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Dealers Superimposing their Pictures in Front of the Dealership

Thanks for jumping into the conversation David. You've got some balls coming in here :lol:

I visited your website and couldn't find any examples of your "superimposing" product. I assume you would classify that under your "Image Customization Interface." Anyway, can you provide some examples of what you consider a good effort?

First example where we used a photo of the dealership as the background. I take several shots dealership to try to get the most convincing shot.
acc8d9f8a0904937bd0491c5d8d0697e.jpg

This one is on a plain background. Not trying to fool anyone, just a clean look to get rid of clutter in the background and stand out online.

35e2d0477094ced3e558ee30e0e.jpg

If you don't start out right with a good background photo or layout, it looks fake quickly. The other pitfalls include if you have to shoot a car in the showroom or grass. I prefer a natural background if we can do it but if a dealer is really concerned with clutter or doesn't have a good spot and really wants this, it can be done well enough. More info at www.autouplinkse.com/photo-branding.
 
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I like the first one @David Hartley - it is believable enough for a product photo glory shot. the Porsche is too (call it good enough for this), but the photographer in me is supremely bothered by the obvious lighting differences.

So, how do you get good photos and backgrounds from busy dealerships?
 
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We use Auto Uplink USA for on the lot photography services at a number of our stores and highly recommend them!

We do not utilize the custom background service though as I feel this type of "photo enhancement" ends up looking too fake, especially depending on the weather and time of day.
 
I'm digging the post-it notes @JoePistell

Outside the box? Check!
No boundaries? Check!
Telling a story? Check!
Different? Check!
Cost? 0.000000000000000001 : Cha Ching!!!
View attachment 3444

On a side note- Anyone reading this sentence, I bet you read every post-it note on that picture didn't ya! LOL


This yardstick is Merchandising GENIUS in action.
upload_2018-2-27_9-48-1.png

Outside the box? (literally ;-) Check!
No boundaries? Check!
Telling a story? Check!
Different? Check!
Cost? 0.000000000000000001 : Cha Ching!!!


https://www.texasdirectauto.com/for-sale/truck/vehicle/1N6AD0ER6FN768459
 
Still don't like the dealership in the background unless it is for sale. When you look at the two, the focus is on the Porsche. If someone is in the market, that should be the only focus.

For the old guys, that know me, I had and alternative reason for jumping in here. After I retired, I started a picture business and hired a disabled Iraq combat veteran. He got lit up over there and suffers from PTSD. I trained him, set up his business and then gave it to him. Talking to other stores, I'm finding that many have gone in-house. I'm seeing horrible pictures and too many vehicles with stock photos. One store was missing over 100. That was the reason why I was asking what it costs to be on AutoTrader, these days. Unless, it has changed, it is outrageous.

It has made a big difference in this man's life and I would like to do more. I understand them, I spend time with them, teach them and give it to them.
 
Still don't like the dealership in the background unless it is for sale. When you look at the two, the focus is on the Porsche. If someone is in the market, that should be the only focus.
Dealers love having cars photographed in front of their building for branding purposes but doesn't every Chevrolet dealership look 100% identical now? :)

PS: Love what you're doing for the veterans! I've always shied away from jumping into the photo business because of the liability concerns and relatively low profit potential but it seems like the perfect opportunity for a vet.
 
He had some serious issues when I met him. He would fly of the handle at very little provocation. Completely changed from that. With his disability, he makes a decent living. He doesn't require benefits because he has them. He has a two year old son and his dedication to him is incredible. These guys need a focus and owning your own business gives them that. Gives them their pride back.
 
This yardst
ick is Merchandising GENIUS in action.

Outside the box? (literally ;-) Check!
No boundaries? Check!
Telling a story? Check!
Different? Check!
Cost? 0.000000000000000001 : Cha Ching!!!


https://www.texasdirectauto.com/for-sale/truck/vehicle/1N6AD0ER6FN768459
CarBiz is another dealership with better merchandising than most:
https://www.carbiz.com/inventory/used-2016-chevrolet-cruze-4dr-sdn-ltz-fwd-4dr-car-1g1pg5sb0g7226961

Having an awesome Dealer Inspire site also helps! Can't think of any other dealer website company out there that would develop a custom VDP like this for a client.

carbiz.JPG
 
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Why not display specific car features, like Sunroof, LED (Xenon) lights, leather, miles etc, instead of the ego driven thing ;-) (also that ego driven thing (stars) obscures the wheel)

Hello everyone! My name is Mike Benavides and I am contributing to DR for the first time. After more that 20 years in this industry creating and syndicating automotive data and software, I recently joined Xcite -- who's primary business is the physical and digital merchandising of vehicles. Here are my thoughts on the various topics discussed in this thread:

*Superimposing vehicles: I am not a fan of this practice for several reasons, including the lack of authenticity (in the very first photo, no less) and lack of continuity with the rest of your photo set. If you have a great facility and the space to shoot your vehicles there, go for it. Otherwise, dedicate a location for this activity (ideally in a consistent, controlled environment like a booth, scenic area, or space flanked with professional signage). If that isn't possible, backgrounds can be blurred and branded wrappers can be added.

*Branded wrappers: I am surprised by the "ego" comments. I believe the photo wrappers are an ideal tool to showcase and reinforce your dealership's visual identity, help your vehicles stand-out on a third-party site, highlight your physical and digital addresses, as well as display a trackable phone number for customers to respond directly.

*Features & options merchandising: First and foremost, this is about conveying value and defending price. There is a perfect storm of forces that make it very difficult to identify vehicles to the trim/style level, plus their installed options, packages and colors -- namely poor VIN decode capabilities, lack of OEM data & content support, disparate import operations, owner modifications and an aftermarket industry that is completely off the grid.

Identifying key features and options is essential to:
(1) determining the accurate value of a vehicle. Even used cars can vary by tens of thousands of dollars, depending on installed packages and options. This is especially difficult for incoming trade-ins that are outside your franchise brand. This affects nearly every transactional stakeholder in our industry -- retailers, wholesalers, auctions, lenders, insurers, etc.

(2) helping shoppers search/find vehicles that meet their needs (for many reasons, most third-party sites have abandoned feature-based searches), and

(3) allowing shoppers to quickly and easily identify these features and quantify their added value. Some third parties have done an excellent job of highlighting key features with intuitive icons and simple descriptions. Fortunately, the next generation of visual media will directly incorporate this icons and descriptions into photos, videos and 360 spins. Think of that great (prior) post on this thread with all of those post-it notes, but more visually appealing and (most importantly) automated.

My company has the unique ability to identify original installed options and syndicate the underlying codes and descriptions for all non-exotic brands. So far we have created some digital assets that our clients use to differentiate themselves, including a "photo" (inserted into the VDP photo set) which lists the key installed packages and their original MSRP values, plus a Digital Window Sticker which incorporates this data in a more conventional VDP visual format.

*VDP format: While it would be great to move away from layouts that combine photo sets, engagement boxes and an unreadable blob of features and specs, that's what we've got for the foreseeable future. Eventually, I'd like VDPs to be dominated by a more interactive experience. The latest 360-spins show the most promise towards that kind of engaging shopping experience that is content-rich and increasingly personalized.

Has anyone experimented with these 360-spin options?