Personalized search offers dealers greater speed, more relevant results and accuracy

ATLANTA – Dealers looking for better online search results need to look no further as a result of Manheim’s launch of the automotive industry’s first intelligent search for wholesale inventory on OVE. This capability will reduce search time and deliver more accurate and personalized search results to clients using OVE, a digital channel within the Manheim Marketplace, a first-of-its-kind, omni-channel experience.

“We listen to our clients and are fully committed to making ongoing upgrades to ensure they can easily and efficiently transact with us in a digital environment that they trust,” said Zach Hallowell, vice president, Manheim Digital Marketplace and RMS Automotive. “We will continue evolving our industry-leading digital assets to anticipate and meet the needs and preferences of buyers and sellers. Our goal is to enable clients to make faster, smarter decisions through a modern, personalized online experience.”

With around-the-clock access to the world’s largest digital inventory, OVE is the one place to search more than 100,000 vehicles daily from commercial and dealer inventory, independent auctions and Manheim. In addition to seeing adjusted Manheim Market Report (MMR) pricing, clients can access condition reports, post-sale inspections and other assurance products on OVE to boost buyer and seller trust and confidence in online transactions.

As an integral element in the Manheim Marketplace, OVE serves 66,000 active users and 900,000 monthly visits, while handling over 500,000 competitive marketplace transactions annually beyond the off-lease, grounding dealer purchase.

Personalized vehicle recommendations

OVE’s intelligent search uses machine learning in order to learn clients’ behaviors and preferences over time. The new search shows results in order of most relevant to that client and offers more personalized vehicle recommendations specific to each buyer. Clients can sort search results by Relevance, Newly Listed, % of MMR or 11 other parameters. In the future, the continuously-learning search engine will start taking clients’ bid and purchase history into account in order to serve up increasingly more relevant inventory recommendations over time.

Accurate, optimized search results

The new search provides a comprehensive set of search enhancements that optimize the presentation of information on each listing, ensuring that clients receive the search results that they expect. Search filters display the number of matching vehicles for each attribute, allowing clients to refine their search with key information at a glance. A “new listings” indicator appears for vehicles that have not been re-listed by the same seller and VIN, and new listings are presented first whenever clients run a saved search. Additionally, a live countdown timer appears for listings that will expire in less than 24 hours.

Fast, flexible search experience

With a new auto-complete feature, clients can quickly see matching inventory prepopulate as they type in the search field. With just a few keystrokes or taps, OVE’s enhanced search capability matches inventory, sellers, auction locations and key vehicle attributes such as color and location.

About Manheim North America (www.manheim.com)

Manheim® is North America’s leading provider of vehicle remarketing services, connecting buyers and sellers to the largest wholesale used vehicle marketplace and most extensive auction network. Through 127 traditional and mobile auction sites and diverse digital channels, the company helps dealer and commercial clients achieve business results by providing innovative end-to-end inventory solutions. Approximately 18,000 employees enable Manheim to register about 8 million used vehicles per year, facilitate transactions representing nearly $57 billion in value and generate annual revenues of $3 billion. Headquartered in Atlanta, Manheim North America is a Cox Automotive™ brand. For more information, visit http://press.manheim.com.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling and owning cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across 100+ countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. coxautoinc.com

All-New Enterprise Module Debuts at NADA 2018, Drives Efficiency Across Rooftops

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL (March 19, 2018) – vAuto is helping dealer groups gain greater operational efficiency through a more holistic view of their used vehicle inventory across rooftops with Provision Enterprise, an all-new module within the Provision system.

vAuto’s Provision offers dealer principals the most comprehensive used-vehicle market data and inventory management decision-making insights in the industry. With the Enterprise module, dealer principals and managers can more easily view and compare used vehicle inventory and metrics across individual rooftops and the group to identify opportunities to improve sales and profitability.

“In today’s margin-compressed environment, a dealership group can’t afford to compete against itself,” said Randy Kobat, senior vice president of Inventory Software Solutions for Cox Automotive’s Retail Solutions Group. “With Provision Enterprise, dealer principals will be able to unify rooftops and seamlessly oversee inventory management across their stores from one single dashboard, creating a more cohesive data and insights hub to maximize inventory potential.”

The new Provision Enterprise module includes:

Provision Enterprise Dashboard: Enables dealer groups to gain a live, top down view of important inventory insights and metrics across all rooftops.

