For the most part, people are done either gloating or being down in the dumps about the results of the Super Bowl. But something that we haven’t forgotten is the commercials! They’re now running on regular TV or you’re seeing them before you watch YouTube.

Many of you filled out our survey asking which one was the biggest win, and the biggest flop, of the automotive commercials. After getting tons of responses, we’re confident enough to tell you who did the best, and who fell a little short.

Winners: Hyundai, Kia, Ford, and Audi.

These commercials couldn’t be more different; proving that it can be difficult to predict which type of ad will perform the best.

• Kia’s ad was a slapstick, laugh-out-loud commercial featuring Melissa McCarthy, and was the top winner, suggesting that comedy still rules the day when done right.

• Hyundai showed a highly sentimental and feel-good commercial about the military and their families, invoking a strong sense of community and country.

• Ford had a mix of sentimental and comedy with their “Go Further” commercial. The ad was also very relatable, making many people enjoy it even more.

• Audi chose to produce a emotional, and fairly political ad, about equal pay for women. They used a father/daughter scenario to tell the story.

Interestingly enough, some of the “winners” are also on the “loser” list! Why is this? Oftentimes popular commercials are also divisive, making people have a strong reaction either for or against them. Having marketing that is polarizing is often a win for companies, because it means that people are talking about the product or brand all the way around the board.

Losers: Alfa Romeo, Kia, Audi, and Honda.

• Alfa Romeo had 3 spots in the Super Bowl, totaling 120 seconds of airtime. Unfortunately, the ads all just looked like a regular luxury vehicle ad, and didn’t really stand out or seem impressive.

• Again, Kia and Audi hit their mark by having divisive ads, in a way forcing people to either love or hate them because of their strong presence.

• Honda unfortunately missed the mark even though they featured a wide range of celebrity cameos. This proves that it’s more about the content of the commercial than the celebs you get to appear!

But whether the commercial overall was a home run, or a dropped ball (I’m mixing my sports metaphors here…) the reality is that having a coveted Super Bowl spot results in an increase in traffic.

In the eight minutes following their commercial, visits to Alfa Romeo pages on Cars.com saw an incredible 1,179 percent increase in comparison to the same period prior to the airing of the spot, illustrating the big impact of their Super Bowl ad.

In comparison to Cars.com traffic over the four prior Sundays, automotive brands who advertised during the Super Bowl saw the following lifts to their advertised model pages:

• Alfa Romeo Giulia – 7,320 percent
• Audi S5 – 1,391 percent
• Buick Cascada – 424 percent
• Buick Encore – 59 percent
• Honda CR-V – 35 percent
• Kia Niro – 497 percent
• Lexus LC 500 – 861 percent
• Lexus LS 460 – 888 percent
• Mercedes-Benz AMG GT – 910 percent

So here’s to waiting for next year’s commercials to see what the manufacturers will come up with!

Congratulations to Maggie Pugesek for having the top DrivingSales blog in January 2017. Her blog titled Building Rapport Over The Phone talks about how to help employees create connections with customers over the phone. We caught up with Maggie to learn more about phone interactions, and why building that rapport is so important.

Have you seen the most popular blogs from last month? 

1. Building Rapport Over the Phone
By Maggie Pugesek

Having a process for handling phone calls ensures you not only have a clear understanding of your goals, but also a path to reach them.

2. Why Educating Car Shoppers Is So Important!
By Russ Chandler

The complex dynamics of the automotive industry are what greatly affect the availability, price and depreciation of vehicles.  

3. 4 Things You Need To Know About Customer Surveys 
By Maddy Low

One thing that you can do with the time that you have customers inside your dealership not actively shopping or participating, is hand them a survey. 

4. Why You Need a Better Goal for 2017 than Simply “Sell More Cars”
By Jim Douglas

With so many things out of dealers control, even if you do sell more cars you’re not guaranteed to make more money. Just for fun, how about 3 things dealers have no control over that impact sales. 

5. Top 3 Marketing Companies to Visit at NADA 
By Brad Paschal

If you missed NADA, here are the cutting edge companies you missed visiting. 

