Forty-Two Super Bowl ads ran this Super bowl Sunday and out of the forty-two, eleven were dedicated to the Industry we know and love, Automotive.

The key players were, Chevrolet with the most ads. Chrysler, Kia, Cadillac, Volkswagen, Audi,  Honda and Volkswagen let’s break it down in numbers shall we? Kia, Honda, Cadillac, Audi, Volkswagen and Chrysler each had a Super bowl ad spot, Chevrolet, however led the pack with a total of four ads during this year’s Super Bowl.

Even Cars.com got in on the action.

Although each automotive maker varies from each other, and in fact we know they compete with each other for the consumers attention, there was a common theme that was seen in each of these ads. That theme was creativity, and humanization.  Each added a personal touch, some more than others (especially the Chrysler spot) yet each reached for a human emotion rather than a dollar sign.

This type of advertising caters to the voice of the consumer, and continues to prove that consumers who now have the ability to voice themselves in real-time through Social Media want that personal flare added everywhere, including the Super Bowl halftime.

We hope these creative ideas become an inspiration for Dealers nation-wide, whether it is with professional equipment or your HD flip cam, you too can use your imagination to tap into the emotion of the consumer.

We searched on YouTube for these clever ads, all 11 of the automotive ads that aired on Super Bowl Sunday, for you to watch in the instance that you missed them or for you to watch again and again…

1. Audi: Vampire Party

Audi sure got clever with this ad, including the very current and popular trend of vampires.

2. Chevrolet: 2012

Chevy used the year of the Apocalypse as the setting for this ad, even taking a shot at Ford. Was that in poor taste or a genius Marketing Strategy?

This commercial took part in the 2nd quarter of the game in which they tapped into Graduation and what it feels like to get the commonly happy gift of a brand new car. Too bad the parents didn’t buy him one. LOL.

Taking a dog and making it into the main character of your commercial is always a win. I just wish they had added a “Punch Buggy” moment.

I have to say that this was one creative move on Chevy’s part, yet it remained personable. This was the most adventurous commercials of the night, perhaps of all-time.

This one will speak for itself, pun intended.

This commercial strayed from the humor and went straight for the heart. How could it not with Clint Eastwood as their spokesperson.

Obviously a parody of the actor who played in the 80′s popular movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and how we should live life beyond the things we “have” to do.

This Kia commercial used the mistake of Mr. Sandman to make dreams a reality.

Cadillac took a tougher approach with promoting their latest vehicle on a hardy German racetrack.

Chevrolet made us laugh with having to explain electric vehicles to aliens. It was out of this world.

If you like any automotive commercial in particular, have your say by voting for them via Twitter and Ad Scrimmage.

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Erin Ryan, Social Media Specialist at TK Carsites, has a keen understanding of the power of Social Media and fervently stays up-to-date with the Social Media Industry. Her blogs are Socialeyezer Blog and TheErinRyan Blog.

Read more Automotive articles on the TK Carsites blog.

Watch every Wed. our Weekly Automotive Webinar Series.

Of all the digital marketers in social media, TK Carsites was selected as the premiere example by USA Today’s article on Automotive Social Media. In print and online, this piece has been gathering heat and drawing attention to TK’s excellence in digital marketing.

You can read it here if you missed it on the newsstands. USA Today took a close look at TK Carsites and automotive social media, and what they saw yielded excerpts like this:

“[Chuck Capps of Advantage Nissan] used to spend $25,000 monthly on weekly newspaper, radio and TV advertising. Now he’s only spending money online, with $8,000 monthly to TK Carsites.

At Holmes Honda, in Shreveport, La., e-commerce director Bear Goodman says his Internet sales department has helped generate 30% of the company’s total income.”

USA Today video even provided a podcast:

TK Carsites was honored, excited and delighted to take part in this article. We are proud to be the example of Automotive Social Media in today’s online market.

Check out our Five Social Media Marketing Tips here. If you like what you read, contact us about social media consultation, platforms and promotions.

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Read more Automotive articles on the TK Carsites blog.

A Canadian dealership in Middleton Nova Scotia, as many dealerships do, has pondered its presence and value within the Social Media community. Understanding the significance Social Media can pertain to your business is a large task, as many Dealers have come to find out; it is your overall Internet Marketing existence and having people at your Dealership whom are willing to initiate the importance of your online presence that will have you standing out to your customers.

