MARKETING PLANNING TRANSFORMATION IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

THE WAY WE BUY CARS HAS CHANGED FOREVER – WHICH IS WHY MARKETING MUST CHANGE TOO

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Car buying is now a hybrid experience, with online marketing playing a decisive role in guiding potential buyers to their preferred choice. By the time they step into a dealership, most people already know what vehicle they want to buy. For marketing planners in the car industry, this means far more attention must be paid to the customer’s online journey.

In this shared virtual/physical world, the function of marketing changes from building brand awareness via big ad campaigns to becoming a key enabler of sales. This will require marketing departments to embrace new planning models that are goal-oriented, data-driven and integrated across several client-facing departments in order to keep prospective buyers engaged at every step of their decision-making journey. Berylls has identified six key elements for the successful transformation of marketing planning in the automotive industry:

1. Become goal and business driven.

2. Embrace the entire, complex customer journey.

3. Adopt agile methods for real-time transparency and steering.

4. Create cross-functional standards and collaboration.

5. Introduce a central collaboration platform.

6. Become data-driven and fact based.

All will increase the effectiveness of marketing planning by placing the customer and business goals at the center of marketing efforts, and by adopting data and agile working methods to measure and optimize the performance of marketing decisions and lay firm foundations for further success.

THE WAY WE BUY CARS HAS CHANGED FOREVER – WHICH IS WHY MARKETING MUST CHANGE TOO

From comparison websites to virtual tours on YouTube, the trend for digital channels as the go-to source of information and inspiration for prospective car buyers has gone into overdrive. Marketing departments must transform themselves quickly and embrace new planning models to keep pace.

?A new sales model requires a new marketing & sales organization – one global, goal-oriented marketing planning is one of the most important steps for building a highly efficient marketing machine – data-driven, but different“ Jonas Wagner .

According to Google statistics, 95% of vehicle buyers now begin their search online. Six out of 10 buyers are undecided at the start of the process and are open to different options. They spend an average of three weeks looking at price comparison and car review websites, experiencing virtual, 360-degree views of vehicles, visiting carmaker websites to customize their choice, weighing up discounts, finance options and other extras, all the while touching dozens of marketing points along the way. By the time they step into a dealership, most people already know what vehicle they want to buy. For car manufacturers, all this virtual window shopping means it is now vital to capture the attention of prospective buyers at the undecided stage and keep them engaged – to stop them being whisked away by a competitor. It is therefore also vital for marketing to change – from a support function and brand builder to both brand builder and key enabler of sales. The marketing function needs to become a highly efficient machine that never drops the ball – capturing a prospective client’s interest and preventing them from wandering to a rival’s offering. In this new virtual/physical market space, marketing planners must learn to manage the brand and product like a “funnel” that gently but firmly guides prospective buyers from the initial online search to the completion of a purchase.

BREAKING OLD HABITS

Restructuring marketing departments in an industry that is more than a century old requires breaking a lot of old habits. Every year, carmakers lose billions of dollars in forgone revenues because marketing planning is conducted in functional silos. There is little coordination, and therefore few common goals, across client-facing departments including sales teams, car finance departments and after-sales service, for example. The same problems occur in the industry’s three-tier distribution system of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), national sales companies (NSCs) and dealership networks. Although leading carmakers are beginning to adopt a digital-first customer journey and experience, and are leveraging data to put the customer – rather than the car – at the center of sales efforts (with the right offer, for the right person at the right time and place), marketing planning has not kept pace. It is still too focused on allocating budgets and planning big-ticket items such as big TV ads,when it should be focused on achieving goals, and measuring and optimizing performance.

The main problems with the old marketing model are:

HQ HAS ONLY AN OVERVIEW OF MARKETING and sales activities and no central control, which leads to different local interpretations of the central strategy.

LACK OF COLLABORATION In this three-tier distribution system, resulting in retailers relying heavily on discounts to close sales. An integrated and centralized marketing approach could reduce the need for deep discounts and improve margins, as well as reduce cost per Action.

A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE about goal-oriented marketing planning and how to get the most out of paid, earned and owned media: for example, a marketing strategy that coordinates paid posts on Instagram, amplifies them with reviews written by journalists in car magazines, and reinforces key messages with good content on the websites and in the offices of OEMs, NSCs and dealers.

THE ABSENCE OF A FUNNEL APPROACH to customer engagement, with poor orchestration or conflicting messaging (that silo problem again), disappointing web design and no customer tracking, which all point to the absence of a coordinated digital marketing strategy.

NO GLOBAL DEFINITIONS and taxonomies for collecting and interpreting data across sales and marketing functions. When standards vary, data is not comparable, which means it cannot be used to gain insights and improve the effectiveness of marketing campaigns globally.

LEARNING FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES

Leading companies in other industries, like consumer goods, retailing, and e-commerce companies, such as P&G, IKEA or Zalando, have elevated marketing into a core competency. At its heart is a focus on the customer, an ability to track that customer along multiple marketing touchpoints and holistic marketing strategies to keep them engaged. It is an operating model that integrates strategy and objectives; organization, people and processes; governance and partnerships; and technology and data to underpin it all. Our Beryll’s Infinity Loop forms such a marketing operating model and below we will explain in more detail what the 4 dimensions mean for marketing planning:

Strategy & Objectives for the future, and a plan to achieve that vision, are presented by top management. The business objectives are linked to marketing goals. And transparent marketing planning shows how all functions work toward one common goal.