The game was very intense, there was a lot of yelling and screaming at my house from everyone, regardless of who they were cheering for. In the end, the New England Patriots took away a victory in the first overtime in Super Bowl history. 

But the biggest Super Bowl draw for me is usually the commercials. Companies normally pull out all the stops to make a great commercial, and this time was no exception. Take this quiz and let us know which Super Bowl car commercial was the very best, in your opinion. Need a refresher? Check out all the Super Bowl car commercials below.

Kia:

Honda:

Ford:

Lexus:

Mercedes:

Alfa Romeo:

Audi:

Hyundai:

Buick:

*Image courtesy: NFL.com

We interviewed many vendors during NADA 2017 to hear what they think is ahead for the auto industry. Check out our interview with Clarivoy where we discuss digital marketing, attribution, and last click.

*The thoughts and opinions expressed by interviewees do not reflect the opinions of DrivingSales. These interviews are purely editorial content and are not sponsored by any party.

We interviewed many vendors during NADA 2017 to hear what they think is ahead for the auto industry. Check out our interview with automotiveMastermind where we discuss leveraging big data, retention, and how to find the one thing that matters to customers. Check back for more NADA 2017 Vendor Insights! 

*The thoughts and opinions expressed by interviewees do not reflect the opinions of DrivingSales. These interviews are purely editorial content and are not sponsored by any party.

Meet Chris Leslie from the Heinrich Automotive Group and check out his dealership story. Learn how he fell into the auto industry during a career in newspaper advertisement, hear about his favorite cars, what he likes about the industry, and how he is changing automotive. 

Check out Chris's dealerships: Hendersonchevy.com, fairwaychevy.com 

See Chris's work: chriskleslie.com 

The DrivingSales My Dealership Story series gives people in dealerships around the country the chance to meet others in the industry, learn their story, and see how they are impacting automotive. We are looking for dealers to share their story and show how they got into the car business, and what they are doing to propel it forward. If this sounds like you, sign up today! Email maddy.low@drivingsales.com or comment below to get on our list, and have our next My Dealership Story be about you!

Sign Up For My Dealership Story 

As dealers we sometimes get caught up in the day in and day out of our store. But sometimes, it’s valuable to look into the future and see what’s coming for the industry, and evaluate how we need to prepare. It’s time to see if your dealership is ready for what’s ahead. Here are seven critical areas that will be impacting dealer operations in the next three to five years:

1. Hiring and motivating the perfect sales team. Turnover in the industry is still extremely high, even with desires to make changes and lower it. How is your dealership going to change pay structures, company culture, and flexibility to reduce turnover and save money? How is this high turnover hurting the industry and what can you do to help?
2. Used vehicle strategy.  How will used car sales look in five years? Discussions about the economy and changes in politics all motivate how used vehicle sales will change over time. What is your dealership doing to be on the cusp of these changes?
3. Millennials and car buying. Mobile, social media, ride-sharing, these are all major innovations that industry professionals should be considering! Many manufacturers and brands are working extremely hard to stay up with these changes, what is your dealership doing to also compete?
4. Fixed ops retooled for competition. Economists’ outlook on softer sales numbers means that fixed ops needs to step up. What is your dealership doing to ensure that numbers will stay profitable even in downward sales years?
5. Marketing in a mobile first world. More than half of car buying traffic happens on mobile devices. Does your dealership have a strategy to work with mobile marketing and improve social media? If not, your competitors might be outselling you.
6. Overcoming new dealer model threats. Competition for the dealer model is coming from all over; Amazon even announced recently their online car buying website. So what can your dealership do to fight these new models and stay profitable?
7. Innovating on customer experience. Customers are expecting more and more when it comes to the car buying experience. Learn about new technologies and see how you can keep a competitive advantage.

In conversations with dealership panels and experts, these are the things we really believe will be impactful in the next year. We want you to have a voice in the industry moving forward, and Presidents Club is the place to do that. Please fill out this survey so we can see what dealerships around the country are doing to prepare for industry changes and advancements, and to give your advice to other dealerships. We need your thoughts to truly change the industry and give everyone a leg up moving forward.

