Gaining traction for the Cox Automotive family of brands
The Attention Deficit
Car dealers are unique, with different demographics, age ranges, techniques and expertise. But they all know a good deal when they see one. When it comes to selling them digital marketing solutions, it’s just about giving them the best offer possible, right? Wrong. The dealer market is oversaturated, and dealers often don’t trust brands farther than they can throw them. So when the Cox Automotive family of brands (Dealer.com, Kelly Blue Book, Autotrader, and more) sought to stand out, they knew they had to engage with dealers authentically.
Creating Engagement
In an overwhelmed space, the best way to create a true relationship with dealers is to speak candidly. Afterall, dealers want to be treated like people, not products. So Cox Auto partnered with Hothouse across all three of its capabilities (Brand, Campaign and content) to develop an approach that communicated how Cox Auto’s digital marketing strengths could give dealers the edge they need. Through research, actionable insights, and boots-on-the-ground conversations with dealers, Hothouse developed a breadth of work that spans across all of Cox Auto’s family of brands that sells, without selling.
Impact
By focusing on dealer relationships, Cox Auto was able to cut through the market with refreshing content across the brand portfolio that spoke to dealers regardless of their age or the size of their dealership. While dealers are often shy to engage with technology, Cox Auto’s disarming approach showed them how expert data solutions could easily become a part of their marketing mix. And by demystifying the many sub-brands while highlighting the parent brand, dealers no longer had to navigate complicated product offerings, they simply had to know Cox Auto.