Centralized Appraising: Allows for group-level input and oversight of appraisals at individual stores, and offers strategic recommendations to place a vehicle at a store based on inventory need and favorable market conditions. 

Transfer Advantage: Identifies “in” and “cross”-market opportunities where an individual store’s inventory may have greater retail potential at another rooftop based on market conditions.

From appraisal to transfer, all three components of Provision Enterprise work together to drive increased efficiency and profitability potential across locations. Through this end-to-end approach, a dealership group’s rooftops will be better equipped to compete together as one enterprise- a necessity in today’s hyper-competitive used-vehicle market. 

“The Enterprise dashboard makes it a lot easier and more efficient to compare stores and identify opportunities to improve,” said Troy Idom, digital director for the four-store Natchez (MS) Auto Group. “It’s become a regular part of our weekly meetings with each store. Managers can see everything in black and white, and know where they are and where they should be.”

vAuto will be debuting the Enterprise module as a no-cost enhancement for Provision dealers at the NADA 2018 convention in Las Vegas.

About vAuto

vAuto® provides innovative technology, tools and business intelligence to thousands of dealerships across the United States and Canada, helping them compete more effectively and increase new/used vehicle sales volumes and profits. Founded in 2005, vAuto revolutionized dealers’ used vehicle operations with the groundbreaking Provision® suite of tools. Leveraging The Velocity Method of Management®, pioneered by vAuto’s visionary founder, Dale Pollak, the Provision suite guides used vehicle acquisition, appraisals, pricing, merchandising and more based on real-time, local market supply-and-demand data. In 2014, vAuto combined the Velocity method with the power of incentive management to create the Conquest™ new vehicle inventory management and pricing tool. In 2016, vAuto launched Stockwave to serve as the foundation for a suite of wholesale inventory acquisition solutions. Headquartered near Chicago, Illinois, vAuto is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling and owning cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across 100+ countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. coxautoinc.com.

 CHICAGO, March 20, 2018 -- LotLinx, the industry’s #1 Automotive artificial intelligence (AI) announced today that Jim O’Sullivan will join the company’s board of directors, adding senior leadership and an accomplished background to help its team drive measureable results for dealerships.

O’Sullivan’s career as an automotive executive spans 42 years, with a proven track record at Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation. He previously served as President and CEO of Mazda North American Operations, where he was instrumental in the company’s global growth.

O’Sullivan currently serves as Managing Partner of motormindz, an automotive innovation engine focused on the discovery and implementation of emerging solutions and technologies aimed at solving current and future state challenges within all verticals of the industry. O’Sullivan joins LotLinx at a critical time as the company continues to grow into a key AI technology provider to the automotive industry.

“We are pleased to add Jim’s expertise and strategic vision to the team,” says Len Short, Founder of LotLinx. “Jim has been instrumental in helping a range of companies, from major automakers to smaller startups. His diverse background, unique insight and seasoned leadership will benefit us and our mission to help dealers find long-term success.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to provide thought leadership to one of the more innovative companies in the space,” says Jim O’Sullivan. “AI technology has affected every aspect of the car business, including how cars are bought and sold.  LotLinx has built a great organization, business model, and platform that provides real value to OEMs and dealers alike. I look forward to mentoring the team and helping the company build on its already great reputation.”

This month, LotLinx will join key industry players and executives at the 2018 NADA Expo in Las Vegas, March 22-25 at booth 5058C. To learn more please visit www.LotLinx.com

About LotLinx

LotLinx is an award-winning Automotive AI company dedicated to empowering automotive dealers and the agencies that work with them, up to the OEM level. LotLinx-VIN Specific™ AI can transform dealer results, dramatically increasing online engagement and net-new shoppers while eliminating digital advertising waste. Founded in 2012 and based in Chicago, LotLinx works with thousands of dealers including rooftops under the nation’s Top 100 auto groups, and recently expanded into the Canadian market. For more visit www.lotlinx.com

vAuto Digital Assistant adds Amazon Alexa skill; vAuto’s Nexi To Debut at NADA Next Month

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL (March 12, 2018) – vAuto is announcing another industry first—Nexi, the automotive industry’s first Digital Assistant for dealerships. Nexi will debut at the 2018 NADA Show in Las Vegas.