Take Survey Now

Because these seven areas are so critical to the future of dealer operations, the DrivingSales Presidents Club is focusing workshops and discussions on these areas. Everyone has thoughts and opinions about how to handle these challenges, and it’s a great experience to meet with others who are just as invested in the future of the industry as you are.  Instead of listening to a speaker talk, you get to debate the topic with other dealers who are successful. This workshop format, structured like 20 Groups, will help your dealership actually tackle individual problems and improve. You won’t just take notes and walk away with a list of things you think you’d like to change; you can walk away with customized ideas for your dealership that you’ve discussed and debated.  Learn from other dealers who are facing the same issues and discuss the changes that are coming for the industry all at DrivingSales Presidents Club.

CHICAGO, Jan. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LotLinx, the leading digital marketing solution for car dealers, launches LotLinx Turn, the automotive industry's first cloud-based marketing platform designed to analyze inventory, build VIN-specific campaigns, and spur engagement all within one easy-to-use interface. LotLinx Turn simplifies the marketing process for dealers, cutting through the noise by delivering the right cars to the right shoppers at the right time to ultimately move inventory faster.

A comprehensive marketing solution, this cohesive platform is built to drive online engagement that leads to on-lot visits, and helps dealers sell their inventory faster. With LotLinx TURN, dealers can:

• Analyze their inventory for insights and opportunities.
• Create campaigns to reach interested consumers.
• Optimize their digital media spend to deliver maximum return.
• Receive transparent performance reporting that shows the business results from campaign activity.

"Most dealers I talk to have an "Oh Wow" moment when they first see LotLinx Turn," said LotLinx founder Len Short. "By providing dealers with visibility into their marketing success on a VIN by VIN basis, we're able to drive better campaign targeting and optimization, resulting in faster, more cost-effective sales. With modern marketing so dependent on building engagement, we're honored to be in a position to help dealers reach their engaged shoppers."

"I'm done buying low quality leads," added Lindsay Shaker of Lindsay KIA. "With LotLinx, I can alter my marketing spend to directly correspond with the cars I need to move at the moment. I don't have to guess anymore, I can see my digital marketing working for me in real time."

Said digital marketing expert Brian Pasch, founder of PCG Companies and author of "Swimming with Digital Sharks",  "I'm impressed by the LotLinx focus on providing a clear view for car dealers into what works and what doesn't. Now, dealers can be empowered knowing which VDPs are lacking engagement and how they can adjust their marketing spend accordingly – saving a lot of money and time in the long run."

LotLinx announced the launch of LotLinx Turn to an audience of leading dealers, automotive executives and trade media at the annual National Auto Dealer Association's Conference and Expo in New Orleans.

About LotLinx:
LotLinx is an award-winning digital retailing technology company, developed specifically to advantage dealers. Using our platform, LotLinx 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 around the country to reach over 63 million unique car shoppers per month across more than 500 digital properties. For more information, visit www.lotlinx.com.

SOURCE LotLinx

Related Links

http://www.lotlinx.com

Yes Lifecycle Marketing recently released a study about gaps in email marketing. Check out the other parts of the series here: Part 1, Part 2.  The third and final gap in email marketing referenced in the study is the gap among smartphone, desktop, and tablet purchases.

For the first time, mobile revenue is driving 1/3 of all email-generated revenue, that’s up 50% from 2014. Smartphone revenue is growing the most, driving 24% of all revenue, which is no surprise.

Smartphone revenue isn’t only accounting for more of total revenue, but smartphone orders have doubled since 2014. With so many people owning smartphones that make email access easy and constantly available, we can expect that smartphone and mobile revenue will only increase over time.

However, while mobile orders are accounting for nearly half of all orders, they are only accounting for 1/3 of the revenue. This tells us that consumers are still making more expensive purchases on desktops.

Smartphones drive 70% of mobile email revenue, leaving tablets the last 30%. But this doesn’t mean tablets are less important, they will just be used differently. Tablets should be considered their own channel, because unlike smartphones, tablet users don’t have their device with them all day long. They are considered ideal use for leisurely surfing, browsing, and shopping.

How can you close this gap?

Consumers are not only engaging with email on mobile, they’re converting. This means it’s very important to use marketing on websites as well as within emails to get the consumer to purchase. Things like location based notifications, coupons and incentives are valuable to help consumers convert.