Here's the original article on LinkedIn

TLDR: Enough is Enough! OEM’s give Digital Agencies way too much power by dangling the proverbial “Co-Op Carrot” and it's time that Dealers fought back. Join the discussion and share your experiences. 

It’s almost 2019 and I can’t believe dealers still allow agencies like Shift Digital to meddle in their digital business. Maybe they don’t think they have a choice or maybe it’s because OEM’s insist on retaining the services of digital agencies; all in the name of a few lousy co-op dollars. It's time Canadian dealers took a page from their US counterparts and had a deeper look into Shift Digital’s practices north of the border. 

Shift does all the “dirty work” while the OEM’s avoid getting “blood on their hands”

I work with several brands which use Shift Digital and the story is always the same: The OEM’s are portrayed as the “mafia bosses” and Shift Digital like the “mob enforcers.” It’s like the OEM’s can’t be bothered to run digital programs on their own so instead, they turn to Shift to do all the “dirty work” while the OEM’s avoid getting “blood on their hands”; this they do for a hefty fee that the dealers are ultimately on the hook for. I work with a lot of vendors and tidbits like this always come up in conversation when I beat them up for better rates. Without fail, they all say the same thing: “this is the lowest we can go because we have a contract with Shift Digital and we can’t charge less." This is almost immediately is followed up with: If we would do business “outside” of the program, the rates could be a lot better! Imagine that, the same service outside of Shift Digital’s umbrella would cost a lot less? Interesting.

"Many kick-ass vendors won't bend over for Shift..."

The “Shift Tax” (as it is so affectionately known among digital vendors) needs to end! Many kick-ass vendors won't bend over for Shift and subsequently don't make it into the program, which means dealers won't always have the best tools at their disposal because of Shift’s over-the-top greedy culture! I will give props to the founders though; these guys are printing money. They found a way to convince the OEM’s to let them run their digital programs, charge a ton of money and then send them pretty reports each month. Brilliant!

Did you know Shift does not support dealers in connecting Google Adwords or Analytics while they are running your campaigns? I want to do business with a partner I can trust and that has my best interests in mind, not one with a cookie cutter & fire’n’forget approach to AdWords campaigns. Why shouldn’t I, the “dealer”, be allowed to see where and how our marketing dollars are being spent? Are they also afraid that I can do simple math and determine their management fees? Their overly inflated rates are the least of my worries.

“I want you to think about data as the next natural resource” - Virginia Rometty, IBM CEO (2013)

Dealers need to start demanding that digital agencies work within the dealer’s Google AdWords and Analytics properties and not the agency’s. They will tell you that they can’t do it because Google has set them up in a way that they can manage various accounts under one agency profile, and while that is true, it’s also not the only way. Traffic data is “so valuable” to marketers that they want to own it at all costs, so we as dealers need to start CONTROLLING OUR DATA.

Data ownership is a pretty important topic for me and it should be for you too. I always go back to Virginia Rometty’s (IBM CEO) speech in 2013 where she addressed the Council on Foreign Relations (https://youtu.be/SUoCHC-i7_o?t=7m35s) with “I want you to think about data as the next natural resource." Virginia summed up why car dealers (and every other vertical) need to be more vigilant over their own data because that information is powerful.

Here’s another example of their shady dealings. Did you know that if a dealer wants to get a website through their digital program, that Shift Digital mandates the dealer transfer ownership of their website domain to them? Have you ever heard something more ridiculous??? Honestly, there is nothing complicated about pointing a DNS to a website company’s servers, yet it is a policy that Shift has so they have more control over the dealer. Why is this a problem?

1. You no longer own the rights to your own business domain.
2. It complicates leaving the program and keeping your domain.
3. If you do too much to a domain and in the wrong order, you run the risk of being locked out for 30 days without any recourse.

None of these things would ever be an issue if the dealer could keep the domain in the first place. #Frustrating.

As I put my thoughts into words I quickly realize I could keep going for a while here, but I don’t want to do that. I’ll stop around here to see if people want to keep the discussion going. While I realize many of my vendor friends won’t publicly support my rant, I just want you to know that its cool and I understand your reasons. I just want to get other people’s perspectives on the subject that brings me the most grief at the store level. I would rather douse 10 heat score fires than do a call with Shift Digital!

- Rico