Challenge:
Launch a new digital-first brand for used cars into a crowded market dominated by leaders with deep pockets.
Strategy:
Challenge the assumption that automotive was moving to full digital purchasing.
Reimagine the customer experience to address buyer pain points around the dealership experience.
Inside:
Work with Operations and HR to build a customer-first mindset and skills among front-line employees. Less salespeople, more personal advisors able to demonstrate strong listening skills and use their expertise to help customers buy the right car.
Redesign the physical retail environment to be more contemporary and welcoming.
Out:
Simple brand name, CarStore that avoided the artificiality of digital-first brands or the old-fashioned anonymity of traditional dealerships.
Customer-centric proposition “car buying that revolves around you” to promote buyers’ ability to use online and physical dealership however they wished.
Media strategy that combined the brand-building capability of TV with hyper-localised messaging through radio and programmatic to target buyers within a designated radius of the physical dealerships.
Results:
Ranked first for brand consideration after 15 months
Outperformed every brand in category for increase in site visits
Consistently ranked in the top 3 for share of search