CHICAGO -

Special offers, branded video and deeper reputation exposure are the key elements of a new product by Cars.com, according to company officials.

Cars.com on Friday afternoon announced the launch of PowerDrive, a new advertising product for franchised dealerships which builds on the BaseDrive product released by the company in May.

Officials said PowerDrive is based on extensive consumer research and is meant to increase exposure for dealerships on Cars.com.

“The digital age offers consumers 24/7 access to information and empowers them to take control of the car-buying process,” said Mitch Golub, president of Cars.com. “To align with these shifts in consumer behavior, we first changed the model for new-car advertising when we launched BaseDrive in May, empowering dealers to showcase their brand and reputation, not just their inventory.

“PowerDrive builds on that model and dials it up, giving dealers even more ways to elevate and influence at critical moments during a shopper’s online journey,” he said.

Among the features of PowerDrive is dealers’ option to promote their special offers throughout the Cars.com desktop site, mobile site and mobile apps, and on key shopper pages.

Only PowerDrive dealers appear when shoppers filter search results by special offers in the guided navigation menu, the company said, and dealers may customize their offers through the Cars.com customer portal.

“Given that price and the availability of incentives and rebates continue to be two of the most important attributes for new-car shoppers, it was important that PowerDrive give dealers a feature to leverage this information,” said Nick Hummer, director of new car strategy.

“Promoting special offers, which can include OEM and dealer incentives but also things that make a dealership unique, helps tell a more complete story about why a shopper should buy from a particular store.”

Reputation exposure via Cars.com’s Dealer Reviews is another PowerDrive service for dealers, offering featured reviews on vehicle detail pages, and customizable widgets bringing Cars.com reviews to the dealership’s website and Facebook.

A reputation management tool aggregates reviews from Cars.com and other online review sites, the company said, and provides reports that track trends and offer competitive analysis.

Also part of the PowerDrive offering is enhanced video experience, with vehicle detail pages upgraded to feature a dealer’s logo, tagline and links to special offers.

All dealer videos are aggregated on the Dealer Profile, Cars.com officials said, along with exclusive make/model videos meant to keep shoppers engaged.

“Consumers are busy, and increasingly, they’re choosing to do as much of their shopping as possible online,” said Hummer. “Video is the closest thing to visiting a dealership in person, and the strong engagement we’re seeing with video is why we made it a standard part of our advertising package in 2011. PowerDrive takes this incredibly effective medium and makes it a powerful differentiator by adding dealership branding and more ways to engage.”

For more information, visit http://dealers.cars.com.
 

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