Page 46 - GIADA-August-2018-Final

MARKETING

Power of consumer: In auto retail,

make it personal

By Joe Overby, Senior Editor, Auto Remarketing

In talking with dealers, Autotrader general launching automotiveMastermind in 2012 MAKE IT PERSONAL
manager Jessica Stafford sometimes gets with Johannes Gnauck, who also worked at While Schnabl was speaking more to the
this question: does digital retailing put that Mercedes store. marketing side of automotive, the same
dealers in danger of losing control of the personalization on the digital retailing side
car-buying process? Since it is owned and operated by the was emphasized by Stafford at Autotrader.
automaker, Schnabl said the Mercedes
“And the answer is, no. It’s actually not dealership pilot-tested various technologies, Shoppers in essentially every
this battle for control any more. It’s just including CRM, DMS and equity-mining other retail vertical now
enablement and access to information,” tools.
Stafford said in a phone interview last week. expect this personalized
“And we quickly learned that yes, the experience, she said.
“Amazon and the like have taught us as engineering of a car is highly sophisticated,
consumers that this is the new normal. This but the process itself and how to sell You expect your favorite clothier to deliver a
is the new behavior,” she said. “So, how do that same car and how to connect with tailored online experience, and for example,
we in the automotive industry get into the consumers — despite a vast array of know what you might be looking for and
leading position in that, as well? different tools and technologies — is not allow you to save credit card information
sophisticated at all,” he said in a phone for future purchases.
That’s the thought that Autotrader, its peers, interview.
dealers, automakers and others throughout That expectation of a
the car business are pondering, with many Compare that to the sophistication of
testing new techniques to adapt to this Netflix and Amazon, which were beginning personalized experience
“new normal.” to make waves at that point. extends to car-buying,
Stafford said.
Hyundai, for instance, launched a digital “We thought, these companies are applying
showroom on Amazon.com on Wednesday a different type of technology, much more
that lets consumers check out pricing and sophisticated to their customers, trying “I expect to know what’s available, what the
reviews, set up test drives, view dealer to understand what matters most to the price is that others have paid, what all of the
inventories and more. consumer and making them an offer that fees are that are included,” she said. “And
is very, very important and relevant to the more of that information that I have as
“This collaboration with Amazon provides that individual consumer,” said Schnabl, a consumer, I feel confident and certain in
customers with the ability to learn about now the co-chief executive officer of the purchase that I’m making and (end up)
Hyundai vehicles in a way that matches automotiveMastermind, which provides a happy customer and a more profitable
their expectations for nearly every other predictive analytics and marketing customer.”
type of purchase,” said Tim Maxwell, automation to the car business.
Hyundai Motor America’s senior group While this is a cross-generational
manager for digital marketing, in a news “Why can’t we do the same for the auto expectation, it is interesting to note that the
release. industry?” he said. general outlook on personalized retail has
shifted over the last decade.
“Hyundai and its dealers are modernizing So, automotiveMastermind went about
the car buying process, so it made sense for to trim pain points in the sales process “The kind of data-enabled personalization
us to be the first car company with its own — which Schnabl contends are also a and targeting that used to happen five, 10
digital showroom,” Maxwell said. thorn in the side of dealers — and make years ago and was creepy and annoying and
it less complex. They began developing weird, is now not only a good thing, but it’s
UTILIZING ‘SOPHISTICATED technology “that would predict based on expected by consumers across the board,”
TECHNOLOGY’ thousands of different data points how she said.
For Marco Schnabl, this new way of likely it is that someone is going to react to
thinking began during his days working an offer.” Continued on page 48
at Mercedes-Benz of Manhattan prior to
44 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer AUGUST 2018