why Audi is better than BMW or vice versa. This is a brand battleground because the very next impression is likely your top competitor. But they can’t be exactly alike, can they?

It turns out there are some subtle, but very insightful, differences that can turn the tide of a marketing battle.

BMW and Audi fan differences
BMW fans are more media-oriented than Audi fans. They share about twice as many photos, more than five times as many videos and have a higher membership across several social communities outside Facebook: Hi5, Tagged and Flixster (see graph).

So what can you do with that? You could approach the sites where you have the advantage and buy up inventory, most likely at a lower CPM than more popular sites. Focus less on safeguarding against the next impression, because your enthusiasts outnumber theirs, and more on the quality of content in each one. For BMW, the focus could be on media-savvy ad units and playing up all the audiovisual bells and whistles in each vehicle. For Audi, attention could be drawn to the straightforward design and ease of use related to navigation or audio equipment.

CRM opportunities
And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, any marketer should understand the Fan Page makeup of owners vs. aspiring owners. In a different study against a single vehicle fan page, Rapleaf overlaid the known owners with fans and found a 10 percent match. What does this mean? The Fan Page can easily become a sales channel, helping provide information and offers to the 90 percent of fans who are not current owners of the vehicle.

With more Fan Pages being created all the time, the amount of data available is only increasing while the battle for customer attention wages on. Automotive marketers who can best tap into and leverage these new data assets will have a definite advantage as they plan, create and execute their campaigns.

The comments in this article are the opinion of author and are not necessarily reflective of his employer, Rapleaf.

Related links:

• Inside Facebook Pages, Sysomos, November 2009
• Toys R Us finds hordes of fans on Facebook, VentureBeat, 11.24.09
• 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: Audi joins Facebook for Design Challenge Entry, Automotive.com, 11.17.09
• Facebook Fan Page and Twitter Follower Analysis and Insight, RapLeaf, 12.09.09
• Audi Fan Page on Facebook
• BMW Fan Page on Facebook

The origins of mbrace
The predecessor to mbrace, Tele Aid, was standard equipment on most Mercedes-Benz vehicles since the telematics system made its debut in the 2000 S-Class. Services included automatic collision notification — when an airbag is deployed or a seatbelt tensioner retracted, it would send a signal to an emergency response center that would in turn contact the owner of the vehicle and then dispatch the necessary emergency services. There was also an SOS button, which allowed those in distress to report their situation and a number of other related services.

OnStar had released similar services about a year-and-a-half prior to that. One of the key distinctions for the Tele Aid service, however, was that Mercedes-Benz saw this as core to the brand and therefore made it standard across its model lines.

Soon, many competitors started to offer similar services and Mercedes-Benz then began to focus on stepping forward and being an innovator in vehicle telematics. This was done in part by aligning with a service provider, Hughes Telematics, to handle the backend.

Ultimately, the goal was to create “a more connected car,” says Robert Policano, who is a specialist in Services Development in the Advanced Planning Group at MBUSA. For the U.S. division of the global manufacturer, this meant looking beyond the core safety features that had always been deemed important to the future of automobiles — being connected to the cloud, motoring infrastructure and other vehicles via the Internet — in order to make the time spent in the vehicle more entertaining, more productive, safer and, ultimately, more efficient.

To that end a new Mercedes-Benz telematics platform, mbrace, was launched on Nov. 16, 2009. The primary goal is to “send a signal” to dealers and the general marketplace that Mercedes-Benz was moving beyond Tele Aid.

The mbrace in-car system consists of three buttons (pictured at right): SOS, for emergencies; Wrench, for roadside assistance; and i-Button, for all other services. Through the i-Button users can access information and connections to all the other services that are available “off board,” such as getting information about the vehicle, checking on the weather, traffic assistance and navigation assistance. With the traffic configurator, for example, users can configure up to 20 different routes. They can also set up alerts for traffic thresholds so they can automatically be notified by email, SMS or phone. Subscribers to the mbrace service can also access the same system through a password-protected mbrace subscriber site.

Benefits of the mbrace mobile apps
The mbrace iPhone and Blackberry applications represent a third way to interact with the in-car telematics system. These mobile applications were ultimately designed to complement the mbrace subscriber site. The iPhone app currently includes a subset of the functionality available to mbrace customers on the subscriber site, but those are the ones that are most relevant to customers including remote door lock/unlock and vehicle finder. The iPhone app features one-button access to such services as the Mercedes-Benz mbrace Response Center, Customer Assistance Center or Mercedes-Benz Financial. The app also includes a dealership locator that allows customers to contact their preferred dealer or find the retail location nearest them.

“Since 2008, the launch of 2G apps has exploded. Everyone in business is looking at this new technology and asking themselves is there some way we can leverage it to enhance our customer experiences — or our business,” says Policano. “We [MBUSA] knew that we’d be launching mbrace this fall and we were thinking it would be terrific if we had an application that gave our customers a new level of convenience in interacting with their vehicle.”

While Policano concedes that there have been more than a few apps launched in 2009 that are “automotive-centric,” mbrace is the only app from a vehicle manufacturer that lets the user interact directly with a vehicle. (Zipcar has similar functionality from its iPhone app.)

The idea quickly garnered internal support at MBUSA and development on the iPhone formally started in the spring of ‘09. Initial research was conducted on what kinds of mobile devices Mercedes-Benz owners had adopted. These were predominantly iPhones and the newer Blackberry models. This, along with reports on leading handheld and smartphone devices, also informed the decision to ultimately support both the iPhone and Blackberry platforms with native applications.

