Chrome Data recently launched Colorized 360°, a new vehicle walk-around product that lets customers navigate between eight different colorized angles and stylized transitions when exploring various models.
The new product provides an interactive and customized experience that is designed to engage customers and improve sales.
Colorized 360° is fitted with a configurable player that allows users to customize dealer branding, logos and special programs to increase brand awareness.
“We’re very excited to provide another next generation merchandising tool for our customers,” Chrome Data general manager Craig Jennings said in a news release. “Colorized 360° puts car buyers in the driver’s seat to help them visualize driving and owning the vehicle. We know this translates to higher engagement and more vehicle sales.”
Colorized 360° can adapt to any platform. The technology links directly to Chrome Style IDs, Acode and VIN data for seamless integration with VDPs, SRPs, campaign landing pages.
Additionally, Colorized 360° is available at a reduced cost as part of the company’s new Chrome Media Bundle package which also includes the Chrome Image Gallery along with Model and VIN Virtual Test Drive Videos.
J.D. Power recently announced it has filled its newly created position of chief digital officer.
Chosen for the position is Bernardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a business, technology and product design leader who most recently served as managing director of strategy at Huge, a global full-service digital agency, according to the consumer insights provider.
In his new role, Rodriguez will be responsible for J.D. Power’s new product development, branding, marketing and mergers and acquisitions.
Rodriguez will oversee the design and content of J.D. Power’s digital interface with clients and consumers and report directly to J.D. Power chief executive officer and president Finbarr O'Neill.
"Bernardo is an accomplished business leader with proven experience to accelerate transformation of businesses through the development of data and analytics, strategic products and capabilities that drive growth opportunities," O'Neill said in a new release announcing Rodriguez’s hire. "Bernardo has the ideal background to integrate various data sources into a holistic view of the consumer.”
At Huge, Rodriguez collaborated with Fortune 100 companies on the design and execution of product and brand strategies.
He led projects such as developing a digital transformation and experience strategy for a $12 billion Canadian telecom company, a product strategy for a $30 billion global financial institution, and a small business segment digital strategy for a $120 billion U.S. telecom company, according to J.D. Power.
"I have always admired the spirit of innovation that J.D. Power brings to the industry through its continued technological advancements and unmatched data and analytics capabilities,” Rodriguez said. "I look forward to bringing my digital expertise and vision to my new role and contributing to the future successes of J.D. Power."
Additionally, Rodriguez has also served as the chief digital officer at Kaplan Test Prep and managing director at Accenture, where he headed the firm’s North American Digital Strategy Practice for telecommunications, media and technology.
ADAM Systems, provider of dealer management solutions, recently announced that its DMS has been fully integrated with retention solution Xtime Spectrum, a Cox Automotive brand.
“We are excited to expand our already extensive offering to our client base. The ADAMConnect API continues to allow us to partner with industry leading solutions, like Xtime Spectrum, and work between our platforms in a transparent and secure manner that really brings value to Fixed Ops departments and their customers,” director of product management for the ADAM DMS platform John Cowan said in a news release.
Through a two-way exchange of data, the integration between ADAM Systems and Xtime can provide dealers enhanced customer relationships and retention.
“For a busy shop like ours, it is critical that we schedule service appointments accurately to meet our customer’s expectations,” said Premier Kia president Robert Alvine. “The seamless integration between Xtime and ADAM DMS expedites this process and allows our service advisers more time to give customers a higher level of service.”
The data exchange can help dealers speed up the service write-up process, giving staff more time to manage the service lane process, according to ADAM Systems.
“A great service experience doubles repurchase loyalty, and robust integration is critical," Jim Roche, Xtime senior vice president of marketing added. “Our goal is to help dealers build more value and convenience at every customer touch point, and we're thrilled to have ADAM as a technology partner to provide a better service to dealers and vehicle owners.”
Sixty-eight percent of dealers either aren’t effectively using or simply are not using marketing attribution to gauge the results of their advertising campaigns, according to a recent study by Clarivoy.
The marketing technology firm’s latest study, the 2017 State of Automotive Attribution Report, examines the current state and usage of marketing measurement among retail dealers.
Clarivoy's findings are based on an April survey of approximately 120 dealers.
“This is a glaring hole and effectively makes measuring marketing efforts and spending a guessing game,” Clarivoy chief executive officer Steve White said in a news release.
“Things have changed considerably with the state of marketing measurement, and we wanted to know how dealers are adapting to new measurement tools like Multi-Touch Attribution,” he said.
Clarivoy found that only 30 percent of dealers report being satisfied with how they currently measure their data.
When asked, “Which vendor categories need the most blind faith as to if they are working?” Forty percent of dealers told Clarivoy display ads and 38 percent said third-party listing sites.
According to the study, most dealers rely on in-house reporting and/or vendor reporting (68 and 64 percent, respectively).
“The display ad answer is a little curious as, set up properly, they should be easy to measure,” White said. “However, the third-party listing site answer is not that surprising.
