Last August, a member of the Kovak-Likly team traded in a 2003 Honda Pilot with 172,000 miles on it for a brand new 2014 Toyota Highlander. This being her first new car in twelve years, she says she was immediately enamored with its technological upgrades – touchscreen capability, bluetooth compatibility, and the ability to have her texts read to her by a smooth talking virtual co-pilot.
Small potatoes if you really think of it. Especially if you were one of the thousands of attendees at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, held earlier this month in Las Vegas. Ten major auto companies were on hand this year, demonstrating everything from fully loaded digital dash monitors to autonomous driving capabilities.
According to a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek, the automotive category covered significant space at this year’s CES – the equivalent of three football fields, in fact. With Detroit’s North American International Auto Show following on its heels this month, why the large auto presence at this year’s CES? According to his keynote speech, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced the dawn of the connected-car era, saying that in addition to being a car and truck company, Ford considers itself a tech and mobility company.
The Bloomberg article quotes consulting firm Accenture as reporting that technology is the top selling point for 39 percent of U.S. car buyers. That, compared to 14 percent who rate horsepower and handling above all else. That means that in order to be viewed as a technologically leader in the car industry, automakers need to be where all eyes are on tech, looking for the wow factor.
By making their presence known in this way, the auto industry has done what we can all do in our own businesses in one way or another.
Know your customers. What they buy, but more importantly, why they buy. When your car buyers want tech features, invest in that.
Find the right stage. In 2007, Mark Fields said Ford was definitely an odd sight at CES. Today, with such a large percentage of car buyers emphasizing technology, automakers not only had to be there, they had to be as big a presence as possible to push out their digital branding message.
Spread the word. Car makers not only made a splash on site at CES, they also received widespread attention in the media world, all focused on their cutting edge technology. A Google search of “CES 2015 automotive” nets pages of links to articles, using terms like “connected cars,” “car tech you can’t miss” and “truly smart cars.” The exact message the industry’s leaders wanted to send.
When thinking about your own branding, it’s important to keep these factors in mind. Pushing out a message that doesn’t fit with your target customers’ priorities, isn’t sent via the right channel, or that just plain doesn’t get out there isn’t going to move the needle. If you are ready to find those attributes and outlets which will get your publicity efforts the mileage they deserve, we’d love to help you strategize a campaign that works for you. Give us a call at 203.762.8833.
– BML
