Participatory branding is the key to the future of automotive marketing

The automotive industry is switching gears.

Over the past five years, every industry has experienced dramatic change, and the automotive industry is no exception. The industry is ripe for disruption thanks to trends such as mobility, connectivity, autonomy and sustainability. These underscore the rapid decline of the traditional model of visiting a car dealership, talking to a salesperson, taking a test drive and making a deal.

Today, we know that 90% of car buyers start their purchase online. Google research into the habits of online buyers. Not surprisingly, automotive companies are adapting their marketing spend and strategies to these new behaviors and needs. According to Warc’s research, digital media will account for more than half of his 2021 media investments across all categories, surpassing television in 2016. For global advertising spending in the automotive sector.

Prospects use social media to actively research, crowdsource recommendations, and engage with brands and reviews.

As we look ahead to the year ahead, the automotive industry is set to revolutionize the way products and individuals interact with cars, with disruptive businesses like Google, Netflix, and Amazon. For example, consider the rapidly evolving consumer expectations and behaviors of ownership. Responsibility has shifted to how to simplify our lives down to the smallest detail and make the transition between ownerships as smooth as possible. More and more consumers are highly motivated in favor of a simpler and more informed purchasing process, along with ownership models tailored to their needs such as PCP, HCP, subscription, e-telephone, and sharing. It ignores the technical automotive jargon and complexities of dealing with dealers. All of these are driven by online surveys, e-commerce, and on-demand offers.

Perhaps the biggest change in automobiles we will see as a result is the fundamental shift in product from gasoline and diesel to electric vehicles. Importantly, while electric vehicles tend to have fewer moving parts than traditional engines, they require highly sophisticated software. This shift is a move by the auto industry to move from “complex cars with simple software to simple cars with complex software”, reflecting consumer behavior and meeting consumer expectations and needs. Best explained by forecasting industry analysts.

The inevitable transition to social media

Throughout the purchasing process, consumers are turning to more authoritative content found on social media to help them make decisions in some way.

Along with search, social media has emerged as an important digital channel within the buying funnel of new car buyers. According to a recent CarGurus survey, 71% of UK car buyers say CarGurus helps them in their buying process. Prospects use social media to actively research, crowdsource recommendations, and engage with brands and reviews. Interestingly, YouTube is the most used social media channel for car buying purposes in the UK. A similar trend was seen in the US, where his viewing time on YouTube “test drive” videos increased by more than 65% over the past two years.

Digging deeper into this, new buyers are increasingly turning to people who actually use automotive content on a daily basis. According to Pixability, creator-made videos get 93% of his monthly views for all automated content on YouTube (only 7% of his SOV related to branded content). To further emphasize this point, vlog-style content garners the highest engagement compared to commercials and other styles of content.

“Real” power

Going forward, we can predict that consumer and creator participation in automotive marketing will reshape the field, leading to marketing strategies that involve real people at every stage of the funnel. This approach is called Participatory Branding. This allows brands to not only harness the power of real people to provide influence and advocacy, but also innovate the entire funnel experience by enabling individuals to actively participate in the buying experience. As part of this approach, tactics such as peer-to-peer storytelling, collaboration with creators, and user-generated content will play a greater role in helping brands make meaningful connections with new and current consumers. increase.

Social media has become the driving force behind ‘participatory branding’ in automotive marketing, necessitating strategies that need to embed ‘reality’ at the core of their storytelling. Future car buyers will increasingly seek out a wider range of social media content, beyond staged vehicle video tests to more authentic stories where real people and creators interact with products in real-world situations. Driving more participatory content is evidenced by the fact that 82% of Gen Z say they trust a company more by using images of real customers in their ads. , is particularly important for the next generation of consumers.

A great example of such content is the work created by Chevrolet Brazil, which connected new car buyers with current owners via WhatsApp in mid-2015 (way ahead of its time!). The goal was to build a community where people can ask questions about their purchases and product experiences. In addition to reality, social media stories should reflect the transition from “complex cars with simple software to simple cars with complex software.” Perhaps this could involve a shift from an engineering-driven narrative about the engine and its power to a lifestyle anecdote describing software functionality in a real-world environment. As part of this shift, the marketer is leveraging the credibility unlocked by partnerships with his content creators to create a more casual and honest life story that portrays software features in his case. should be jointly developed.

In summary, tomorrow’s automotive marketing leaders will:Consider human-powered marketing strategies to create opportunities for consumers to engage throughout the funnel.they need to cWe tell content and stories that reveal the increasingly important role that software will play in the driving experience of the future.the player must cWe continue to invest in digital and social media channels, especially platforms where “video is king” (such as YouTube and Tik Tok). It is also extremely important to maintain eHarness the power of people through engagement tactics such as peer-to-peer marketing and partnerships with content creators to build authenticity into the core of your social media strategy.And finally the leader I have toInnovate the entire buying experience and engage consumers with a fresh and easy experience that enables participation.

About the author: Matt Reveironior Strategy Director—I’s Future Strategyrisk worldwide