How are your dealership’s December sales? According to an article in Advertising Age, December is projecting as the fourth-best month this year with sales of approximately 1.5 million light vehicles. This number trails only May (1.61), August (1.59) and March (1.54).
December Sales Up in Last Decade
As mentioned in an earlier blog, December used to be a fairly slow month, but heavy marketing and an emphasis on year-end sales have pushed the last month of the year much closer to the top. This is in sharp contrast to the turn of the 21st century, when December sales were the 10th-best month in sales in 2000 and 2001.
This is especially true with luxury brands. Think of all the “December to Remember” Lexus ads you’ve seen over the years … and competitors like BMW, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz have followed suit. A decade or so ago, the idea of a new luxury car for a Christmas present would have seemed outlandish; today, due largely to these ads, it doesn’t seem so ridiculous anymore. Why would dealers be delivering cars with big bows on them if it wasn’t acceptable?!
If your dealership didn’t have the December sales you expected, you owe it to yourself to call JKR Automotive Advertising. Not only will we tell you all about what we can do to boost your sagging sales, we’ll also give you a complimentary analysis of your market – with no strings attached. You have nothing to lose; it’s like taking us for a test drive. Call Eric Tigner today at (321) 397-0777 to start your 2015 with a renewed sense of optimism.
You need to keep advertising, even when things are good! Right now, a lot of car dealers are feeling pretty good about themselves and their dealerships. It looks like the industry’s best year in the last five. Gas prices are down, meaning consumers are buying more expensive cars because fuel efficiency isn’t quite as important as it once was. In fact, IHS Global Insight reports that “consumer spending on gasoline will be about $750 per household” less in the coming year than in 2014.
Keep Advertising!
But there are some things you should remember … and these things will help reinforce why you need to keep advertising! First, more sales equates to more customers … and that means more customers that could walk through the double doors of your dealership! Next, as you well know, there is no guarantee that this customer bonanza is going to continue. Third, your competition isn’t going to stop their advertising efforts, and you don’t want to fall behind them. Finally, you also know the likelihood of gas prices remaining this low is not good.
So do yourself a favor here at the end of 2014 – and well into 2015 – and keep advertising! Today, you should be promoting your seasonal sales to spark urgency. You may even be able to piggyback off something going on with your brand(s) at a national level – by putting a local twist on it.
Once you’re through the holidays, keep the momentum going. After all, is there ever a point where a car dealer says, “I have too many customers?” Of course not! If that day ever occurs for you at your store, let us know!
From the JKR Automotive Advertising family to yours, we wish you a happy and prosperous holiday season!
Here is why TV advertising revenue grows year after year: advertisers understand the undeniable value of TV commercials in their advertising campaigns. No matter what product or service is being sold, research done by trusted sources such as Kantar Media and Nielsen show TV advertising is the most influential form of advertising (not counting the opinions of others). But even there, Advertising Age calls TV advertising the “dominant driver of word-of-mouth, both online and off-line.”
Why TV Advertising Revenue Grows
It’s for these reasons that TV advertising grows even during a time when the viewing audience has hit a plateau. In fact, recent Nielsen data found that consumers who routinely shop online still viewed TV ads as by far the most trustworthy of anything out there!
Further, TVB research shows that nearly 40% of American consumers singled out TV advertising as the medium they found most influential during the times they were ready to make a purchase decision. And Kantar Media data shows that, from 2009 to 2012, TV ad spending growth rates generally outperformed the growth rates for everything in the media and entertainment sector. The only small hiccup was during 2011, but that can be chalked up to the Olympic and political effect being more pronounced in TV than in other advertising formats.
That’s something to think about as you prepare your 2015 advertising budgets! Broadcast or cable, TV advertising wins the day … and your store can, too! If your dealership is not running television advertisements, the first question that should be asked is why not?
We at JKR Automotive Advertising offer you a review of your market and go over it with you … completely free of charge, with absolutely no obligation. At your request, we’ll do a thorough analysis of your media market and your competition to see if you’re getting the most bang for your buck with your current advertising efforts. We’ll give you our expert feedback that will help you immensely going forward. Simply give Eric Tigner a call at (321) 397-0777. We’ll do the rest.