Organization, People & Processes: The key is to have a workforce that understands the fundamentals of goal-oriented, data-driven, omni-channel marketing and is able to plan, execute and improve campaigns. In this field, clear, shared and comparable goals are critical to a company‘s success. Clear processes that keep the big picture in mind and improve it piece by piece. Data and performance metrics on marketing actions allow teams to learn and get better at what they do, as well as update long-term plans to reflect new realities.

Governance & Partners: Marketing planning must set clear rules and goals to govern who has access to sensitive information. Choosing flexibly the right external partners, and striving for long-term relationships, builds common ground for shared success.

Technology & Data: Technology must support collaboration by delivering actionable and uncontested data that is accessible to all, 24/7. It must also support clear processes and tracking, leveraging automation as appropriate. Data should inform continuous improvement in planning and insights for optimization.

HOW TO TRANSFORM MARKETING PLANNING IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Berylls Mad Media has identified six essential elements for the successful transformation of automotive marketing departments. The goal of these six Berylls Hexagons is to:

PROVIDE OEMS WITH A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THEIR MARKETING PLANNING. PROVIDE OEMS WITH GUIDANCE ON TOPICS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING THEIR MARKETING PLANNING 2.0. HELP OEMS TRANSITION FROM GUT-FEELING MARKETING TO DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING TO SUCCEED IN A CHANGING AUTOMOTIVE WORLD.

Modern marketing planning must achieve the following:

1. BECOME GOAL AND BUSINESS DRIVEN. Marketing planning must move beyond allocating budgets. It must be able to align marketing actions with business objectives by breaking down business goals into component parts and matching these with the most effective marketing actions needed to achieve each one. Relevant actions include:

? Using sales and business plans as the basis for marketing planning.

? Setting clear objectives for annual strategic marketing plans.

? Allocating budgets and management time to maximize the impact of marketing actions and investment.

2. EMBRACE THE ENTIRE, COMPLEX CUSTOMER JOURNEY to leverage marketing efficiency and customer experience at scale.

? Adopting a funnel approach to retain customer engagement throughout their decision-making process.

? Adopting business and customer experience goals.

? Using data to measure the conversion rate of marketing spend to vehicle sales.

It is sales targets that should drive the marketing strategy and not the other way around.

3. ADOPT AGILE METHODS FOR REAL-TIME TRANSPARENCY AND STEERING, so workflows, campaigns and content are optimized and potential sales opportunities can be seized upon in real time. This will include the use of:

? Establishing dashboards to enable transparent, data-driven business decisions.

? Using real-time reports and consistent KPIs to quickly identify and fix anomalies and adjust actions.

? Providing budget transparency from planned allocations to spending results.

4. CREATE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL STANDARDS AND COLLABORATION between departments, regions and partners to coordinate marketing actions, ensure alignment with business goals and eliminate inefficiencies. This will require:

? Integrating stakeholders and partners to plan, manage and reduce iterations and share insights.

? Adopting common standards and language, particularly for the use of data.

? Codifying processes and workflows.

? Defining role-based access and views for consistency and compliance.

5. INTRODUCE A CENTRAL COLLABORATION PLATFORM to avoid the duplication of efforts and make information accessible to all interested parties. This should include:

? Establishing a central cross-department platform that tracks marketing actions from goal to impact.

? Ensuring the full integration of agency partners.

? Closing the loop from planning to marketing performance tracking to financial systems.

6. BECOME DATA-DRIVEN AND FACT BASED to best predict customer needs and their future behaviors which helps creating personalized marketing for the highest possible return on investment. This requires:

? There must be one solid database – a single source of truth – to enable decisions based on data and not on gut feelings.

? Standards should be adopted to ensure a common taxonomy across all departments, locations and stakeholders.

? Unique IDs for campaigns or activities should be

BERYLLS MAD MEDIA YOUR COMPANION

accompanies clients as they transform themselves into data-driven marketing organizations with a consistent focus on the customer journey. In doing so, we optimize the entire marketing process – from sales and marketing planning to creative content, marketing asset distribution and continuous KPI measurement and improvement. We are a team of marketing specialists from different industries who have successfully guided many clients in this challenging endeavor.

When it comes to marketing planning, here‘s what that might look like for you:

CREATE AND APPLY TARGETED customer-oriented and agile marketing plans that are globally comparable and transparent.

BRING TOGETHER STAKEHOLDERS in a structured and standardized way to best achieve your company‘s objectives.

ENSURE YOU AS CMO will have an overview at all times through proactive monitoring and measurement functions. Do you currently know what average cost per lead each country is aiming for? With Berylls’ transformation

program, you will.

TRACK KPIs, DEADLINES, DELAYS AND CRITICAL DATA from all channels to continuously improve campaign and partner performance.

HELP YOU ACHIEVE significantly more efficient marketing, measured by brand awareness, conversion into sales, customer satisfaction and other parameters.

OUR GOAL IS TO TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS into a marketing planning leader in your field. We will work with you to develop the right processes and governance and define your requirements for partners and technology tools. Since we share responsibility for your success, we will continue to support you after implementation and help to collate lessons learned in a structured way – that you, your employees and future employees can use for continuous improvement and efficiency gains.

Sascha Kurth , Lukas Koch , Nikolas Schoenenwald