The Cobalt Group Turns Online Advertising into Gold with AdWizard Plus
28 December 1999
The Cobalt Group Turns Online Advertising into Gold with AdWizard Plus; State-of-the Art Design Capabilities Generate High-Return Online Promotions for Auto Dealers
SEATTLE--Dec. 28, 1999--The Cobalt Group , a leading provider of Internet solutions for automotive retailing, today introduced AdWizard Plus, an online advertising software application that enables dealers to create and manage high-quality, dynamic online advertising campaigns on their own Web sites at a fraction of the cost of traditional print and broadcast advertising."Auto dealers are acknowledged masters of print and broadcast advertising," said David Potts, vice president of product management and business development for The Cobalt Group. "AdWizard Plus enables them to extend that marketing savvy onto their own Web sites where they can create custom ads to cost-effectively communicate with highly motivated Internet car buyers and owners."
AdWizard Plus is the first major enhancement of an existing Cobalt application, upgrading and combining three products: AdWizard New (for new vehicles), AdWizard Used (for pre-owned vehicles) and AdWizard Promo (for parts and service promotions). It integrates seamlessly and works in tandem with a number of other major Cobalt products, including the company's lead management, traffic reporting and vehicle inventory management applications.
Developed by Cobalt's dealer technology center, AdWizard Plus utilizes state-of-the-art Java technology to create real-time, user-friendly interfaces. Through feature-rich layout templates, AdWizard Plus allows dealers to create professional ads for their Web sites in three basic steps -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
| -- | Select the type of ad -- either a new or used vehicle display ad, or a parts or service promotion; |
| -- | Enter promotional copy, descriptions and disclaimers; and |
| -- | Choose graphics from a professional-level library of images or upload their own images or photos. |
"The leading-edge ad design capabilities are very potent in their own right, but AdWizard Plus generates even more value by leveraging the dealer's management information systems," said Potts. "Dealers have the option to import new and pre-owned car data directly into ads from their inventory, and a scheduling feature allows dealers to prepare ads weeks in advance, then program automatic beginning and ending dates. Dealers know immediately how well a promotion is working because AdWizard Plus allows them to add email links to the ads so they can receive customer inquiries in real-time. In the future, those leads can be incorporated seamlessly into Cobalt's lead management system."
"AdWizard Plus is another demonstration that we listen to our dealer customers and their Internet customers to incorporate their feedback into our product development process," said John Holt, co-chief executive officer of The Cobalt Group. "Cobalt continually innovates in ways that empower dealers to build stronger relationships with their customers through Internet-based solutions."
Other key features of AdWizard Plus include:
| -- | Online advertising can be coordinated with print and broadcast promotions; |
| -- | Automatic creation of home page button featuring links to Internet specials that reward dealer Web site visitors; |
| -- | An extensive library of professionally designed ad layouts and graphics; |
| -- | State-of-the-art Web page navigation which makes it easy for Internet customers to browse ads that draw them into a dealer's site and keep them coming back to see what's new; and |
| -- | The ability to feature single or multiple vehicles in one advertisement, which allows dealers to show off and promote specials on a wide variety of vehicles without the customer having to navigate through different ads. |
About the Cobalt Group
The Cobalt Group(TM) , based in Seattle, is a leading provider of automotive e-commerce products and services. Through Web development and hosting, data management and online car shopping services, Cobalt helps dealers, dealer groups and automobile manufacturers harness the power of the Internet to better serve their customers.
With approximately 4,600 dealer Web site clients, over 10,000 dealers using its parts locating system, and relationships with 16 automotive manufacturers and more than 50 of the 100 largest dealer groups in the United States, Cobalt is one of the leading technology companies serving the automotive industry. Cobalt operates DealerNet(R) (www.dealernet.com), one of the best-known automotive destination sites on the Web, and PartsVoice(R) (www.partsvoice.com), a leading OEM auto parts locating and data management service. For more information, please visit The Cobalt Group at www.cobaltgroup.com.