Through a skill for Amazon Alexa, available on Echo Devices, Nexi helps dealers access their inventory, sell cars and generate profit. The cloud-based service is capable of answering a full range of questions on inventory, local market data, operations and more.

“Dealers are incredibly busy and we’ve arrived at a time when voice-enabled assistance can help them multi-task and make the right decisions more efficiently and effectively,” said Dale Pollak, founder of vAuto and Executive Vice President of Cox Automotive. “Nexi is the industry’s first skill that helps dealers know the critical conditions and tasks that need their attention now. Nexi provides this information in the most efficient manner possible—by voice through the Amazon Alexa skill, as well as emails, text messages and notices within vAuto applications.”

The Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review published a study of more than 3,000 business executives, managers, and analysts in 112 countries and 21 industries, called Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence. Of the findings:

• Eighty-four percent of respondents say AI will enable them to obtain or sustain a competitive advantage. 
• Eighty-three percent believe AI is a strategic priority for their businesses today.
• Sixty-three percent believe the pressure to reduce costs will require their organizations to use AI in the next five years.

“Retail automotive is ripe for AI,” Pollak said. “Thanks to margin compression, dealers are working harder than ever while making less money. The answer to this problem is increased operational efficiencies, and Nexi helps dealers take a significant step in this direction.”

The Nexi AI-enhanced service will be offered at no additional cost to all vAuto customers who use Stockwave, vAuto’s proprietary solution to help dealers analyze their current inventory.

With Stockwave, Nexi can alert dealers when wholesale vehicles that meet a dealer’s profile and profit objectives are available. Over time, Nexi will also work with vAuto’s Provision and Conquest solutions to call out general inventory management tasks that need attention or are overdue.

About vAuto 
vAuto® provides innovative technology, tools and business intelligence to thousands of dealerships across the United States and Canada, helping them compete more effectively and increase new/used vehicle sales volumes and profits. Founded in 2005, vAuto revolutionized dealers’ used vehicle operations with the groundbreaking Provision® suite of tools. Leveraging The Velocity Method of Management®, pioneered by vAuto’s visionary founder, Dale Pollak, the Provision suite guides used vehicle acquisition, appraisals, pricing, merchandising and more based on real-time, local market supply-and-demand data. In 2014, vAuto combined the Velocity method with the power of incentive management to create the Conquest™ new vehicle inventory management and pricing tool. In 2016, vAuto launched Stockwave to serve as the foundation for a suite of wholesale inventory acquisition solutions. Headquartered near Chicago, Illinois, vAuto is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling and owning cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across 100+ countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. coxautoinc.com

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Data Cloud today launched an advanced data training and marketing program to help savvy auto dealer agencies better use digital data. Oracle also announced the first nine leading Tier 3 auto marketing agencies to qualify for the rigorous program and receive Oracle Data Cloud's Auto Elite Data Marketer (EDM) designation. Those companies included: C-4 Analytics, Dealer Inspire, Dealers United, Goodway Group, L2TMedia, SocialDealer, Stream Marketing, Team Velocity, and TurnKey Marketing. Oracle's Auto Elite Data Marketer program will help agencies effectively allocate their marketing resources as advertising budgets shift from offline media to digital platforms.

"As the automotive industry goes through an era of transformational change, dealers are literally where the rubber meets the road, and they need cutting edge marketing tools to help maintain or grow market share," said Joe Kyriakoza, VP and GM of Automotive for the Oracle Data Cloud. "Tier 3 marketers know that reaching the right audience drives measurable campaign results. By increasing the data skills of our marketing agency partners, Oracle can help them directly impact and improve their clients' campaign results."

Oracle Data Cloud's Auto Elite Data Marketer Program includes:

1. Education & training - Expert training to the marketing agency and their extended teams on advanced targeting strategies and audience planning techniques
2. Customized collateral - Co-branded collateral pieces to support client marketing efforts, including summary sheets, decks, activation guides, and other materials.
3. Co-branding marketing - Co-branded marketing initiatives through thought leadership, speaking opportunities, and co-hosted webinars.
4. Strategic sales support - Access to Oracle's specialized Retail Solutions Team and the Oracle Data Hotline to support strategic pitches, events, and RFP inquiries.