“The actions a consumer takes following a visit to a third-party listing site and viewing a vehicle of interest can vary over an entire spectrum of possibilities. They could submit a lead on the third-party listing site, call a phone number, bounce to the dealership’s website and convert there, call the dealership or simply show up,” he said.
“The effectiveness of a third-party listing site can be far from black and white in terms of measurement. And, more often than not, attribution depends on proper sourcing by the salesperson or last-click attribution models — both of which have huge gaps in accuracy,” White explained.
When it comes to attribution tools, 46 percent of respondents said they would prefer a multi-touch attribution solution because they believe that last-click fails to report accurate sources, according to Clarivoy.
Additionally, Clarivoy found that 59 percent of dealers want attribution solutions that include the ROI contribution of each marketing channel.
Fifty-seven percent want analytics that provide actionable insights, 48 percent desire a transparent view of a customer’s full purchase path and 41 percent look for both reporting accountability and accuracy.
To view the State of Automotive Attribution Report study click here.
PCG Companies recently became the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s newest National Member Benefit partner, and now provides discounts to association members.
NIADA members can receive discounted rates on PCG's suite of online specialist certification courses and its library of published works, and they also have access to digital marketing packages.
"This end of our business is moving at lighting speed, driving much confusion, uncertainty and new challenges to our members," said NIADA senior vice president of member services Scott Lilja in a news release.
"PCG's resources will certainly help address many of those daunting yet immensely lucrative opportunities."
In addition to the online courses and marketing packages available via the National Member Benefit program, PCG also offers a variety of marketing and training services designed for dealers in the independent market.
"From our experience working with independent dealers, we realize they require a different level of digital marketing and education services than large dealer groups," added Glenn Pasch, PCG chief executive officer.
"We are excited to work alongside NIADA to be able to provide those services, and are proud to be a National Member Benefit Partner," he said.
CarMD recently launched CarMD Garage, its new turnkey online tool that provides car owners, used-car shoppers and auto industry partners with useful vehicle service and repair information.
Using any vehicle’s year, make, model and mileage, the new service generates a free CarMD Garage Vehicle Health Report with information on how to both reduce the cost of vehicle ownership and extend a vehicle’s life.
“CarMD Garage offers a way to find solutions for some of the most frequently searched for vehicle service and repair information as well as automated, accurate parts purchasing,” CarMD technical director David Rich said in a news release.
“Different CarMD Garage features will appeal to different markets, whether you are a consumer who just wants to stay on top of your vehicle’s performance, a DIYer who wants service your own vehicle or get details and estimates for repairs, or an aftermarket or telematics affiliate partner looking to enhance the overall value provided to customers by offering monthly vehicle health reports.”
Each free CarMD Garage Vehicle Health Report features the following information:
• VIN decoding
• Average miles per gallon
• Recalls
• Service Maintenance Due
• Warranty Status
• Predicted Failure count
• Technical Service Bulletin count
Premium report information is available for purchase for most 1996 to current OBD-II cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs.
The premium option offers vehicle title history reporting, such as DMV and accident history, as well as a list of detailed predicted failures with descriptions and parts and labor estimates for service issues.
CarMD Garage also can be integrated into partner websites, apps and telematics services.
CarMD said its new service offers business partners a low-cost way to enhance their offerings and increase customer retention.
“As online auto parts purchasing becomes more prevalent, automotive enthusiasts and DIYers find that it can be difficult and time consuming to search millions of parts online to find the right part for a specific vehicle,” the company said.
“When maintenance is due, CarMD Garage pinpoints the right part and provides a direct link to purchase the part online, which also reduces returns for the online retailer.”
Currently, the company is seeking select affiliate partners in the used-car, usage-based insurance, automotive retail and repair shop referral markets.
For more information about the CarMD Garage Vehicle Health Report, visit carmd.com/garage.
Donlen recently announced that it has partnered with J. J. Keller to offer an electronic logging device (ELD) solution for fleets that will ensure they are fully compliant with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) ELD rule.
Most motor carriers and drivers are required to use ELDs to record their hours of service by Dec. 18.
This partnership allows Donlen to offer customers a compliant ELD solution that is both simple and flexible for fleets, the company said.
“Donlen partnered with J. J. Keller because they're one of the top names in the industry for compliance,” said Donlen director of licensing services Brad Kacsh.
“Together we’re integrating hours of service data from their electronic logging device (ELD) into Donlen’s DriverPoint Telematics technology. This provides enhanced visibility and real-time access to HOS logs to ensure consistent compliance with FMCSA regulations,” Kacsh said.
The integrated data collected from J. J. Keller ELDs into DriverPoint Telematics provides enhanced transparency and accuracy for hours of service logs, according to Donlen.
J. J. Keller ELDs are compatible with all vehicle classes (1-8) and can be installed in less than 10 minutes.
Additionally, the solution is backed by customer support services and compatible with Android iPhone and iPad devices.
