The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

DDB Logs On to OneGoodCar.com

25 February 2000

DDB Logs On to OneGoodCar.com; Online Used Car Company Decidedly Different from Competition, Making its Mark in $350 Billion Used Car Industry

    SEATTLE--Feb. 25, 2000--The Seattle office of DDB today announced that it had signed on to provide marketing communications services to OneGoodCar.com(TM), an online used car retailer based in Seattle.
    OneGoodCar.com plans to spend $12-15 million marketing itself throughout the United States over the next year.
    The company has been delivering cars for the past two months using an Internet-direct model that completely eliminates conventional auto dealership contact -- regarded by the majority of used car buyers as the most difficult and stressful part of the buying process. Offering a unique, integrated used car package, OneGoodCar.com service includes a fully-reconditioned late model used car, 100,000-mile warranty, roadside assistance, financing for all credit levels, a no haggle price, and home delivery, all rolled into one. Every OneGoodCar(TM) also includes a three-day, 300-mile money-back guarantee.
    "We feel strongly that OneGoodCar.com is decidedly different from other dot.com car retailers out there, and that's why we were eager to partner with them," said Ron Elgin, president of DDB (Seattle). "We feel their product is superior to the competition and that it will propel them to national prominence within the next year."
    DDB will help launch OneGoodCar.com into regional markets over the next few months, and then nationally by early-2001. Prior to teaming with DDB, OneGoodCar.com had produced television and radio spots, which are currently running throughout the Northwest. These spots will be integrated into the campaign being developed by DDB.
    Though still focusing the plan, DDB will provide a variety of services for OneGoodCar.com, including strategic counsel; public relations; print, outdoor and online advertising; and direct marketing.
    Current investors in this new approach to Internet auto retailing include Regions Financial Corporation, Ramius Capital Group and Bulldog Capital Management. D.A. Davidson, also an investor through its merchant banking arm, serves as its investment banker. Several associates of OneGoodCar.com President Dennis Haydon -- a former Morgan Stanley investment banker and a graduate of West Point and Harvard Business School -- also are investors, including Bob Lessin, chairman of Wit Capital Corporation, and Laurie Shahon, president of Wilton Capital Group.
    Founded in 1999, OneGoodCar.com is the only online full-service, one stop shop for quality, guaranteed used cars. The organization, which includes seasoned auto retail and finance professionals, employs 85 people in five states.
    The Seattle office of DDB is a full-service communications company with capabilities in advertising, public relations, media, design and direct marketing. The 160-employee agency is a unit of Omnicom Group Inc and DDB Worldwide.
    DDB is the largest advertising agency in the United States and the third largest worldwide (based on consolidated gross income). The agency has 206 offices in 96 countries and is acknowledged as the industry's most creative multinational network, based on its dominance of awards competitions.