Autotrader Canada
a brand with 94% awareness ... as "the way my father used to buy cars"
A 'challenging' private equity acquisition with no B2C marketing strategy
(or CMO - or marketing team - or agency)
must effectively re-brand itself to create a powerful digital marketplace
and turnaround the business & precipitously declining traffic
taking share from a popular modern brand
… in just 4 months
the trans4mation...
Create a multi-faceted, holistic, integrated online & offline relaunch campaign.
Give it a bold attitude. And a modern, very likeable, brand persona.
Make top-benefit messaging the clear, singleminded focus of ALL communications. Focus the launch with a campaign line driving home one simple idea (vs. going for "clever") ... which was the top motive for buyers and sellers alike: "the most cars in one place".
Color and Attitude defined the campaign ...
BROADCAST a fresh, modern brand 'PERSONA'
As the tech team launched a revamped site, with state-of-the art digital savvy, the online campaign was launched with 'serious weight' on broadcast media across Canada (in both languages) ...
results
Jumping into the trenches, internally and creatively, the campaign launched on time, exceeding BIG targets to increase traffic by +500,000 visitors, quickly reversing steep declines [-31% in 7 months prior to launch].
Site traffic zoomed up +18% with 3.6 MM incremental visits YOY in Phase 1:
- +27% monthly uniques: not just in visitors, but also cost-effective "brand seekers"
- page views up +76% YOY: not just more people visiting...they’re using the site
- unaided brand awareness up +4 % points: a BIG move with very high base awareness
- private seller listings up +169%: driven by “free to list” message breaking through
Our campaign was so successful, it won the top award, not just in its own category but also Grand Prix at the 2013 Cassie Awards for business effectiveness.