AUTO DEALER

    • 18 posts
    February 11, 2014 7:21 AM PST

    I am looking for a campaign idea that is 'out of the box' for two family owned auto dealerships in a small town (Honda and Mazda each run by a brother)

    If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it

    Thanks!

    Jen

    • 32 posts
    February 11, 2014 10:22 AM PST

    I can definitely imagine a series of "sibling rivalry" ads. They could purchase ads together and have them both in each spot telling the other why their dealership is better. No mud-slinging or trash-talk, just some friendly, tongue-in-cheek, brotherly one-upmanship. You may want to rotate which brother has the last word in each script as well. There's even an opportunity there for an online poll for listeners to vote on who won the ad. Also, you could switch it up a bit for special occasions and holidays and have the brothers go back and forth saying their brother's dealership is better than their own. Keep it all light-hearted and entertaining and they will both benefit from a great campaign.

    There are so many possibilities with family-owned competition. This is just one way you could go. Either way, advertising for these two could be a whole lot of fun. Enjoy!

    • 170 posts
    February 14, 2014 6:45 AM PST
    Like Joe above, the first thing that comes to mind is the current Twix tv campaign. Or the same idea w the Smothers Brothers approach (if you remember them). If you capture the personalities of the dealership brother's, they'll buy it.
    More;
    'welcome to the family' - use snapshots of the buyers w the vehicle and dealership people for graphics, use testimonials for radio
    • 112 posts
    February 14, 2014 6:56 AM PST

    We have a couple of dealers in a small town that do a "Car Wars" sale every year to see who can sell the most in a week. Fun ads.

    • 2 posts
    February 14, 2014 6:57 AM PST

    This was my thought almost EXACTLY!!!  Great minds think alike Joe!

    • 17 posts
    April 25, 2015 3:08 AM PDT

    Jen, 

    I know this is a late inclusion to the question you raised way back in Feb but I have just implemented a great campaign in my local area for a small family owned dealership. It's a "pay it forward" type campaign. The dealership purchases the commercials and promotes any business owners that purchase cars from him.

    Example - Bob's Car yard would like to congratulate Jim from Jim's Mowing on his latest purchase of the brand new Ford XXX . Jim bought the XXXmodel because it was great to carry around his ride on during work hours and great for those family trips to the lake on weekends, not that his wife Judy doesn't love the comfortable ride... So next time you see Jim, give him a pat on the back and say - Nice ride - we know you got it from Bob..... etc etc. 

    Client loves the concept, business owners come in asking to be featured and the new car buyers get free radio promotion.  

    • 23 posts
    April 29, 2015 1:40 PM PDT

    I absolutely love this idea!  Thank you so much for sharing it, Owen!

    -Victor

    • 17 posts
    April 30, 2015 5:05 AM PDT

    Anytime Victor. We are all here to help out, am I right? Good luck with the pitch.