"We are proud to have worked with Oracle Data Cloud since the beginning, shaping the program together to drive more business for dealers using audience data," said Joe Chura, CEO of Dealer Inspire. "Our team is excited to continue this relationship as an Elite Data Marketer, empowering Dealer Inspire clients with the unique advantage of utilizing Oracle data for automotive retail targeting."

"We are consumed with data that allows for hyper-personalization and better targeting of in-market consumers," said David Boice, CEO and Chairman of Team Velocity Marketing. "Oracle is a new goldmine of data to drive excellent sales and service campaigns and a perfect complement to our Apollo Technology Platform."  According to Joe Castle, Founder of SOCIALDEALER, "We are excited to be one of the few Auto Elite Data Marketers which provides us a deeper level of custom audience data access from Oracle. Our companies look forward to working closely to further deliver a superior ROI to all our dealership and OEM relationships."

Through the Auto Elite Data Marketer program, retail marketers learn how to use Oracle's expansive selection of automotive audiences, which cover the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle, like in-market car shoppers, existing owners, and individuals needing auto finance, credit assistance, or vehicle service. This comprehensive data set allows clients to precisely target the right prospects for any automotive retail campaign. Oracle has teamed up with industry leading data providers to build the robust dataset, like IHS Markit's Polk for vehicle ownership and intent data, Edmunds.com for online car shopper data and TransUnion the trusted source for consumer finance audiences.

Oracle Data Cloud plans to expand the Auto Elite Data Marketer program to include additional dealer marketing agencies, as well as working directly with dealers and dealer groups and their media partners to use data effectively for advanced targeting and audience planning efforts. For more information about the Auto Elite Data Marketer program, please contact the Oracle Auto team at dealersolutions@oracle.com.

Oracle Data Cloud 
Oracle Data Cloud operates the BlueKai Data Management Platform and the BlueKai Marketplace, the world's largest audience data marketplace. Leveraging more than $5 trillion in consumer transaction data, more than five billion global IDs and 1,500+ data partners, Oracle Data Cloud connects more than two billion consumers around the world across their devices each month. Oracle Data Cloud is made up of AddThis, BlueKai, Crosswise, Datalogix and Moat.

Oracle Data Cloud helps the world's leading marketers and publishers deliver better results by reaching the right audiences, measuring the impact of their campaigns and improving their digital strategies. For more information and free data consultation, contact The Data Hotline at www.oracle.com/thedatahotline

About Oracle
The Oracle Cloud offers complete SaaS application suites for ERP, HCM and CX, plus best-in-class database Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) from data centers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com.

Trademarks
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Oracle

Related Links

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On Wednesday, leading online automotive marketplace Cars.com announced a definitive agreement to acquire tech companies Dealer Inspire and Launch Digital Marketing (LDM) for $165 million in cash plus other considerations for performance.

Dealer Inspire provides modern websites and a suite of online retailing solutions. Launch Digital Marketing provides advanced digital marketing to automotive dealers. Cars.com will supplement by integrating and distributing the solutions through its extensive sales network.

Dealer Inspire and LDM have grown rapidly over the last few years as the flexibility of their platform and the results of their marketing strategies have gained popularity with dealers. Two executives from Cars.com will join the Dealer Inspire team, Gregg McGivney as COO and Darren Haygood as CRO, to continue scaling the DI business. Joe Chura will remain as CEO, and Dealer Inspire will continue to operate independently, although the Cars.com advertising team will grow the reach of the Launch Digital Marketing products alongside the Cars.com advertising solutions.

There is large potential to expand the AI capabilities of the Dealer Inspire suite with the analytics of the vast Cars.com consumer footprint.

“Cars.com is an enabler to the retail dealer system, and with the acquisition of these innovative technology companies, we are well positioned to drive digital dealer solutions forward by providing the most comprehensive set of solutions for dealers to generate sales and efficiencies,” said Alex Vetter, President and CEO of Cars.com. “The acquisition of Dealer Inspire and LDM aligns with our strategy of integrating new capabilities and additional talent to accelerate organic growth, strengthen the retail experience, deepen dealer connections and improve clarity of attribution while generating additional cash flow and enhancing shareholder value.”

Both Dealer Inspire and LDM, with their digital services ranging from providing progressive dealer websites to digital automotive marketing services, are expected to be complementary extensions to the Cars.com online marketplace platform and add to its suite of dealer solutions.

