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A U T O M O T I V E
D E A L E R
W E B
S O L U T I O N S
Can a dog have
two masters?
We’ve been designing and building them now for over six
years for our clients Subaru, Isuzu, MG, Great Wall and the
recently won Honda Motorcycles network.
Over these years, we’ve delivered website solutions to well
over 250 dealers.
It’s a tricky road to traverse. On the one hand there’s the all-powerful brand,
dictating corporate guidelines and making sure the tone of voice is adhered to.
Then there’s the dealer. Whether a family run single site or a multi-franchise,
national brand in their own right, they have fears over the quality and constraints a
one-size-fits-all solution provides.
The number of people and departments involved throws up some management
and political challenges that need to be considered and understood at the outset.
On the brand side, there needs to be buy in, communication and commitment from
not only the marketing team, but also CRM, sales, regional managers, accessories
departments and finance. Each one of these will be called upon to provide content,
detail, feedback and approval.
On the dealer side they will, in our experience, fall into one of several camps.
There’s the large operator, that more than likely has an in-house team taking
care of all their online needs across their many sites and handling content
for a multitude of brands. They often don’t need or want a solution from the
manufacturer. However, they usually have a very good relationship and will tow the
political line.
There’s the mid-range dealer who usually outsources their digital requirements to
either a small local agency or a large dealer web specialist. These are the people
we hear all too often from about the dissatisfaction they have over cost and
service levels with their current supplier. The model line-ups tend to be out
of date, a poor pastiche from the brand site or don’t follow brand guidelines. Cost
is quite often the excuse for the short comings and these dealers are the most
eager to sign up to a solution, but it has to be on the proviso that the price is
rightand that the problems will be resolved without heartache or over involvement
from themselves.
The family run, single site operators are time pressed and often lack the digital
confidence to organize these things properly. They feel the pressure from the
brand over corporate compliance and keeping product pricing and spec up to date.
Often though, they don’t really understand what all the fuss is about and just want
someone to make the problem go away.
The solutions we offer vary dependent on the brand client’s needs
and requirements.
It can be as simple as a page that sits on the main brand website, this is wholly
controlled by the manufacturer with no input from the network.
There’s then the standardized, identical solution for every dealer. Every site looks
the same and the content is controlled and pushed live via an API feed. The dealer
only has control over their short biog and used stock, which they can upload to the
site and this then feeds the used section of the brand website.
As an happy compromise, there can be a solution provided that on the face of
it looks as though everybody is towing the corporate line. However, we allow
the dealer teams access to their own Content Management System (CMS) that
provides them with the capability to promote offers and move content around.
This empowers them to manage their SEO, push what’s important to them and
feel in control, without the brand experiencing any concerns over rogue content or
breaking brand guidelines.
The final solution, and the one we’ve just implemented for Honda Motorcycles, has
been developed from a brief that was to allow their network full control over their
own businesses while not infringing on any dealer standards.
So, as the old saying goes, there’s certainly more than one way to skin a cat.
However, you need to talk to an agency that understands the path that needs to be
walked in order to satisfy two or more masters. That agency is One Black Bear.
Talk to us to arrange a meeting and see more of how we can help deliver the
automotive dealer web solution that both you and your network require.
Here at One Black Bear, we pride ourselves on providing innovative digital solutions
to the automotive market as the rules and motoring evolves. We can help to keep
you ahead of the curve because, like our clients, we never stand still.
O N E B L A C K B E A R . C O M
@ O N E B L A C K B E A R