- May 1, 2005
- 5,999
- 1,912
- Awards
- 12
- First Name
- Jeff
"if you go down to the local bus station and ask some one, any one, if they wanted to buy a used car, where would they go, 95% of them would say Google."
Joe, I've done this and continue to do this all the time, random people, friends and family at random times. I hear you loud and clear that most start with a "search (engine)" but what the customer is thinking and what they are doing are 2 different of the same.
Through my years of asking this question "if you were in the market for a vehicle, where do you start your shopping". I have received and continue to receive multiple answers. From Autotrader, Cars, newspaper (I still hear that but very little), Google, Edmunds, last week I heard YouTube, go to the dealership, my previous dealer, AOL, Yahoo, and someone just the other day replied with Vehix..go figure.
However, for many of these people that start out with an online information or inventory portal website..and this always kills me...are using Google to get there.
Let's go to Autotrader - open browser - Google or bing appears - type into Google "auto trader" or "autotrader" or even "autotrader.com". Viola, the power of branding. Yes, using Google to get there but getting there non-the-less.
Again, I hear you loud and clear but I challenge your what seems to be dismissal of Branding and using traditional media (TV) to do so.
A solid Branding strategy uses several channels of marketing. Cars and AutoTrader are nowhere near the level of Kleenex but they have no doubt built "brands" to capture the audience of in market shoppers. This isn't an easy task considering consumers are in the market on average every 3-5 years.
The hard part: It's become so fragmented, where do you place your advertising dollars? People are inundated with advertising..what sticks? What works? Where do you Brand and where do you convert?
There you go Joe..encouragement for that post!
Joe, I've done this and continue to do this all the time, random people, friends and family at random times. I hear you loud and clear that most start with a "search (engine)" but what the customer is thinking and what they are doing are 2 different of the same.
Through my years of asking this question "if you were in the market for a vehicle, where do you start your shopping". I have received and continue to receive multiple answers. From Autotrader, Cars, newspaper (I still hear that but very little), Google, Edmunds, last week I heard YouTube, go to the dealership, my previous dealer, AOL, Yahoo, and someone just the other day replied with Vehix..go figure.
However, for many of these people that start out with an online information or inventory portal website..and this always kills me...are using Google to get there.
Let's go to Autotrader - open browser - Google or bing appears - type into Google "auto trader" or "autotrader" or even "autotrader.com". Viola, the power of branding. Yes, using Google to get there but getting there non-the-less.
Again, I hear you loud and clear but I challenge your what seems to be dismissal of Branding and using traditional media (TV) to do so.
A solid Branding strategy uses several channels of marketing. Cars and AutoTrader are nowhere near the level of Kleenex but they have no doubt built "brands" to capture the audience of in market shoppers. This isn't an easy task considering consumers are in the market on average every 3-5 years.
The hard part: It's become so fragmented, where do you place your advertising dollars? People are inundated with advertising..what sticks? What works? Where do you Brand and where do you convert?
There you go Joe..encouragement for that post!
