Auto Mart(R) and Auto Trader(R) Online Enter Agreement With GM
30 June 1998
Auto Mart(R) and Auto Trader(R) Online Enter Cooperative Advertising Agreement With General Motors Corporation
NORFOLK, Va., June 30 -- Trader Publishing Company has
completed a cooperative advertising agreement with General Motors Corporation
, designed to aid GM dealers in marketing the GM Certified Used
Vehicle brand. GM Certified Used Vehicles are available at select General
Motors Dealerships across the country. Consumers can locate a participating
dealer by visiting http://www.gmcertified.com.
The cooperative advertising program, starting July 1, features both print
and Internet advertising media. A participating General Motors dealership
receives a weekly full-page ad in its local Auto Mart(R) book, and 50 vehicle
listings each week within the Auto Trader(R) Online (http://www.traderonline.com)
database which hotlink to the GM Dealer's website. This program is limited to
GM Certified Used Vehicles only.
"Auto Mart(R) and Auto Trader(R) Online bring a unique and powerful
advertising solution to our dealers," says Bill Bleau, Advertising and
Marketing manager for the GM Certified Used Vehicle brand. "Auto Mart(R) is
experiencing exponential growth in consumer readership, and Auto Trader(R)
Online is home to the Internet's largest used car database."
Auto Mart's circulation exceeds 1.7 million every week in 72 U.S. markets,
and is available through over 48,000 distribution points nationwide. Auto
Trader(R) Online, (http://www.traderonline.com), is the Internet's largest used car
database, with over 500,000 used cars for sale today. The website, containing
inventories of over 15,000 dealers, has one million visitors performing four
million used car searches every month.
"We are pleased to be marketing such a top-notch used vehicle offering,"
says Mark Eckert, manager of Trader National Advertising. "The depths to
which GM has gone to demonstrate value, safety, and reliability to the
consumer cannot be understated. The GM Certified Used Vehicle brand will ring
true to Trader's customers, and we're pleased to bring such a high number of
these quality vehicles to Auto Mart and Auto Trader Online."
In creating its certified brand, General Motors has developed a process
that is among the most stringent in the industry. "We want the buyer to have a
LIKE NEW car. Period. These are great vehicles. We built them, and we back
them," says Bleau.
All GM Certified Vehicles are less than four model years old with a
maximum 60,000 miles. Each vehicle meets strict mechanical and appearance
standards. The GM Certification process has 110 different steps. A vehicle
completing this process has a GM-backed limited warranty, and 3-day/150-mile
money-back guarantee, No-Hassle Market-Based Pricing(TM), and 24-hour roadside
assistance.
The co-op advertising program will run for 12 consecutive weeks. GM
Certified Used Vehicles dealers will be contacted by both GM and Trader's
National Advertising Department, through mail, fax and phone. A dealer may
choose from four print versions for the full-page Auto Mart ad, and his/her 50
Internet listings will be received via the Internet.
Auto Trader Online and its parent company, Trader Publishing, are
headquartered in Norfolk, VA. With local sales offices in over 90 U.S.
cities, Trader's 330 print publications are distributed through approximately
150,000 distribution points in 32 states. Trader Publishing's weekly
circulation exceeds 3.8 million.
Auto Trader Online (http://www.traderonline.com) boasts the world's largest used
car database, with over 500,000 used cars for sale today. The newly re-
designed site, begun in 1996, has won numerous awards from the Internet
community.