MEDIA & MARKETINGWith new car sales down 17 per cent, what can marketing do to stem the rot?

CAR BRANDS have to be careful with their marketing. Too much tactical, price-driven advertising and the brand can suffer; too little price-driven advertising and sales can suffer.

With new car sales down 17 per cent so far this year, there is just one thought occupying marketing managers: what can they do with their advertising to stem the rot?

There are over 40 car marques fighting for motorists' attention and between them they spend nearly €60 million a year on a mix of strategic, brand, tactical and launch advertising.

In the shrinking market, some marques are bucking the trend. Mazda, Volvo and Kia have increased sales year-on-year, while Ford's sales have also held up relatively well compared with their big-volume peers Toyota and Volkswagen. The new Audi A4 was the best-selling car in Ireland in August. This is because marketing and advertising only takes the distributors so far; what matters most to buyers is the freshness of the model range.

For a challenger brand like Kia, which is a relative newcomer, the dual marketing challenge is to make the brand appear both affordable and desirable.

This year, marketing manager Aidan Doyle has used strategic and tactical advertising, centred on the launch of the new Cee'd model.

Through May, Doyle advertised on television with a brand ad to promote the new Cee'd Sporty Wagon. He followed up with tactical price advertising on press and radio in June, highlighting the price savings that would follow the new VRT regime in July.

Says Doyle: "The brand advertising sells the desirability and emotional values, while the tactical campaign is a very rational pitch. In that way, the brand ads are 'foreplay' for the tactical advertising. For tactical ads, radio is good to alert the public to your particular offer, while national press is best for explaining the offer."

Kia's marketing approach has to be different to a long-established brand like Toyota. "When we become established, we can focus on customer retention," he said. "For the moment, we are in the customer-stealing business.

"The pitfall for a challenger brand is that if all your advertising is tactical and price driven, you get a reputation for just being a cheap brand. Established brands can go tactical every now and again because they have built up the brand equity."

Eddie Murphy, chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland, says having the right product, and a strong retail channel, is pivotal to sales success in the car market. He added: "Having that product at the right time is equally critical, especially as the market becomes more and more concentrated in the first three months of the year. We expect a strong performance from the new Fiesta and Ka in early 2009."

Mid-year car launches are challenging, and require some imagination. When Ford unveiled its Kuga crossover vehicle in June, the company linked up with the Bloom garden show in the Phoenix Park. "Bloom allowed us to showcase Ford's unique standing as a provider of 'allergy-friendly' cars to over 50,000 visitors," said Murphy.

John Hayes, sales and marketing manager in Audi, uses the usual avenues of TV, press, outdoor and web to promote the range, but also spends on sponsorship, and this week is sponsoring the Style in The City fashion event in Dublin.

Teaser marketing has assumed greater importance, according to Tom Whelan, marketing manager in Belgard Motors. He instances Volkswagen's promotion of the Tiguan 4x4, which started 12 months before launch.

Whelan said: "People interested in the SUV registered their details with a special Volkswagen microsite and received regular e-mail updates. Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche also do this sort of activity. Audi and Mercedes even have their own TV channels broadcasting on the web, a fantastic way to highlight car attractions."

Dealers like Belgard also run their own campaigns to lure potential buyers into the showroom. "In Belgard we do this by putting together special offers on finance or by promoting better specified cars at better prices," said Whelan.

"The internet has become the most important channel for the dealer. Look at carzone.ie or cbg.ie. These sites are easy to use and allow viewers to compare cars from all over the country."

With the new carbon emission tax regime in place, Aidan Doyle expects increased marketing focus on communicating information on fuel consumption and emissions. In Doyle's view, national press should benefit from this emphasis on tactical marketing.

siobhan@businessplus.ie