HARRISBURG, Pa. -

They might not be affiliated under a single corporate flag, but the independent operations that also are a part of the National Auto Auction Association are collaborating as one on a major marketing initiative.

After meeting earlier this month during the NAAA annual conference, the Independent Auction Group ratified marketing concepts and committed financial support. Lynn Weaver, owner of Harrisburg Auto Auction and one of the group’s chairs, shared why it’s so important for independent operations to be a part of this plan.

“Our main objective is industry awareness,” Weaver emphasized to Auto Remarketing. “We want to be thought of in the same breath as either of the two chain auctions. They can certainly outspend us and out-market us. But we want the industry, the dealers and the remarketing clients to know that independent auctions not only are there but they can give them coverage from coast to coast and are willing and more than able to handle any account of any size that might come.”

Peter Saldamarco, president of Central Auto Auction of Hamden, Conn., chaired the group’s marketing committee. Saldamarco’s recommendations include a strategy that incorporates print and online advertisements, trade show appearances and website improvements for the group’s 160 members.

“As independents we are trying to make sure our members get the most bang for their membership buck as anybody else does,” Weaver insisted.

Along with agreeing to a major marketing push, the group elected its chairs. Along with Weaver, the group also chose Dave Blake, general manager of Auto Auction of New England located in Londonderry, N.H., and Bruce Beam, of Dealers Auto Auction of Oklahoma City.

Charlotte Pyle, owner of Capital City Auto Auction located in St. Albans, W.Va., had to relinquish her position as a group chair after 12 years because now she is president-elect of NAAA.

With chairs in place and a new brand campaign in the works, Weaver thinks the group should continue to solidify independent operations’ place in the auction industry.

“The word independent is key,” Weaver stressed. “All of us own our auction and manage them on a daily basis. We make the decisions that go on. There’s no corporate involvement or corporate account representative that things have to be approved by.

“If something needs fixed, changed or adjusted we can do it right now,” he went on to say. “I think that’s one of the great benefits is we’re flexible enough to maneuver through this economy we’re in. We can position ourselves through a budgeting process or soliciting new business — whatever the case may be. Most independents I’ve talked to are doing very well. We’re able to move and turn our businesses on a dime.”