“I’m proud of what Dealer Inspire and LDM have built in the last few years,” said Joe Chura, co-founder and CEO of Dealer Inspire and LDM, “but we are not even close to reaching our potential. Cars.com provides us the data to enhance the intelligence of our current and future product offerings, and a much larger distribution than we have today. Cars.com also shares our mission of innovation and dealer advocacy and together we can drive our industry forward.”

With the acquisition of Dealer Inspire, customers will have access to new features on Cars.com such as: 

• Conversations℠: a messaging platform with an AI-created centralized hub for dealer-customer communication to improve quality and response time, as well as to cut down on operating costs.
• Online Shopper: an end-to-end digital retailing solution that allows shoppers to compare a wide range of financial considerations as they complete their purchase. When integrated with Conversations℠, dealers can provide a more hands-on approach to guide customers through transactions, collaborate on terms, and even provide a live vehicle tour via video chat.

Additionally, the acquisition will broaden the suite of dealer solutions provided by Cars.com with the following new offerings:

• Fuel: an inventory advertising program used to create customized ads and keyword lists “based on real-time inventory data and logic.” Fuel also includes predictive shopper intent.
• Custom-designed and flexible website platforms for highly personalizable digital campaigns. Dealer Inspire websites use intelligent tech that’s both easy to customize and self-manage as well as supported with customer service.
• LDM: customized marketing and customer acquisition solutions.

Dealer Inspire and LDM earned $41 million in annual revenue and $4 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2017. They have over 1,700 customers and some 400 employees.

The transaction is expected to close this month, subject to customary closing conditions. Under the terms of the agreement, Cars.com will pay $165 million in case at the close with additional incentives up to $40 million for over-performance over the next three years.

Cars.com expects to achieve a 10 to 11 percent revenue growth this year. The company’s 2017 preliminary unaudited results consisted of approximately $626 million in annual revenue, with a net income of about $242 million including a tax benefit of $120 million, and an adjusted EBITDA of about $239 million (38 percent of revenue).

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is the financial advisor to Cars.com, with Seyfarth Shaw LLC acting as the company’s legal counsel. Greenwich Capital and Bryan Cave LLC are acting as financial advisor and legal counsel, respectively, to Dealer Inspire and LDM.

Click here to read the full press release.

What are Consumers Buying Online? New Survey Says: EVERYTHING!
—‘State of Ecommerce in America’ Study Reveals the Latest Consumer Trends—

DENVER — Adtaxi, one of the nation’s fastest growing digital marketing agencies, released the results of its inaugural State of Ecommerce in America survey, an in-depth look at ecommerce trends and consumer preferences nationwide. From small inexpensive household items to mega, high-priced purchases such as automobiles, the scope and willingness of consumers to make purchases online has proven to be powerfully pervasive.

The survey reveals just how often consumers are making purchases online, what they are purchasing and the method in which they are purchasing them.

Key Highlights
·A majority of consumers (55%) would be happy to purchase everything online

·Convenience was the number one reason (50%) people shop online

·Seventy-two percent of consumers purchase something online at least once a month

·A third of consumers (32%) would purchase a car online

·Three out of five (59%) consumers purchase clothing online in a typical month

·When shopping for a product online, the most common (46%) first step of the process is visiting an online retailer like Amazon or eBay, whereas only 16% visit the actual brand’s site

·Running out of necessities most commonly (33%) prompts consumers’ online purchases

·Older consumers (60+) are much more concerned with sharing info (27%) than shipping time (4%), whereas the opposite (9% and 22% respectively) is true for younger consumers (18-29)

·Shipping costs are consumers’ least favorite (40%) aspect of shopping online
 

“These findings show a clear and growing interest from consumers to move away from traditional brick-and-mortar retail models and more toward ecommerce,” said Evan Tennant, National Director of Ecommerce at Adtaxi. “With the digital evolution of retail, consumers are becoming increasingly accustomed to the convenience of shopping from their couch, on the go, or virtually anytime they need things most—and all at the most competitive price—something that was never possible before.”

Webrooming vs. Showrooming

The survey also found that a large majority of consumers factor online shopping into their purchasing decisions—regardless of whether actually making the purchase in store or online.