JKR Automotive’s client advertising is not a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all endeavor. We listen to each client’s needs and wants, and quickly become acclimated with the overall media market landscape in the client’s location. Taking these factors into consideration, we go to work to produce advertisements that increase foot traffic and sell cars. To ensure their success, there are a few fundamental things we always keep in mind.
Client Advertising Rules
When we produce our client advertising, we’re well aware that what works in one market might not have the same success in another. For example, the all-wheel-drive capabilities of a Subaru might be a top selling point in the Midwest … but in Florida? While it’s certainly a cool feature, it’s not as much of a necessity in the Sunshine State.
It’s also important to always emphasize the benefits of the products and services early in the advertisement. This is the case for a couple reasons. First, if the viewer/listener has something else going on as they are being exposed to the message, their attention span may be short. Second, the more the benefits are buried in the ad, the less likely the consumer will realize their importance.
Next, we believe in being very precise about these benefits. As an example, it isn’t enough to say “Kia has the industry’s best warranty.” It’s much more compelling to tell potential customers about “Kia’s 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.”
Finally, we work closely with each client to discover what differentiates them from the other dealerships in their area. There is an advertising term called “Unique Selling Proposition” (USP) that is defined as “the factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.” Discovering each client’s USP is a key element in creating successful advertising campaigns.
Give us a call today at (321) 397-0777 to find out more about what JKR Advertising can do for you!
The Nielsen history is an interesting one. For many years, the Nielsen ratings have been regarded as the preeminent ratings system major media groups use as their benchmark. What you might not know is just how the company started and how many years it’s actually been around.
In 1923, Chicago-based engineer Arthur Nielsen took a leap of faith, borrowing $45,000 to start a business that tested the quality of conveyor belts and turbine generators. Four years later, the very first industrial market survey was produced … and in 1929 the first consumer market survey followed.
Now we’re getting a little closer to what they do today … but we’re not there yet! During the next 6-7 years, their focus was mostly on retail stores. Then in 1936, Nielsen acquired the rights to the audimeter, a device that, when attached to a radio, could record what station(s) it was tuned to. The result was the beginnings of their radio index development – which was officially launched in 1942.
Eight years later, the Nielsen television index showed up in the United States. They used a device similar to the audimeter to tabulate audience measurement. By 1954, they were able for provide local market TV audience viewership to the Top 30 markets. The following year, they created the designated market concept that established parameters for specific TV markets.
Technology improved in 1971, when Nielsen introduced the “storage instantaneous audimeter,” which was capable of storing television set usage data – and forwarding this data to Nielsen overnight via the use of a phone line. This allowed them to begin offering daily TV ratings by 1973.
Things really kicked up a notch in 1979 with the introduction of Scantrack. Launched the following year, it allowed Nielsen clients to track market trends and produce custom reports. By 1982, Nielsen developed technology that allowed household phone lines to be used for data transmission.
Nielsen was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet in 1984, and in 1985 Nielsen Syndication Service was formed to provide television audience measurement for the ever-growing syndication business. In 1987 they launched the “people meter” to produce national TV ratings with daily demographic data.
In 2005, they introduced the “active/passive meter” to capture viewer information in digital and analog viewing environments. In 2013, they acquired Arbitron – renaming it Nielsen Audio.
While they continue to work in other areas to this day, now that you know the Nielsen history you can see it’s no wonder why they are considered to be the media research authority!
FREE Advertising Review
JKR has more than 110 automotive clients in about 80 markets, and we’ve become an automotive advertising giant because our systems produce results for our clients!
If you’d like to find out more about JKR Automotive Advertising, we offering a FREE Advertising Review. We’ll take a close look at your current efforts – and those of your competition – and give you our expert feedback. Once you see our capabilities, we’re sure you’ll wonder how you ever did without us! To get the ball rolling, call us at (321) 397-0777 and ask for Eric Tigner; or you can e-mail him at etigner@jkrads.com.