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Dan Moore helps us come back down to earth.

It’s easy to get caught up in the world of reports, gut feelings and keeping up with the Joneses. But Dan Moore of Vistadash has a way of seeing through the buzzwords and talking about what actually matters. Be prepared for metaphors, laughs and great insights into the world of business intelligence.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

7:58 Having been through several acquisitions, Dan talks about the different ways that his company has had to navigate them.

11:03 Dan thinks that Vistadash can be the biggest business intelligence platform in automotive. He talks about the difference between knowing the score and watching the game film.

15:32 For most companies, data works best for you when there is a human element, according to Dan. We’re still a ways off from a truly effective AI because the data volume isn’t there.

22:28 The three prongs of selling cars are the product, marketing, and the people and process. Making sure that you have the right mix of those three things is a key that Dan talks about.

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Some people have seen it from both sides.

Anthony Jingoli of Effectv is one of them. When he started working for Comcast over 20 years ago, cable television was the disrupter. But then as digital and streaming exploded, cable TV was the one being disrupted. Now, through changing the perspective and evolving, television advertising is moving back to the disrupter spot. Today’s interview covers targeting specific segments, audiences and geography, the power of a story based brand, and continuing to learn from those around you.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

4:12 Anthony, a Philly native, shares the one thing he would tell people coming to ASOTU CON to go out of their way to experience while in town.

9:08 Having worked in television for over 20 years, Anthony has seen cable go from being a disruptor in the advertising industry to the one being disrupted. He talks about how Comcast has had to learn to adapt with the digital explosion.

15:03 Although the method of delivery has changed, advertising hasn’t. At its core, it's still about storytelling.

“It's sight, sound, motion, you're telling a story. And that doesn't change, and you're using video to tell the story. Now, there's much more sophisticated ways to target that story to different audiences. But good storytelling is good storytelling, a good show produced in 1980, for broadcast TV is still a good show, it still, you know, tells great stories.”

20:53 Anthony preaches the power of advertising to tell the story of your brand, not just to sell cars. He shares some of the ways that dealers are doing that in today’s market.

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7 hours online before they visit a showroom.

CARS.com has a lot of consumer data, and is seeing many trends and disconnects in the automotive industry. CEO Alex Vetter joined us on Auto Collabs to talk about the digital customer experience, trust reservoirs and giving power back to the small business owner.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

4:29 Alex and CARS have a philosophy of “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” They use this mantra to promote collaboration and innovation, something that Alex sees across the entire industry.

“Share points are usually won through teamwork and collaboration. And so it's a big cultural tenant we have inside our company, but I think it's important for the industry. I mean, I think what I love about dealers is that you know, they're competitors by day but they're partners through and through. They want to learn from each other. They want to share what's working. And they know that innovation has to always happen in order to keep relevant and current in the business.”

9:12 Are regular Metaverse vehicle purchases coming? Maybe eventually, but right now, Alex sees consumers spending much more time in digital spaces than physical spaces.

12:40 Don’t believe the negative hype surrounding dealers. CARS.com has 10 million customer reviews through DealerRater showing dealers are doing a phenomenal job in sales and service.

23:33 Customers are searching for trust reservoirs, areas where they can get objective data and reviews. Alex thinks we need to embrace these trust reservoirs and see them as a part of the process.

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Connect with Alex Vetter on LinkedInLearn about CARS.com

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If there was an Oscar for dealership commercials…

Brian Ortega would probably have one. He’s the Creative Director at Valley-Hi Toyota, home to some of the most creative commercials in the industry. The team creates a new story-based 30 second commercial every month, with Brian as one of the star actors. It’s been successful in building Valley-Hi’s brand and ingraining them deep into their community.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

4:05 Brian grew up making videos with any camera he could get his hands on. That led him to film school at UC Santa Barbara.

10:35 When Valley-Hi Toyota started making commercials, it was just their GM Todd Stokes in front of the camera. Brian would direct him occasionally, and someone suggested that Brian and Todd do them together. This was the start of Brian’s car commercial career.