·Nine out of ten (89%) consumers have gone to a retail store first and then looked for better prices online

·Conversely, nine out of ten (91%) consumers have also done shopping research online before going to a retail store

·A majority (54%) of consumers who do research online first ask the retailer to match the online price

“For marketers and retailers, these findings are extremely noteworthy, demonstrating the dominant role ecommerce plays in the consumer purchase journey – regardless of where they end up completing the purchase,” said Chris Loretto, Executive Vice President of Adtaxi. “This is definitely important for the retailer to consider when they are targeting consumers.”

Methodology

The study was conducted online using Survey Monkey. One thousand participants were polled, spanning across the United States. The demographic of those polled represented a broad range in household income, geographic location, age and gender.

### 

About Adtaxi 
Founded in 2010 within Digital First Media, Adtaxi made its mark in programmatic advertising before expanding into search, social, email and native. Over time, Adtaxi has refined and perfected its conversions-based approach, which became the foundation of the Magellan optimization technology launched in 2015. Adtaxi functions as a true partner with its clients, acting as a single point of contact and support through multi-platform campaign cycles. Find Adtaxi on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Company Expands Offices and Builds Momentum Toward Upcoming Canadian and Enterprise Rollout

CHICAGO, November 14, 2017 -- LotLinx, the industry’s #1 Automotive AI, today announced the addition of two new members to its executive staff. Bob Sherman, formerly of R.L. Polk & Co, a company that provides automotive information and marketing solutions, has been named Vice President of Enterprise Business Development. And Kim De Palma, who previously led Business Development for call management company CallRevu, is added as Vice President, Enterprise Partner Development. Both join at a critical juncture as LotLinx begins to roll out its AI-driven TURN platform to dealers across Canada, offering VIN-specific targeting and a level of transparency never before seen in the marketplace.

Sherman has been in the automotive sector for nearly 25 years, with a focus on data for marketing and attribution purposes. He was a major driver of success at Polk (which was acquired by IHS Markit) and responsible for approaching third-party companies to sell data back into the marketplace. Sherman has track record for successfully placing different automotive vendors together to form lasting partnerships.

And Ms. DePalma is an expert in automotive dealer communications, and has been instrumental in brokering strategic partnerships with dealers across the US and Canada. Prior to CallRevu, she was Director of Conference Operations for Digital Dealer, developing a robust contact network while supporting events and creating solutions that increased the company’s market share, customer retention and profitability.

To support this growth, LotLinx has recently expanded to larger offices in the historic Downtown Chicago Loop. The move accommodates the company’s fast-growing team as they continue enhance the industry’s leading digital platform for increasing inventory turn by targeting prospective car shoppers and delivering them to conversion-optimized VDPs.

“We're very pleased to add Bob and Kim to our team. Ms. DePalma is a highly respected communications and business development leader in the automotive sector with a strong track record of optimizing sales and marketing results. Mr. Sherman has a true understanding of how data drives performance in today's digital ecosystem," says Eric Brown, President of LotLinx. "We are very fortunate to have these two exceptional and highly respected leaders join our team.”

Outsell also announces support for PCG Companies’ Google Analytics specifications.

Minneapolis, Minn. – November 6, 2017 – Outsell, which drives more revenue for auto dealers by transforming how they engage customers and prospects throughout their lifecycle, announced today that its CEO Mike Wethington has been invited to present at the inaugural Automotive Analytics & Attribution Summit (AAAS), taking place Nov 8-9, 2017 in Boca Raton, Fla. Wethington will speak about best practices for attribution in digital marketing.

The AAAS is the first event dedicated to online marketing analytics and attribution for the automotive industry. Auto dealers and manufacturers invest heavily in marketing, yet few standards exist for tracking consumer influence, engagement and conversion. PCG Companies (the organizer of the event) believes that the auto industry and its agency partners and vendors must work closer together to determine the influences that result in a sale.

“In the past year, we’ve seen an enormous increase in dealers’ desire to better understand the analytics of their marketing spend to improve its effectiveness and efficiency,” said Wethington. “But there is a learning curve. My AAAS panel session will focus on best practices for harnessing and using the data dealers collect to improve digital marketing effectiveness and to measure what’s working and what’s not, so dealers can funnel their budgets into programs that drive the best results.”

