It`s a tricky road to traverse. On the one hand there`s the all
Transcription
It`s a tricky road to traverse. On the one hand there`s the all
A U T O M O T I V E D E A L E R W E B S O L U T I O N S Can a dog have two masters? We’ve been designing and building them now for over six years for our clients Subaru, Isuzu, MG, Great Wall and the recently won Honda Motorcycles network. Over these years, we’ve delivered website solutions to well over 250 dealers. It’s a tricky road to traverse. On the one hand there’s the all-powerful brand, dictating corporate guidelines and making sure the tone of voice is adhered to. Then there’s the dealer. Whether a family run single site or a multi-franchise, national brand in their own right, they have fears over the quality and constraints a one-size-fits-all solution provides. The number of people and departments involved throws up some management and political challenges that need to be considered and understood at the outset. On the brand side, there needs to be buy in, communication and commitment from not only the marketing team, but also CRM, sales, regional managers, accessories departments and finance. Each one of these will be called upon to provide content, detail, feedback and approval. On the dealer side they will, in our experience, fall into one of several camps. There’s the large operator, that more than likely has an in-house team taking care of all their online needs across their many sites and handling content for a multitude of brands. They often don’t need or want a solution from the manufacturer. However, they usually have a very good relationship and will tow the political line. There’s the mid-range dealer who usually outsources their digital requirements to either a small local agency or a large dealer web specialist. These are the people we hear all too often from about the dissatisfaction they have over cost and service levels with their current supplier. The model line-ups tend to be out of date, a poor pastiche from the brand site or don’t follow brand guidelines. Cost is quite often the excuse for the short comings and these dealers are the most eager to sign up to a solution, but it has to be on the proviso that the price is rightand that the problems will be resolved without heartache or over involvement from themselves. The family run, single site operators are time pressed and often lack the digital confidence to organize these things properly. They feel the pressure from the brand over corporate compliance and keeping product pricing and spec up to date. Often though, they don’t really understand what all the fuss is about and just want someone to make the problem go away. The solutions we offer vary dependent on the brand client’s needs and requirements. It can be as simple as a page that sits on the main brand website, this is wholly controlled by the manufacturer with no input from the network. There’s then the standardized, identical solution for every dealer. Every site looks the same and the content is controlled and pushed live via an API feed. The dealer only has control over their short biog and used stock, which they can upload to the site and this then feeds the used section of the brand website. As an happy compromise, there can be a solution provided that on the face of it looks as though everybody is towing the corporate line. However, we allow the dealer teams access to their own Content Management System (CMS) that provides them with the capability to promote offers and move content around. This empowers them to manage their SEO, push what’s important to them and feel in control, without the brand experiencing any concerns over rogue content or breaking brand guidelines. The final solution, and the one we’ve just implemented for Honda Motorcycles, has been developed from a brief that was to allow their network full control over their own businesses while not infringing on any dealer standards. So, as the old saying goes, there’s certainly more than one way to skin a cat. However, you need to talk to an agency that understands the path that needs to be walked in order to satisfy two or more masters. That agency is One Black Bear. Talk to us to arrange a meeting and see more of how we can help deliver the automotive dealer web solution that both you and your network require. Here at One Black Bear, we pride ourselves on providing innovative digital solutions to the automotive market as the rules and motoring evolves. We can help to keep you ahead of the curve because, like our clients, we never stand still. O N E B L A C K B E A R . C O M @ O N E B L A C K B E A R