15:44 Every month, the team brainstorms and creates a new 30 second commercial with over-the-top memorable characters. This commercial becomes the focus of all the content for the month for Valley-Hi.

27:11 Brian has cached all of his commercials, behind the scenes footage and outtakes at https://brianjortega.com/ for your viewing pleasure.

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Connect with Brian Ortega on LinkedIn

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There are a lot of excuses for why a company doesn’t invest in social media.

Nathanael Greklek has a counter for every single one of them. As the Chief Digital Branding Leader for Mohawk Auto Group, Nathanael has built an organic social media presence that gets millions of impressions a month. They’re able to track sales back to those impressions, and are a machine of content creation, averaging 500 pieces of content per month.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

4:36 Nathanael started off as a delivery specialist, and at that point, the social media strategy was posting delivery photos. He had an idea, pitched it to the team, and a new position was created for him.

8:20 Anything that Mohawk sponsors, they send a team to capture video and photos. Nathanael shares how this has helped them connect to causes in their community.

13:27 Over time, Nathanael and his team have been able to build such a solid brand that it has gotten over 2 million organic impressions in a month, allowing them to cut down on paid social media.

16:39 Nathanael walks through how he would start a branding campaign like Mohawk has, including where to find someone, what equipment they need and the first strategy they should use.

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Connect with Nathanael Greklek on LinkedIn

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A digital retail perspective.

Doug Miller has helped some significant brands make big digital transitions. Ever heard of Ticketmaster? Doug was there when they sold their first ticket online. What about Expedia? They started by faxing orders to hotels. So when it comes to the automotive industry, an industry that Doug started in, he’s confident about the digital/physical hybrid future. He’s the President and Chief Commercial Officer of CARS.com, and we are grateful to be able to spend time with him on Auto Collabs.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

4:29 Doug was part of the team that originally helped launch CARS.com in 1997. Somehow, the official history starts in 1998, but Doug was there with Alex Vetter when it all began.

11:20 CARS.com has done the legwork of building a marketing platform that puts advertisers in front of customers looking to buy vehicles. Plus, they’ve analyzed the flow and experience of a dealership and built digital tools that can be tailored to individual dealers. Doug is somewhat baffled why more dealers don’t learn from how CARS has operated or take advantage of their tools.

16:41 Doug values connection over credit. He says we spend too much time worrying about attribution and not enough time making all of the tools work together, for both the dealers’ and consumers’ benefit.

21:35 Expedia started by taking orders and then faxing them to the hotel. Ticketmaster used to be 100% in person at a box office. Both of them connected into the digital space over time. Doug thinks that the automotive industry is going to work a little differently.

“I think that the digital transformation of automotive is still going on. But for all the right reasons, right?. The the dealership experience for the consumer matched together with digital is the future is that hybrid of being able to do things digitally, then move locally and actually physically be with this car, get the service that you want on that car, test drive that car, have that relationship with your local dealer, but also then be able to move seamlessly back digital that that's the platform that CARS is investing in to help dealers to get to and and and that it's also I think why Automotive is going to take a little longer because it is by definition more hybrid.”

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The computer on the Starship Enterprise that crew members could talk to. R2-D2. Jarvis.

Science fiction has been showing us AI and digital assistants for years. And Josselyn Boudett and the team at Stella Automotive AI are bringing them to life. Stella is a phone answering AI that books service appointments while helping customers get loaners or talk to specific employees. It’s unlike anything on the market today. Josselyn explains how Stella came to be and how digital voice assistants will become more prevalent in the future.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

4:59 Josselyn’s company, Telepathy Labs, isn’t specifically automotive focused, but it has a lot of background in automotive. The voice team’s background was building onboard speaking systems for cars in the early 2000s.

6:52 Stella AI started off talking about parts for heavy machinery. But then Josselyn took Stella to NADA and everyone started asking if it would work on a dealership phone system.

12:47 Stella is a true artificial intelligence. Most of the telephone systems that we have are IVR systems, or Interactive Voice Response. Paul and Josselyn talk about the differences between IVR and AI.

21:01 Josselyn thinks there will come a time when you won’t need a keyboard anymore. Instead, you’ll use a digital voice assistant.

