Revving up the dealership channel with a plan to engage auto dealers and accelerate growth.

Cars.com is a top-ranked site for auto shopping that serves both consumers and auto dealerships. They were experiencing many challenges while aggressively pushing for growth and trying to outpace a fast-changing industry and fast-moving competitors.

Cars.com engaged Avenue to transform how they engage and deliver value to dealers, their primary source of revenue.

To ensure the B2C and B2B brands were moving in the same direction, we modified a provocative consumer campaign and brand guidelines to appeal to pragmatic dealers, and initiated new tactics to reach them with the Cars.com message.

To demonstrate new value to dealers, we architected the successful launch of a suite of new core products that provided dealers with an innovative new data-driven method of understanding the effectiveness of their total marketing efforts to new car shoppers.

For Cars.com sales reps, we developed interactive sales tools and training materials—including iPad apps and talk tracks. The result is a highly consultative sales force that is more targeted in its planning, personable in its approach and impactful in its delivery.

We helped Cars.com put their relationships with dealers in the fast lane through a strategy built on a thought-leadership and compelling new ways to deliver value.

“You really helped us establish a significant presence for B2B marketing at Cars.com that simply did not exist before.”

DONNA AUGUST, DIRECTOR OF B2B MARKETING, CARS.COM

Engagement Highlights

From…

  • An undeveloped B2B marketing capability
  • Soft value proposition and story
  • Unclear and too many communications
  • Inconsistent collaboration among product, marketing and sales teams
  • Poised to launch a series of new core products

To…

  • An established B2B marketing capability
  • Driving the industry conversation via a thought-leadership based marketing strategy
  • Product, marketing and sales strategies and teams synched
  • New product architecture, launched at higher price point
  • More consultative sales force
  • Accelerated revenue generation and pipeline

Strategy

Key deliverables and activities

  • Brand positioning and architecture
  • Corporate mission and values
  • Brand launch plan
  • Naming
  • Taglines
  • Marketing and communication plan
  • Key messaging
  • Site analysis

Strategy workshop

Foundational principles

Ethnographic research

Strategy presentation

Market research

Strategy workshop

Sales strategy

Brand and product architecture

Activation

Key deliverables and activities

  • Internal / external brand launch
  • Website design
  • Sales collateral
  • Marketing collateral
  • Internal communications
  • Video and motion graphics
  • Meetings and events

Brandscape

Strategy storybook

Digital tools

Trade shows

Strategy storybook

Videos

Web and digital sales tools

Awards

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