Cars.com 'Smart Humor' Advertising Campaign to Drive Consumers to Cars.com Web Site and Local Dealers
19 October 1999
Cars.com 'Smart Humor' Advertising Campaign to Drive Consumers to Cars.com Web Site and Local Dealers
DETROIT, Oct. 19, 1999 Cars.com today announced a new television
advertising campaign that incorporates smart humor and pop culture to convey
cars.com as the fast, easy, free way to shop for a new or used vehicle.
This is the first television advertising campaign from cars.com, which
launched in June of 1998 and has quickly become one of the most popular online
destinations for car shoppers.
The television advertising, which will appear in 16 markets across the
country over the next week, is a key element of a major fourth quarter
marketing effort from cars.com that includes nearly $12 million in total media
value.
Cars.com, which features a co-branded version of its Web site on
92 newspaper Web sites across the country, is focusing its marketing efforts
on driving local car shoppers to local car dealers.
"Car buying, even on the Internet, is still a local decision," said
Jim Maguire, director of marketing for cars.com. "We are utilizing local
television and print to help our newspaper affiliates build the most
recognizable online automotive brand in their market."
The first of two television commercials titled "Better Way to Shop,"
features a car falling out of the sky and crushing a shopping cart. The voice
over says "Looking for a better way to shop for a car? Then log onto
cars.com."
In a second television commercial, titled "Quotes on Cars," actors stand
on cars and recite famous quotes such as "To be or not to be" and "Win one for
the Gipper." A voice over says, "Want a quote you can really use? Then log
onto cars.com," and then continues to further explain the features and
benefits of the Web site.
The subtle humor helps underscore the value that cars.com brings to the
consumer -- a simple way to shop for a new or used car.
"Our research indicated that humor was an effective way to break through
the clutter of the 'dot com' category," Maguire said. "It was important,
however, that we avoid gratuitous humor and make sure we are highlighting key
elements of our brand."
Cars.com also is using humorous radio commercials to depict how it can
help when people need to buy a car. One ad titled "The Godfather," mimics a
memorable underworld character who offers advice to a man looking to purchase
a vehicle for his daughter. The character continues to discuss how cars.com
offers dealer inventories and reviews, and once a Request-A-Quote form is
sent, the character says, "A cars.com dealer will make you an offer you can't
refuse."
A second radio spot titled "Frankenstein," positions cars.com as a fast,
easy and simple way for Frankenstein to find a get-away vehicle to escape from
a lynch mob.
The television and radio commercials were developed by
Stein Rogan + Partners of New York to build brand awareness and preference, to
drive traffic to the cars.com Web site and to illustrate the simplicity of
sending a request for a quote to a car dealer. Targeted audiences include:
consumers, auto dealers, and cars.com affiliates. Tom Stein of Stein Rogan +
Partners said the ads are unique because no other car-shopping Web site used
"smart humor" in a major advertising campaign.
"We want cars.com to be the site that consumers think of when they shop
for cars online," Stein said. "Our challenge was to make ads that make people
smile, while graphically reinforcing the simplicity of the cars.com name and
cars.com shopping experience."
Unlike other online car-related advertising campaigns, the cars.com ads do
not mock car dealers.
"The Internet is a tool to help people shop for cars, and an important
tool to help car dealers better meet their customers' needs," Maguire said.
"Car dealers will remain an important part of the car shopping experience for
a long time to come."
About cars.com
Cars.com simplifies local new and used car shopping on the Internet. With
inventory in 26 of the top 30 U.S. markets, cars.com is the only automotive
Web site to provide daily updates of dealer inventories. Cars.com allows
consumers to search vehicle listings by zip code, vehicle make, model and year
and easily submit a quote request to a car dealer by e-mail, fax or telephone.
In addition to vehicle pricing, cars.com provides consumers with trusted
automotive information, including rich editorial content pertaining to
real-life issues such as how to purchase a vehicle and tips for parents of
young drivers. The site also provides consumers with tools such as an auto
loan calculator, news and reports on new and used vehicles, more than
3,500 independent automotive reviews (1983-present), vehicle performance data
and vehicle recall information. Cars.com is a division of Classified
Ventures, Inc., which is based in Chicago.
About Classified Ventures
Classified Ventures, Inc. provides nationally branded online services for
the developing e-commerce opportunities in the classified advertising market
place that build upon the capabilities and local expertise of a national
affiliate network of more than 130 newspapers. The company currently operates
the national Web sites Apartments.com(TM), http://www.apartments.com, Auction
Universe(TM), http://www.auctionuniverse.com, cars.com(TM), http://www.cars.com, Moving
Center(TM), http://www.movingcenter.com and NewHomeNetwork.com(TM),
http://www.newhomenetwork.com. Classified Ventures, Inc. also operates
HomeHunter(TM) (http://www.homehunter.com), a local resale real estate service.
Classified Ventures, Inc. was formed by eight leading media companies
-- Central Newspapers, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., Knight Ridder, The McClatchy
Company, The New York Times Company, The Times Mirror Company, Tribune Company
and The Washington Post Company.
CONTACT: Mike DeVilling of cars.com, 312-496-5609, or
ntodorovic@cars.com; or Laura Margolis of PR 21, 312-396-9726, or
laura_margolis@pr21.com, for cars.com.