Bruce Chevrolet Buick GMC’s Service Manager, Darren Boates was the leader in their voyage to enter the Social Media realm by recognizing how much time he spent using Social Networking sites such as Facebook. Boates came to the realization of how important this could be for the dealership and began rolling the process into motion by creating a Facebook page and maintaining it.

With the approval of the President, Justin Barker, and support from some of the sales team, this began an internal inquiry of how they can improve their online representation. Much like Social Media, it produced an internal domino effect of curiosity and questioning that would not have been established if someone did not inspire the thought, as the Service Manager did in this instance.

Have you taken the initiative to inspire your Dealership to use Social Media?

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Read more articles like this on our blog.

Erin Ryan is a writer for various blogs and a Social Media Specialist who has a keen understanding of the power of Social Media for business and fervently stays up-to-date with the Social Media Industry. Erin enjoys teaching and helping people and businesses on how to use and connect through Social Media. You can connect with Erin on Twitter.

“An Example of How to Connect with Consumers through Personal Content”

This past weekend I took a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze on a road trip to my hometown of Digby, Nova Scotia Canada. As a Social Media Specialist for TK Carsites, I am always looking for ways to explore vehicles, experience a Dealership and connect further with Dealers. Working with Dealerships on a day-to-day basis, I wanted to be in the driver’s seat as their customers would be in a Dealers day-to day experience.

Reasoning behind it are the fundamentals of Social Media, in order to be successful you need to understand why you are using social media as your Marketing platform.

Think of Social Media as a tree. You will have your roots, which are B2C (Business to Consumer), The Tree, B2B (Business to Business) and then you have the branches, a mix mash of social networks and content that you use to connect to the tree and the roots.

For Dealers in the Automotive Industry, it is a way to connect with their local community on a personal level (The Roots – B2C), our purpose here at TK Carsites, is to do the same but instead with Dealers (The Tree – B2B), how can we do that if we do not mingle within each other’s backyards? (Branch Out)

In other words, you cannot associate at your best with a Dealership sitting in front of a computer all day, nor can you as a Dealer capitalize on your community staying inside a Dealership. You need to get out there and mingle, take time to appreciate and absorb your community’s surroundings and share the content of videos, articles and photos with your online community (Your Branches).

This is why I decided to take a test drive in a brand new Chevrolet Cruze; I wanted to be in the shoes of the Roots who make my job possible. They are the ones who make up the communities of Dealers that I work with, so I decided to leave my computer chair behind for a weekend and replace it with a driver’s seat.

I took along my video camera, my consumer mind and used my road trip as the source of the video and the Chevrolet Cruze as my backdrop, my accessory.  Instead of what many Dealers have been doing for centuries, which is focusing on the sale, instead of emphasizing on the experience their vehicles can contribute to their customer’s lives.

In this instance, you will view within the video my road trip experience and can learn how to transition into a consumers mind as a Dealer, with highlighting vehicles features without it looking like a pitch.

I learned a lot about servicing people and catering to their needs, putting my mind in that of a consumer and asking myself “what would they get from this video?” Yes, ultimately, we want sales, but sales will not happen if you do not focus on the root of your source, the people. Branch out, use your social networks and customer service skills as your bridge to your local community and grab their attention by creating content in your own backyard, thinking more about how a vehicle will influence their daily lives.  You no longer need to sell your vehicles, instead you need to sell service, if you display your Dealerships knowledge, personality, consciousness of your local community needs, and take action within your community, your vehicles will sell themselves, and you however, will have succeeded your competitors.

Do you create a video that appeals more to the consumers’ heart instead of their wallets?

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Read more TK Carsites news and information on our blog.

NOTE: Thanks to Bruce Chev-Olds Ltd. located in Middleton, Nova Scotia for the use of the Chevrolet Cruze.

Does your Dealership have a Social Media policy in effect? Should it?

In TK Carsites very first webinar for 2011 we covered the importance of incorporating your Dealerships employees within your Social Media strategy and how integrating a policy will help ease the minds of General Managers at your Dealership.

Our Expert Panel answered questions from real Dealers in hopes to assist you with enhancing your Dealerships Social Media.

Watch our second Expert Panel Discussion — Social Media Policy Within Your Dealership from TK Carsites on Vimeo today.

