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Growing When Everything is Shrinking

By Grant Whitmore, Fuel Senior Editor

For many of us in the automotive business, the act of watching the evening news, opening the paper, or logging onto our favorite portal has become an exercise in fear and loathing.  Each day, we watch the value of our homes tumble, our savings erode, and the business in which each of us has invested so much of ourselves slip deeper and faster than even the most pessimistic of us would ever have imagined six months ago.

Questions loom. With the SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) pointing at 11mm units in October, will we even be able to break 13 million units sold in 2009? Will there be a bailout or not?  If there is a bailout, will it actually help?  Are we facing the year in which the Detroit 3 becomes the Detroit 2, or even the Detroit 1?  Which of the imports will decide that it’s just not worth trying to do business in the US anymore? Who will be the next to lose their job?  How far is down? Recession or depression?

Tough times to be sure.  There will be some difficult choices in the months ahead for all of us.  When I talk to my friends across the digital space, I am hearing things like “scaling back”, “holding off”, “delaying investment”, etc.  Some of the publishers that we have grown to love will decide to pull the plug on entire site sections.  Some of the agencies producing the most innovative work will mothball their best new ideas.  Some of our clients will fall back to old habits—turning toward TV, print and radio because it feels safe.  The conventional wisdom is saying that this is the time to batten down the hatches, go with what you know, and weather the storm.  Well, that is certainly one way to go.  And, with any luck you’ll emerge from this mess with some fraction of the audience or customers you enjoyed going in, and may be able to claw back to 2007 levels a year or two after the smoke clears.

To those of you with the stomach for it, I’ll tell you that this is the time to double-down on the investment you’ve made thus far.  Put your energy into growing that audience.  Put your time into bringing forward the world-beating advertising solutions.  Yes, this market is worse than anything that most of us have ever seen.  But, you know what?  There are still going to be millions of consumers walking into dealerships each month to plunk down their hard-earned cash on a new or used car.  Are they going to be thinking long and hard about that decision?  Heck yes.  Are the going to require MORE information than before to validate their decision?  Absolutely.  Do they need more persuasive messages and tools to help them decide where and how to spend that money?  You bet.  Does interactive media provide the most effective and efficient way to engage with and influence those people that ARE still in-market for a car.  Uh-huh.

We know that automotive marketing will be significantly down in the upcoming year, but we also believe that with the creative thinking of our publishers, agency partners and clients, that we can create a profound and lasting impact on this industry.  It is time for a shake-up.  It is time to push the conversation to the limit on why brand ads are running on Thursday night television and why there are full-page ads in the Saturday automotive section of the newspaper.  Let’s get serious people.  With the vast majority of car shoppers online and searching, with the multitude of mechanisms we have to reach, influence and track an audience, do we really think this is the time to peel back on digital content and budget?  I don’t think so.

Remember, the company that invests intelligently when times are hard gains share, profitability, and leads the exit from the downturn.  Sounds good, doesn’t it?  So, choose wisely and put those plans in motion.  Spend less overall but continue to reach, engage, and hold that audience that is still shopping for cars in places where you can be sure they are.  Challenge the thinking that has continued to dump billions of dollars into media that is untargeted, inefficient and irrelevant.  We know what happens when we don’t push...just turn the news back on.