Page 8 - AdNews magazine Jul-Aug 2021

Editor’s Letter
Driving the lifelong customer
Our relationship with the car, which gave the world freedom of movement and allowed the creation of outer city suburbs, is changing.
The 2020 pandemic year forced a fundamental switch in consumer buying behaviour.
Car makers and dealers had to quickly switch focus from the showroom floor to the digital world as restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 kept buyers at home.
Selling a car had been a mat- ter of getting people through the door, into a test drive and back out a larger door with a new car.
Brand campaigns and con- sumer loyalty (a satisfied cus- tomer will upgrade to a new model in a few years’ time) played a big part in bringing bod- ies into showrooms.
With the pandemic, shop- ping online for a car shifted from checking out the latest model to transacting.
Marketers scrambled to track this behaviour, to work out where in the digital journey con- sumers can be influenced.
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, wants to shift the model from a build and sell transaction to a “lifelong, always on” customer relationship.
He sees not an auto builder but a software and data driven company that treats customers like family. No longer selling a car and waiting a few years for the cus- tomer to come back and upgrade to the latest model.
“For Ford, it’s no longer just about the vehicle,” he told an investor briefing.
“For too long, auto companies have asked our
customers to interrupt their lives and come to us to shop ... and even repair.
“Now with digital vehicles, we’re changing the relation- ship, bringing service to the customer like pickup and drop off, mobile service units, depot charging for our commer-
cial customers and much more.” A study by Quantcast — APAC Automotive Insights, Consumer Purchasing Preferences and Digital Patterns — identifies key
triggers when purchasing a car: Value is more important, even
among the more affluent. Interest triggers for luxury car buyers include investing, real
estate and family changes. Younger prospects tend to start researching luxury car brands years before they might
be able to buy.
Those aged 45+ prefer using
laptops and desktop for online research, indicating a preference for richer content experiences ver- sus quick access via mobile devices.
The decision-making process has quickened, with potential buyers booking test drives within shorter time frames than pre-pandemic.
All this means a richer buying experience online. Nissan launched Nissan@Home in December so pur- chasing could be done online, including booking test drives and finance.
Jacquelyn Cowardin, Quantcast ANZ head of account management: “We know today’s car buyer isn’t afraid to do their research so it’s critical for automotive brands to have established digital paths that give prospective buy- ers the information they need at every stage of their purchasing journey.”
EDITOR
CHRIS PASH
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