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Is Cobalt getting better?

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#1
The more and more I review Cobalt websites the more I like what I see but I'm still not totally sold.

Here is a press release I can across when searching. have anyone else had experience with their newer "Flex" feature.


SEATTLE, WA - February 3, 2012 - Cobalt(r), a business unit of ADP Dealer Services (NASDAQ: ADP), today announced major enhancements to its market-leading digital marketing platform to provide dealers increased flexibility and control of their websites and advertising. These major innovations, Flex websites and Flex digital advertising packages, were guided by extensive input from dealers and dealer groups seeking to differentiate their stores, market all their profit centers, and exploit the latest digital marketing strategies. Cobalt's automotive digital marketing platform is the only solution on the market today that can provide the power of fully integrated digital advertising campaigns together with the flexibility and control dealers demand.

"Flex" Websites Highlights

* True drag-and-drop capabilities, allowing dealers to leverage a wide array of professional designs and then change their website layout in real-time
* Powerful and growing widget library to easily add functionality to dealer websites
* Flex websites are built on HTML 5 and are fully compatible with mobile devices and tablets

"Flex Websites are so easy to use that dealers can design their sites in minutes from an Apple iPad(r) or any desktop", said Paul Nagy, VP Core Products. "Over the past year we have seen a burst of innovation on Cobalt's digital marketing platform that has brought us industry honors for our SEO and Mobile technology. Today's announcement extends this streak by delivering dealers unmatched design choice, ease-of-use and flexibility."


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I know many dealers are forced to use Cobalt due to the rules set by the manufacturer. Let's face it, managing 2 websites is a lot of extra work. I would like to have only website to manage and with the changes Cobalt seems to be making, this might be an option for us.

What have your experiences been with the new "flex" features Cobalt is offering?

Thanks
 
#2
I recently changed the skins on our Lexus sites. It was easy and changed instantly. Lexus/Cobalt just announced the they are finally going to allow Lexus dealers to have their new cars posted to their websites. Currently, we have cartoon pictures of the vehicles (seriously). We have very little say in what goes on the website. We can not have reviews on our website unless we can furnish names and phone numbers of the reviewers. A separate website is also forbidden. In Cobalt's defense, their tech support is excellent.
 
#6
Stefan said:
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Stefan, At the very end is "flexibility" and "control". As you are painfully aware, Cobalt might be flexible but Lexus retains all of the control. I am pleased that we will have our new car inventory on the sites. I thought that we would have the actual pictures of the cars but apparently I'm living in fantasy land. At least, we will be going away from cartoon pictures of our cars to stock photos. That is an improvement. We will be able to list both of our stores inventories on each site which is a major plus. None of the dealers, in the market, will trade cars so we will be the only stores to pool inventories. With larger allocations in transit, we will, again, look like we are in business.
 
#7
ddavis said:
Stefan, At the very end is "flexibility" and "control". As you are painfully aware, Cobalt might be flexible but Lexus retains all of the control
Click to expand...

Yes they do; fortunately for us, it looks like Lexus is listening and actually taking action making changes. I can tell you are more things coming from Cobalt and Lexus. It looks to me like Lexus and Toyota are finally communicating, and more important trying to learn from each other by sharing technologies that work and changing what doesn't. Lets just hope they dont change directions :)
 
#9
Stefan said:
Yes they do; fortunately for us, it looks like Lexus is listening and actually taking action making changes. I can tell you are more things coming from Cobalt and Lexus. It looks to me like Lexus and Toyota are finally communicating, and more important trying to learn from each other by sharing technologies that work and changing what doesn't. Lets just hope they dont change directions :)
Click to expand...

What's the deal? Your new cars are already on your website.
 
#10
I’m the product marketing manager for the Cobalt Website platform and Flex is one of the most exciting enhancements I’ve seen at Cobalt. It definitely puts an end to the cookie-cutter idea and makes it so much easier and faster to build new pages on your site or change up your home page to reflect YOUR brand.

The Flex website enhancement is currently available in the Volkswagen program and will be launching to other programs very soon. And you haven’t seen it all yet - we have a few more surprises that haven’t been shown yet!

Great to hear you’re open to changing your mind about Cobalt – we are extremely focused on dealer feedback and Flex is a great demonstration of this. The Flex website enhancement is going to change how you see and do just about everything with your website. I’d love to offer you a free personal Flex tour – email me at [email protected] and I’ll get that setup.

We are very passionate about changing people’s long-held perceptions about Cobalt. What else could we do to improve your perception of Cobalt?

James Fabin
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Cobalt
 
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