Matt Lasher: Marketing in the Current Economy
Transcript
Reid : Assuming some of your rooftops have more inventory than others, how do you allocate marketing resources to accommodate that dynamic?n
n Matt : Well, first, so there’s a difference between new and used cars, right? So the way West Herr operates, we centralize our used car marketing, because we share inventory across the group. So we don’t want to compete with each other internally on Google, say, for used car listings, or whatever. So we leverage our group site for that the new car marketing is driven entirely by co-op programs. So the decisions we make based on advertising decisions for new cars are entirely driven by the co-op programs. n
nWith keeping in mind these inventory constraints. While yes, it does vary from brand to brand, almost all of them have some element of like a waiting list or whatever, right this minute. So I wouldn’t say that there’s any front line like inventory, supply pressure, driving advertising needs, right. And that’s where we were coming at it from several years ago. We had oversupply we, you know, like, discount, you know, it’s all price point advertising. And so dealers were like rinse, repeat price point. And then we shifted into a branding positioning of like, Why buy and what’s great about West Herr and whatever. And so I think the dealers that were able to pivot to that type of Wi Fi type messaging medium and Josh Allen in the background here, we make ads with him that have nothing to do with selling cars. Nothing Right. Like it’s just entertainment. He’s culturally relevant to Western New York, and by de facto, us connecting to him makes our brand likable or humanized or whatever, right? So we get a consideration. So you got to think a little differently about marketing in today’s day and age? Where I think some tier two and some you know, Digital’s partners and stuff, they’re still in their rinse, repeat price point, advertising stuff, and I think that’s a mistake. Why should we be like, talking about $5,000 cash rebates and things when, you know, like, well, first of all, those don’t really exist. But, you know, like, least price point advertising, like, why would we do that? Like, you mean, let’s talk about features. Let’s talk about why the car is great.n
nSean : And, you know, with your guys’ success, clearly your marketing efforts are working. That switch to branding, you know, that question Reid, maybe you want to bring up – like the Tier 4 marketing that some of our dealer groups, like the Sansone Jr. Automotive Group over on the east coast, you know, they started, like a tier four marketing program and really focused around branding, the salespeople, and the salespeople building their following online. It’s really neat. You know, they all get their own websitesu2026 n
n Matt : I’ve never heard that term tier four before. That’s cool. I’ve never heard that. I always call it what we do at West Herr or tier two and a half. We’re kind of like, you know, we live in that space. But yeah, tier four is cool. We do a lot of humanizing efforts with our social media campaigns and things of that nature. I wouldn’t say our marketing is driving the success of the business though. I would just say our people and our execution drive the success of the business, you know, really Team West Herr deserves all the credit. The easiest example to understand is if somebody calls West Herr, and we’re rude to you, when you call, well, it doesn’t matter who’s on the billboard for West Herr doesn’t matter what we say. They just got a negative impression from your company, because what do you want? I want to buy a car like you know, so, so execution day in day out, we live by this sort of simple principle that when we screw up we say we’re sorry, and we try to make customers better than evennn
n Matt : Well, first, so there’s a difference between new and used cars, right? So the way West Herr operates, we centralize our used car marketing, because we share inventory across the group. So we don’t want to compete with each other internally on Google, say, for used car listings, or whatever. So we leverage our group site for that the new car marketing is driven entirely by co-op programs. So the decisions we make based on advertising decisions for new cars are entirely driven by the co-op programs. n
nWith keeping in mind these inventory constraints. While yes, it does vary from brand to brand, almost all of them have some element of like a waiting list or whatever, right this minute. So I wouldn’t say that there’s any front line like inventory, supply pressure, driving advertising needs, right. And that’s where we were coming at it from several years ago. We had oversupply we, you know, like, discount, you know, it’s all price point advertising. And so dealers were like rinse, repeat price point. And then we shifted into a branding positioning of like, Why buy and what’s great about West Herr and whatever. And so I think the dealers that were able to pivot to that type of Wi Fi type messaging medium and Josh Allen in the background here, we make ads with him that have nothing to do with selling cars. Nothing Right. Like it’s just entertainment. He’s culturally relevant to Western New York, and by de facto, us connecting to him makes our brand likable or humanized or whatever, right? So we get a consideration. So you got to think a little differently about marketing in today’s day and age? Where I think some tier two and some you know, Digital’s partners and stuff, they’re still in their rinse, repeat price point, advertising stuff, and I think that’s a mistake. Why should we be like, talking about $5,000 cash rebates and things when, you know, like, well, first of all, those don’t really exist. But, you know, like, least price point advertising, like, why would we do that? Like, you mean, let’s talk about features. Let’s talk about why the car is great.n
nSean : And, you know, with your guys’ success, clearly your marketing efforts are working. That switch to branding, you know, that question Reid, maybe you want to bring up – like the Tier 4 marketing that some of our dealer groups, like the Sansone Jr. Automotive Group over on the east coast, you know, they started, like a tier four marketing program and really focused around branding, the salespeople, and the salespeople building their following online. It’s really neat. You know, they all get their own websitesu2026 n
n Matt : I’ve never heard that term tier four before. That’s cool. I’ve never heard that. I always call it what we do at West Herr or tier two and a half. We’re kind of like, you know, we live in that space. But yeah, tier four is cool. We do a lot of humanizing efforts with our social media campaigns and things of that nature. I wouldn’t say our marketing is driving the success of the business though. I would just say our people and our execution drive the success of the business, you know, really Team West Herr deserves all the credit. The easiest example to understand is if somebody calls West Herr, and we’re rude to you, when you call, well, it doesn’t matter who’s on the billboard for West Herr doesn’t matter what we say. They just got a negative impression from your company, because what do you want? I want to buy a car like you know, so, so execution day in day out, we live by this sort of simple principle that when we screw up we say we’re sorry, and we try to make customers better than evennn