Watch past TK Carsites Webinars and be sure to register for future webinars here.

Trying to find new ways to integrate our infotainment while we drive has been on the minds of many, but there is one automotive company willing to put thought into action.

Ford Motor Company has teamed up with Microsoft to do what once was the unthinkable, by adding features that are computerized into their vehicles to assist drivers with staying focused on driving while they maintain access to their phone, navigation, climate, and radio.

The Ford Sync is a new feature that is being added to a variety of Ford vehicles that will undoubtedly change the way we drive. Whether it is from our phone, changing the dial, searching for the nearest restaurant or scrambling for the latest weather conditions. We refuse to give up our luxuries, and are too busy to choose to refrain from the technologies that make life simpler.

Ford seems to understand that our society is technologically inclined and is at a continuous incline with the younger generation – Ford’s future. So, they have invested in you, and have found a way to incorporate driving safely while you race against the speed of your hectic day to calmly and effectively stay in SYNC while cruising along the road of life.

This video explains Ford Sync in further detail:

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Other TK Stories You May Enjoy:

Sales is Limited, Service is Forever: Interview with Ford’s Scott Monty Pt. I

Taking Advantage of Google Places with the Recent Changes

Where have all the consumers gone? They have gone online! That is why you need to rethink how you want to market your Dealership. In doing so, you do not have to become an expert nor do you have to try and figure out every aspect of social media to be a success.

It is important for you to begin reaching outside of the Automotive Industry and start branding your name where the people are, which is online. People have flocked to Facebook, trampled over to Twitter and yearn for YouTube videos. You need to begin taking notice and accepting that the way you market your Dealership from this point on is about to change.

After establishing your dealership on social networks you need to think how you can incorporate the online world with the offline one and a very simple way is to find where those online people are offline. Your Dealership does not have to be limited to your parking lot.

There are Social Media conferences that your dealership should attend, this does not mean you need to have a booth or be a speaker; however, you do need to be present. Sending someone on behalf of your dealership armed with business cards, a name tag and a social personality can give you a leg up. Mingling with people who have gathered to network is a valuable move on your part. Handing out business cards with your social networks will further your branding, getting social with people at social media conferences will enhance your online reputation and representing your dealership will help build and spread the word that you are personalizing your dealership.

This year at BlogWorld and New Media Expo dealerships were scarce. We did see the head of Social Media for Ford Motor Company, Scott Monty as well as the Certified Master Dealer for Frank Myers Auto Maxx, Tracy Myers, but the automotive line soon ended there. Fortunately, TK Carsites Social Media Specialist, Erin Ryan was able to speak with Tracy and find out why he thinks Dealerships need to attend Social Media conferences.

Here are some Social Media Conferences we recommend:

BlogWorld and New Media Expo (Ford Sponsored)

SXSW (Chevy Sponsored)

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There have been many changes at Google over the last couple of weeks and continuing through, probably indefinitely. One of the changes that is easily one of the most important is the integration of Places into organic search results.

This video is the 1st of 7 that give tangible tips that dealers can use to take advantage of all of the changes. Titled “Clean the House”, this tip shows you how to make your Places page as strong as it can be without spending much time on it.

Dealers and vendors attend automotive conferences such as NADA, Digital Dealer, Driving Sales Executive Summit, and JD Powers. They go to 20 group meetings and regional seminars. They listen to automotive marketing webinars, read through Automotive News, and scan through other print publications.

The thing that is often missing from these is discussion and conversation, which is why every dealer who wants to succeed should get involved with the various dealer social networks.

Dealers, vendors, and OEM reps read through, ask questions, make comments, and generally work together to collectively solve problems and address needs. There is no reason why any dealer in America can afford to not visit one, three, or all of these networks at least once a week.

Below we have compiled a list of all known automotive social networks. Check them out, sign up, find the ones you like and dive in. The greatest strength of niche social networks is in collaborative problem solving.

Alone, we have opinions. Together, we can choose directions. As 2011 draws near, it’s imperative that you get yourself and others at your company involved.

Top Tier Automotive Social Networks

These are in alphabetical order so as to not show favoritism (since we love them all). To qualify, sites had to have PageRank (Google’s ranking system for a website’s link authority) and Alexa traffic rankings in the USA.

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Automotive Digital Marketing – Ralph Paglia’s network has the most activity out of all of the automotive social networks. They have put together a large community over the last few years on the Ning platform.

