Dive Brief:
- Vehicle shopping site Autotrader unveiled a marketing campaign, "Test Drive," that takes viewers on a simulated racetrack to illustrate the improvements made to its website, per news made available to Marketing Dive. The creative also showcases how the site uses Kelley Blue Book Price Advisor on each listing.
- As part of the campaign, Autotrader is releasing 15- and 30-second TV spots. In one spot, the Kelley Blue Book Price Advisor dial with white, red and green pricing zones are shown, followed by a car drifting into the Fair Market Range of the vehicle. The effort is an extension of the company's "Shop All the Cars" campaign, which debuted in September.
- The latest push was created with independent ad agency Zambezi. It will air nationally across cable, radio, network and streaming television platforms, with a focus on entertainment, late night and sports programs, and feature a targeted integration with Hispanic audiences through Telemundo. Digital also factors heavily into Test Drive, with promotions running on social media, Hulu, YouTube, Pandora, Spotify and paid search.
Dive Insight:
Autotrader is taking an illustrative approach to promoting its refreshed website, using campaign creative to call out new features on the platform and the Kelley Blue Book integration. On top the TV spots, the brand is tapping into a number of popular digital marketing platforms beyond core drivers like search, including Spotify. The effort targeted at Hispanic audiences might prove fruitful as well, as more automakers are recognizing that the growing segment has frequently been underserved.
The changes to Autotrader's site are focused on increasing personalization through offerings like data-driven pricing and product details. Car buyers report less satisfaction with the price they paid for their vehicles and often don't trust that dealerships give them the best deal, according to a Cox Automotive Study cited by the brand. Delivering more personalized online shopping is one way that marketers can build trust with consumers. Forty-three percent of U.S. consumers report they're more likely to purchase from companies that personalize their experience, and 31% find value in services that automatically learn about their needs and put forward more tailored recommendations, according to an Accenture study.
Vehicle shopping sites continue to enhance their capabilities in turn, especially as they look to win over more millennials — a group that's buying fewer cars than older generations but at the same time shows preference toward mobile shopping. Autotrader competitor Cars.com recently added a machine learning-driven function to its digital pricing tools to identify vehicles that are most likely to sell quickly. Testing of the "Hot Car" badge led to double-digit increases in conversion for Cars.com, as well as particularly strong performance on mobile.
