When you’re talking transportation, the auto industry, of course, is top of mind. So given the bailout conundrum, is this market still viable for advertising specialty companies?
Patrick Doyle, owner of Proforma Synergy (asi/300094), supplies many products for Honda, General Motors and Kia, along with some of their parts manufacturers. He says, for the time being at least, “Certain orders are on hold. It really depends whether they’re a North American car manufacturer or not. Foreign automakers are not getting hit as hard. Their budgets may be cut, but they are still moving forward.”
Tough times, experts advise, require even smarter marketing. Although Honda and Kia may not be buying as much right now, “they still have to reward people,” Doyle says, and “they’re buying everything from corporate wearables to USB drives, and items for employee recognition and customer retention programs.”
Especially now, when companies want loyal clients, “customer service is big,” he says. “Keep that darn customer happy.”
Doyle notes that employee education and training is also key for these automakers, so there’s a big demand for recognition of educational achievements with items like certification plaques.
So, how do you target the transportation market, full speed ahead?
Be the Go-To Guy
Steve Trosin, account director for Michigan-based Imperial Marketing Inc. (asi/230430), is an expert on the automotive industry – and not just because he lives close to Detroit. He has made a career out of knowing the automotive companies he works with – specifically, Chrysler and its parts and service division, Mopar – so closely that he knows what they need before they do.
Trosin says business is certainly down, but he’s still selling. “Basically, the idea is to become part of their marketing team,” he says. “I cringe when I get phone calls and they say, ‘We had a meeting and we need a quote.’ It’s always harder to go back and recommend something.
“But you say, ‘You know what? My goal is to offer the best service I can, and the only way I can do that is to be a part of your marketing team from the beginning,’” he says. When he knows their plans from the beginning of the year, he can suggest products they can use.
One of Trosin’s top suggestions for his automotive clients is incentives for customers to come in and take a test drive, or to have their Chrysler brand vehicle serviced at a dealership, rather than an independent automotive repair shop. “We’ve done direct-mail pieces they can customize, like a gas rebate card that the dealer can give out to have a targeted service performed,” he says. “Digital media is a great piece, like a card for music downloads, ring tones and pizza, depending on the price point. Every once in awhile, you may have an offer to have a service performed to get something free.”
Items that can be used in-house, such as wall clocks and tire gauges, have also been a hit for Imperial Marketing. “We’ve done everything from hand trucks to sports memorabilia that follows a theme,” he says. “The previous (Mopar) marketing director liked using things that can be used in-dealership, like hand trucks, entrance maps, flash drives, you name it.”
Keep Those on the Front Lines Happy
Trosin says car companies are just now realizing the mistake they made when they stopped paying attention to minor maintenance issues years ago, allowing companies like Midas and Jiffy Lube to flourish.
The fact that cars have been built much better in the past decade has put automakers in a quandary. “They were warned in ’99 that larger repairs would really shrink and major repairs would almost disappear relative to what they were before,” Trosin says. “So now, they’re trying to reclaim that lost service business.
“Dealers that sold 100 (cars) a month are now selling 20. If you’re not making it on new car sales, then you’ve got to make it up somehow. In the past, the thing that’s created the most profit is the service, parts and body shop operations. It takes someone savvy enough to understand how else they can increase the bottom line. Service and parts is a great way to do that.”
Imperial Marketing provides recognition awards to outstanding automotive service employees, and has also developed a marketing program that allows Chrysler to add cash to an employee’s debit card for a job well done. “We literally reward the service advisor and technician equally,” Trosin says. “This is a critical time for motivation and recognition. Someone might say, ‘I don’t have the time to buy recognition awards.’ What if (business) spirals down more? If the people you have aren’t performing, how are you going to make ends meet?”
He has convinced his automotive clients that keeping service reps happy means keeping customers happy. “There’s a regular scheduled maintenance for every car. The dealer’s greatest challenge is to maintain that client year after year, even after that warranty has expired,” he says.
Make a Long-lasting Impression
From the supplier’s perspective, Dan Ohlson, vice president of sales for Aloe Up Sun & Skin Care (asi/34362), says it’s vital for his distributor partners to stay on offense – and convince their transportation end-users to do the same. “Sometimes, it just takes a distributor being proactive at a local dealer,” he says. “Distributors can say, ‘Regardless of what’s happening around you, marketing works, and let me show you what works.’”
Ohlson and his distributor cohorts have worked with automotive companies like BMW and Chevrolet, as well as for Southwest Airlines and a freight train company. He says that in a time when the struggling transportation industry is looking for cheap marketing solutions, lip balm is the perfect remedy.
Ohlson has provided a lip balm with a four-color logo for Southwest for use during flights (the air is very dry up there), as well as corporately. The ROI (return on investment) for lip balm makes it a very effective product, he says. “We calculate a minimum of 720 uses. Eight times a day for 90 days is the bare minimum if they’re being used and enjoyed. It’s an easy sell if the distributor can sell the cost-per-impression (angle). They’re inexpensive and they’re graphically pleasing.”
He also did a promotion for a freight company featuring a “sun stick” – an SPF 30, lip balm-type stick that can be used as a sunscreen touchup on the nose, ear, back of the neck, and other frequent burn areas. “The railroads are doing quite well because they’re a very cost-effective way of shipping products right now,” Ohlson says.
Similarly, Blaine Wiltey, vice president of sales for American Ad Bag (asi/35290), recently provided some of his baseball jersey backpacks to a bus line that would transport kids to Major League Baseball games. “The distributor sold our backpacks to the bus line, and each child 12 and under received a free backpack as they entered the bus,” he says.
Wiltey says his backpack, which is made to resemble a baseball jersey, is perfect for bus lines that service travel markets like tourism, baseball, football, or just general travel, since they provide the client a low-minimum, low-cost, long-term advertising tool. “Once the kids come back (home) with that bag, they’re going to wear it around town and promote that activity,” he says.
Create a Complete Solution
When Innovative Print & Media Group Inc. (asi/231395) was asked to perform a run-of-the-mill promotional task for Jones Motor Group, the oldest major trucking company in the country, the PA-based distributorship saw a major marketing opportunity.
Rob Whitman, Innovative’s president, noticed that major express carriers like UPS and DHL were losing business, and companies like Jones Motor were being looked at more closely by consumers. “Obviously, people are looking for alternatives to the big providers: low-cost alternatives along with boutique service,” he says. “They want to find a niche where their delivery is cost-effective.”
That’s why Whitman pounced on the opportunity to be much more than just another promotional product provider for Jones Motor. “We’re constantly looking at ways where we can manage processes differently,” he says. “Our objective is to be a provider of all the clients’ communication needs. We found that, when we’ve been able to use technology to improve the process, those clients tend to forge long-term relationships with us.”
Jones Motor came to Innovative with a problem it was having with its start-up kits for its new truck drivers. “We solved the specific problem, which was mud flaps with their company logo on them, but we also developed an e-commerce program as part of the solution,” says Brian D. Engemann, Innovative’s director of promotional products.
“This is an online store that’s specific to them,” Whitman adds. “Our tool allows us to create custom catalogs specific to end-users. We also manage their artwork, and they ask us to produce artwork for other needs.”
By becoming an integral part of the overall marketing strategy, Innovative has assured itself plenty of business with Jones Motor for the foreseeable future, regardless of a struggling economy or if (and when) gas prices increase.
“We’re bringing a total solution,” Whitman says. “Not many other players can do it.”
Shane Dale is an AZ-based freelance writer.