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Dealer Elite – We don’t know a lot about the history of dealerELITE, and that’s why they’re in the top tier. The speed in which they have become relevant and hit 4,000 members is astonishing. With a dealer-centric focus, dealerELITE is the newest major player, but definitely not the smallest. Our initial choice of not putting them in the top tier because of no PageRank or Alexa information has officially been overruled.

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Dealer Refresh – Jeff Kershner’s site is a high-quality blog. The reason that it qualifies as a social network is because on every post by Jeff, contributor Alex Snyder, and the many guest authors on the site, the comment-threads are a stream of engagement that has turned Dealer Refresh into a community rather than a one-way conversation. Their forum is also very active.

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Driving Sales – Jared Hamilton and his team have turned their custom platform automotive social network into a company, a brand, and must-visit site for everyone in the automotive industry. The vendor ratings system is the only exclusively automotive one in existence.

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Other Top Automotive Social Networks

The three above are the biggest, but the ones below are all hot on their tails with active communities and excellent content. They are all close to being in the top tier and should definitely be included in your daily or weekly routine.  Most have PageRank and as soon as they get ranked in Alexa for traffic, we’ll move them up. Again, these are in alphabetical order.

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ADP Social

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Auto Dealer People

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Automotive Social Network

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Idea Exchange 2.0 (Kain Automotive)

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Internet Sales Manager

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PCG SEO

New and Emerging Automotive Social Networks

The ones listed below are newer but are showing promise of being strong networks in 2011. Sometimes the best time to get involved with a network is in the beginning when there is less noise and more focus on quality content.

• Automotive Internet Sales
• Automotive Marketing Today
• PCG Social
• Dealer Digital
• APD Social II

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We will be monitoring and updating this list weekly. If you know of any automotive social networks that you believe should be on the list, please post it here in the comments.

TK Carsites represented the automotive industry within the world’s largest social media expo, as an attendee at this year’s BlogWorld and New Media Expo. We decided to send our Social Media Specialist, Erin Ryan to explore, experience and network with the top leaders in Social Media to date.

Ford's Head of Social Media, Scott Monty

One of those leaders is Ford Motor Company’s Head of Social Media, Scott Monty and with some initiative and luck we were able to set up an interview with Monty and discuss the importance of social media in the automotive world.

This is the first part of a four series interview that TK’s Erin Ryan had with Ford’s Scott Monty who posed some crucial questions that are intended to shed light on why it is vital for Dealership’s to embrace the presence of social media in order to enhance their presence within their communities.

Social media has become the evolution of our communication and the expectation is at an all-time high to engulf the various social networks that are available to you for your dealership to further its recognition amongst your current valued customers and future ones as well.

Scott Monty answered this question with confidence and ease as to why Dealers need to up their game within the automotive industry and left room to inspire. As we used the 2012 Ford Focus as our stage, the interview began with the question as to “Why is it important for the automotive industry to utilize social media?”

It came as no surprise when Monty answered with full on support of the question, however – one of the many poignant moments within the four part interview was when Scott said,

Sales is limited, Service is forever – Scott Monty

Many dealers have yet to see the importance of the service over the sale since selling is the essential goal in a sales persons’ mind. However, focusing on service can ultimately enhance your sales and customer loyalty which is the accurate end line for any business.

At TK Carsites we significantly care about not only providing quality products as our new “Power Social” packages will avail. We are also dedicated to bringing you forces of inspiration and examples of how you too can create a successful social media authority. It does not matter how big or small your dealership is, it simply depends on how big you are willing to think, how far outside of the box you are willing to go and ultimately how imperative servicing your customers are to you and your dealership.

With this first part of a four part webiview (web + interview) we hope you will find some answers to your social media integration or advancement.

Please be sure to share your thoughts as to why you think it is important for the automotive industry to utilize social media. Get courageous and leave us a video response on YouTube or tell us your theories right here in our comments box. Together, we can build a strong community and be the support that every dealer deserves.

See more of our interview with Ford’s Scott Monty below.

Ford’s Head of Social Media, Scotty Monty on Quality vs. Quantity Part II
Ford’s Scott Monty on How Much Time Dealers Spend on Social Media Part III
Ford’s Scott Monty Discussing Ownership, Facebook or Twitter and Ford’s Future Part IV Finale

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