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Connect with Josselyn Boudett on LinkedInLearn about Stella Automotive AI

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Transportation is freedom.

Mike Darrow, President and CEO of TrueCar, recognizes that automotive can often live in the space between supply and demand, where a dealership is looking to purchase cars in order to meet the needs of customers. And TrueCar has a lot of experience in that position. This conversation jumps around a bit, from the chip shortage to serving dealers to serving consumers to tracking the shopping journey to building community. The threads that tie it together are that transportation is freedom, and the car business cares about people.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

6:11 Mike Darrow has been in the industry for 40 years, and so he’s seen a lot, and knows that retail automotive is up for whatever challenge might be thrown at it.

“I've certainly seen a lot of these cycles, you know, come through the industry, and they tend to be a bit of a roller coaster. You know, I've seen high interest rates and low interest rates and high inventory levels and low inventory levels and big incentives and no incentives. And it's just, you know, the industry is amazingly responsive. And that's the thing I like about dealers is, they're such entrepreneurial people that they just adjust to what's going on in the marketplace.”

10:24 TrueCar conducts a lot of consumer surveys, and they’ve found that 65% of their respondents would be willing to do the majority or all of their car shopping experience online.

15:29 About 50% of TrueCar shoppers want to trade in their current vehicle when purchasing, so TrueCar has worked to integrate that into the deal-building step of the sales process.

18:57 Mike is looking outside of the automotive industry for inspiration. Companies like Expedia, Amazon and Grubhub have changed the way consumers shop, and Mike thinks those principles can apply in the automotive industry.

23:23 The car business cares about people, and TrueCar does this specifically with veterans. Mike lays out some of the ways that they support veterans find their transportation freedom.

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Do you have someone in your organization that touches every department?

For DeNooyer Automotive Family, that person is Erin Sparks. As the marketing director, she has a lot on her plate and a lot of tabs open on her computer. But she makes it her responsibility to read reviews, walk the service lane, check in on the BDC team and more. She does all of this to break down barriers and bring the teams together, all as she tells the story of the dealership.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

5:44 Erin’s early years were spent around cars, because her father was a certified master technician.

12:46 When Erin entered the dealerships she works for, they were heavily focused on an OEM-based message. Erin has worked to change that to a dealership story-based message.

“In the last, you know, three years or so is, every time we go into a change, or we look at doing something different, especially in marketing. My question is like, what's the story? What do you want people to know? And please don't tell me that you want to tell them that wiper blades are 19.99, because that's cool. And like, also a good message. But that can't be the only message. So because a lot of what I have always seen is that everything is price related, everything is offer related. And while there's a time and a place for that, it should be like 80 20 80% story 20% offer.”

15:00 DeNooyer Automotive Family is trying to do mobile service, but it’s not without its hiccups. Erin throws out some examples that their team is trying to work through, like software update recalls in low cell service locations.

21:19 Erin views her job in marketing to keep digging in every department to help better tell the story of the dealership and bring the team together as one.

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Connect with Erin Sparks on LinkedIn

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A marketer turned developer now marketing a marketing tool.

After working in the industry for several years, Jeff Gonzales saw a need for dealers to quickly be able to do their own marketing and ad campaigns. The tool that he developed, AET Automotive, incorporates all of the compliances that dealers face with their marketing. A punk rock vibe, some crazy stories and some insight into the future of marketing made for a fun interview.

What we talk about in this episode:0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier.

7:35 One of Jeff’s big concerns joining the automotive industry was whether they would take his advice or respond with, “This is the way we’ve always done it.”

10:01 Jeff thinks that automotive marketing is generally behind the rest of retail marketing. Right now, TikTok is the new Facebook. Dealers are slow to adopt, but Jeff thinks that it’s a great new opportunity.

17:02 AET’s platform is all about empowering the dealer to be able to do their own creative effectively and easily.

24:04 The interview wraps up by Jeff tying his journey to automotive to his love of action sports, something he’s starting to pass on to his daughter.

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Connect with Jeff Gonzales on LinkedInLearn about AET Automotive

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