One key topic for AAAS is UTM code standards. UTM codes are used within digital marketing campaigns to help marketers track results. Today, Outsell also announced its full support of Google Analytics (GA) events and tagging specifications published by PCG Companies. Outsell program performance can now be easily viewed and inspected in GA, which is a big win for auto dealers. By supporting the GA specifications published by PCG Companies, Outsell’s clients will have fully transparent reporting, and be able to verify Outsell’s monthly marketing reports. “Outsell has always believed that an open ecosystem and full transparency should be key requirements to really advance the state of automotive customer engagement and its effectiveness for dealers. Our dealer customers look to us as a trusted advisor regarding customer engagement methods and their marketing spend,” said Wethington.

“Outsell has transformed digital marketing for the automotive industry and is now leading the charge in helping to create standards and offering dealers easy-to-use tools that enable them to leverage analytics techniques to understand and improve dealer performance metrics,” said Brian Pasch, Founder of PCG Companies. “I commend Outsell for joining in this movement toward greater transparency in automotive marketing reporting and analytics. This solves a critical problem for dealers – clear data to help improve their marketing mix.”

To learn more about the AAAS event, visit http://automotiveattributionsummit.com/.

About Outsell

Outsell drives more revenue for auto dealers by transforming how they engage consumers throughout their individual lifecycles. Outsell makes dealers’ lives easier by keeping them in front of customers and prospects using AI-driven, automated marketing communications across channels – helping them retain more customers and attract new ones. Dealers using Outsell’s proprietary technology are tipped off when consumers are most ready to engage, buy or service. Every day, the Outsell customer engagement platform listens to and manages the engagement of over twenty million consumers for dealers representing all major automotive brands.

# # #

Nenni will use his three decades of auto tech experience with Dealer Specialties and Dominion Dealer Solutions to enhance vendor and dealer operations. 

Maitland, Fla.(October 18, 2017) - T3 Consulting Group, an automotive consulting firm that advises automotive vendors on business structure, growth plans, and marketing strategies to increase profitability, announced today the addition of George Nenni, former Vice President of Dominion Dealer Solutions, to their roster of influential advisors. 

 

With more than three decades of automotive technology expertise, Nenni will focus on providing B2B consulting for T3 clients in the automotive dealer service provider (DSP) marketplace.  He will leverage his technology, M&A, and senior leadership experience to bring about success for DSPs and dealerships of any size.  

“George has built an exceptional reputation for himself in the industry due to his work ethic, rock solid business advice, and results-oriented attitude. We are thrilled to welcome him to T3 and know that he brings tremendous value to our clients both today and well into the future,” said Stan Thomas, Managing Partner of T3. 

Nenni will use his extensive experience to provide T3 clients objective insight, troubleshooting advice and perhaps most importantly, will fill specific knowledge gaps that in-house teams can’t provide in order to fuel growth, efficiency, and potentially position firms for acquisition.  Specifically, he will help auto technology providers analyze, develop, and implement actionable strategies in the areas of management, business development, marketing, operations, and product development for maximum growth. 

 “I’ve known the principals at T3 for a long time and have always been impressed with the level of care and skill they bring to each client,” said Nenni. “I am honored to join their team and look forward to helping tech companies in the space initiate change to increase bottom line profits.” 

 

Nenni began his automotive career with Dealer Specialties in 1993, and remained with the company after acquisition by Dominion Dealer Solutions.  He grew to not only oversee Dealer Specialties sales and operations, but overall automotive operations at Dominion.  He has spoken at numerous automotive conferences including Digital Dealer, JD Power Roundtable, and Internet Battleplan, among others, and is a regular contributor to major automotive publications.

Both Nenni and Thomas will be available and taking appointments during the DrivingSales Executive Summit, October 22-24 in Las Vegas. To book an appointment during the show, please contact Tara Dobbin at tara.dobbin@t3.auto.

To find out more about T3 Consulting Group, please visit www.t3consultinggroup.com. 

 

About T3 Consulting Group: 

 

T3 Consulting Group advises automotive vendors on business structure, growth plans, and marketing strategies and helps facilitate distribution partnerships for their clients. Working across the spectrum of small startups, to medium-sized companies, to large enterprises, T3 helps grow products, management teams and revenue for their clients. Their executive team are seasoned professionals with experience in all aspects of what it takes to grow, mature, and develop the traits of successful entrepreneurs. Find our more by visiting www.t3consultinggroup.com”.