Roughly 65 percent of smartphones in the market at that time were within the target model set, according to Policano. “We were trying to develop for the masses, in essence, but with a skew toward Mercedes-Benz owners and what they were carrying.” Exceptions to this are some earlier-generation smartphones and handhelds that are not GPS-enabled.

As for future mobile platforms? The intent is to continue to expand, says Policano. As far as whether or not Mercedes–Benz will continue to focus on native applications, or take a broader device-agnostic mobile web approach, still remains an open question.

Related links:
• Mercedes-Benz USA and Hughes Telematics Launch New Telematics Service: mbrace™; PRNewswire, 11.16.09
• Mercedes-Benz Launches Digital Tele Aid; MBUSA press release, 11.19.04
• Mercedes-Benz site for mbrace subscribers
• Zipcar iPhone App
• mbrace Comparison Chart [pdf]

Images credit:
All images appear courtesy of Mercedes-Benz USA

Headlightblog.com: What were the key business drivers behind the creation of the mobile website for MBUSA?
James Spahr: The goal of the mobile website was to create a destination that mobile advertising could ultimately be driven toward. The point was to deliver products and information about the new E-Class, whether you were directed to the site from a mobile ad, accessed the site directly on your mobile phone or, while sitting in front of the TV, saw the URL and typed it in.

This view of James’s desktop displays the prototype he built for the mbusa.com mobile site along with an iPhone and BlackBerry simulator; James is pictured in the iSight window.

The purpose of the mobile site was to give you more information about the E-Class and we decided to create some very mobile-specific functionality and content, including a comparison tool between the E-Class and its primary competitors, and to do it in a way that was highly focused. So, when you compared the E-Class to an Audi of a comparable price and body style, you would see the main differentiators. You wouldn’t really see all the specifications, just the key points of differentiation.

The other piece of functionality was “Find a dealership,” although we didn’t have time or budget to implement any geolocation or the new GPS API; it’s mainly about entering a ZIP code and getting a list of local dealerships.

HBDC: Was the mobile URL displayed in television advertising? Did you create a distinct URL for the site, for example m.mbusa.com?
James: The URL gets redirected based on the user agent so it’s the same URL -– www.mbusa.com — desktop or mobile. The mobile gets directed to a different experience, and the reason why it happens that way is because the Mercedes-Benz site is done entirely in Flash. Prior to the E-Class launch, there was no mobile presence at all.

HBDC: How large is the site page-wise?
James: Roughly a half-dozen templates; probably 40 pages in total. For example, vehicle comparisons were a single page but all one template.

HBDC: How long did it take to develop?
James: It was one week of design, one week of development and another week for QA.

HBDC: So, this was essentially a device-agnostic mobile website? How wide a net did you cast across devices? Or, did you simply target specific smartphones?
James: We targeted smartphones — basically with an html site designed to work on a smaller screen. It was QA-tested on an iPhone and on one or two Blackberry models. The reason why we chose those models was because we had initially looked at stats on what mobile devices were hitting mbusa.com, and iPhone was clearly around the 90 percent mark, followed by an array of Blackberry devices.

HBDC: What Blackberry models did you test?
James: 8800s. We were QAing against Blackberry emulators and the devices we had.

HBDC: Was this built completely in-house?
James: Our tech team was co-located [at Mercedes-Benz USA HQ in N.J. and the Razorfish New York offices].

HBDC: Did you get a sense for how this relates to the experience at a dealership? Did you see this as having direct benefit to dealers?
James: We were well aware that almost 40 percent of traffic on Cars.com is from mobile devices on the dealership. So we know what people are doing. Still a little fuzzy about why they are doing it. It’s assumed that people are doing it to verify information. So, you’re on the dealership lot and the salesperson is your only source of information, which isn’t something necessarily that people trust. So I think people are using the mobile phone as a second opinion and we designed the comparison feature for mobile specifically thinking about that use case. So, if I’m on the BMW lot and I’m also considering the Mercedes-Benz I can pull up the comparisons and say “Well I’m looking at this BMW and now I can see how it compares to a Mercedes-Benz and now I know the types of questions I want to ask the dealer.”

HBDC: Were there any other key user scenarios or use cases you wanted to support with this mobile site?
James: Being able to get somebody to a dealership. For example, when the user requests driving directions we link them off to Google maps and the iPhone just brings them right to the maps application. A similar experience happens on the Blackberry so they are able to get to the native map application using the GPS functionality — if it exists — and get driving directions through there.

HBDC: Did you at any point consider making this a native app for iPhone? Why did you go the mobile web route when Mercedes-Benz demographics seem to support an iPhone app version?
James: There was definitely discussion about that. I’m of the opinion that we did the right thing for a couple of reasons. Having the html site — even if catered to work on the iPhone — just basically means that we get that much more reach to more devices. It means we use existing workflows to update and manage content. An app isn’t necessarily easy to update with content unless you build it that way and then essentially you’re building a lot of infrastructure that you’re getting for free because the web is an environment you already know how to work within. Also, unless you need offline data access or a tremendous amount of speed, or use of the camera, there’s probably no reason to do it as an app. Especially if we are talking about people getting comparison data or finding directions to a dealership — the mobile experience is all dependent on them having the foresight to install the app beforehand. I think it’s a whole lot easier for people just to visit the site.

–Interview conducted by Kyle Outlaw

Image credit:
Desktop screenshot provided by James Spahr; screenshot of the Mercedes-Benz E350 Coupe vs BMW 328i side-by-side comparison on the mbusa.com mobile site appears courtesy of Mercedes-Benz USA.