Data the differentiator in mature automotive market says Google
Automotive marketers need to start using data more effectively to gain a competitive advantage, Google Australia’s industry head for automotive, Cathy Collins, told the Mumbrella Automotive Marketing Summit yesterday.
“If you think of the cars themselves, they are all at the same level of consistency and sophistication,” Collins said. “If you look at any segment there are multiple brands, all of them similar sounding that are vying for consumer attention.”
The key to differentiation is using data to put the customer at the heart of all decisions and use the information to develop new products and revenue streams, Collins believes.
“The good news in automotive is we have a lot of data at our fingertips. The average consumer journey is two to three months and 70% of that is online. They are giving you insights into what they want,” she said.
“You also have your CRM, your websites, your dealer enquires and years of service histories. All giving you more insights.”
Collins says brands and dealers need to look at other industries and trigger consumers’ FOMO – fear of missing out – to get them into dealerships, citing Myer’s six second sales and US retailer Home Depot as good examples of using data to trigger sales.
New services will be the biggest growth driver in the automotive industry, Collins said, citing a McKinsey & Co study estimating they will grow from $30 billion in revenue in 2015 to $1.5 trillion by 2030.
To tap into these markets, dealers and brands need to break down internal barriers and learn how to share data from disparate sources, she believes.
Understanding those disparate sources is important, she says, citing Google research which found 78% of car buyers were influenced by websites while dealers only believed 13% of leads came from online.
Collins advises automotive marketers to adopt the tech industry’s practices of continually testing products to find what works with their customers: “At Google we have this culture of continually testing and improving our products for our consumers.”
Well Google would say that, wouldn’t they?
Did they also mention that anyone who dissents from their prevailing orthodoxies, gets fired?
No, didn’t think so.
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