For additional information regarding the FMCSA ELD regulations and Donlen’s ELD solution, visit donlen.com/blog/electronic-logging-device-regulations.
One of the consumer-facing websites known for offering discounted furniture, rugs, bedding, electronics, clothing and jewelry is getting into the car business.
On Friday, Overstock.com announced the launch of the beta version of a new online vehicle-buying platform, Cars by Overstock. Site officials highlighted the full-service platform can help customers navigate every aspect of the vehicle-buying process, including research, purchasing, financing and protection plans.
Financing and insurance options are available through Ally Financial and CarCheq.
The site indicated data and editorial content for in-depth automotive research is provided through a partnership with TEN: The Enthusiast Network’s award-winning automotive brand MOTOR TREND.
Once their research is completed, customers can search Cars by Overstock’s database of nearly 4 million new, used, and certified pre-owned vehicles from thousands of dealers across the country before negotiating directly with the dealer, in some cases in complete anonymity.
Another beneficial feature of the platform lets customers easily browse and purchase high-quality vehicle protection plans for qualified new or used vehicles from trusted warranty providers, including plans for their current vehicles.
In addition, the Cars by Overstock platform can provide financing and refinancing tools so that customers can find competitive financing options for almost every budget and credit situation. The platform will also include comprehensive insurance offerings in the near future.
“We designed Cars by Overstock to provide the most full-service online car-buying experience available,” said Patrick Byrne, Overstock’s chief executive officer and founder. “Our process enables a consumer to conduct superb research efficiently, enter into negotiations, purchase warranty plans, and obtain financing.
“With Cars by Overstock, we’ve provided a safe and fair platform for both consumers and dealers from a trusted brand with nearly two decades of experience helping customers use technology to find exactly what they want, for less,” Byrne continued in a news release.
Scott Bailey is president of automotive at TEN: The Enthusiast Network.
“This partnership is a groundbreaking solution to deliver MOTOR TREND’S automotive data, research, content and insight to a new audience, in a new format,” Bailey said. “Going beyond the traditional retail elements that Overstock.com does so well, we’re excited to bring a wealth of content that in-market shoppers can utilize to enhance the auto shopping and research experience.”
Officials went on to mention the new service can give consumers the flexibility to negotiate a deal on their own terms, in some cases in complete anonymity, creating an easier and pressure-free vehicle-buying experience.
Additionally, the service is meant to empower both consumers and dealers by minimizing the time it takes to complete a vehicle purchase.
“Consumers will always have the ability to contact the dealership directly if they choose a more traditional experience,” the site said.
Cars by Overstock is currently housed as its own tab on Overstock.com.
For more information, or if you are a dealer that would like to become part of the Cars by Overstock network, visit cars.overstock.com.
Recall Masters has a new partnership to integrate its real-time vehicle recall lookup solution into Record360’s vehicle condition reporting app. And this collaboration aims to help dealers and rental agencies avoid claims disputes when putting drivers in vehicles during recalls.
The enhanced transparency and real-time recall updates are brought by the integration, following new legislation concerning vehicle safety recalls passed just last summer.
Lawmakers addressed rental car agencies need to fix any and all open safety defects before renting out vehicles to customers.
The legislation established a fine of $5,000 if a consumer is put into a rental or loaner vehicle with an outstanding recall, Recall Masters explained in a news release announcing the partnership.
“Countless damage disputes impact relationships, customer satisfaction, and cause negative reviews,” said Recall Masters president Chris Miller. “Vehicle condition and claims management processes is dependent on paper or low-fidelity digital reporting and Record360 fills the gap with a modern solution.”
Dealerships and car rental agencies can automate their asset management by digitizing vehicle conditions reviews via Record360’s condition reporting software.
The software is designed to help prevent customers being put into a rental or loaner vehicle with an existing recall, as well as end customers’ ability to claim they did not cause damage to a loaner or rental.
“Our integration with Record360 ensures that the user is informed of any open recall in real-time while the initial inspection is done. This helps build trusting relationships between automotive dealers or car rental agencies and their customers,” added Miller.
Insurance Auto Auctions recently launched Active Inventory Management, the company’s latest innovation designed to help buyers and sellers outsource their salvage inventory management process to IAA.
“IAA developed the Active Inventory Management solution to help our insurance customers streamline their salvage management process and generate better economic returns,” IAA chief executive officer and president John Kett said. “IAA is committed to providing the tools, resources and technology needed to deliver an unmatched customer experience. Active Inventory Management is the latest enhancement in this effort, and early adopters have already seen improved results in returns, cycle time and internal expense.”
Using IAA's CSAToday platform, the new solution can regularly monitor vehicles, identify issues and coordinate any resolutions through its dedicated customer service team.
CSAToday is the salvage industry's first mobile vehicle inventory management tool, boasts the company.
Additionally, Active Inventory Management currently offers a turnkey alternative that can boost APD process efficiency, according to IAA.
“As an industry leader in technology and innovation, IAA continues to develop new capabilities like Active Inventory Management that address and anticipate the needs of salvage buyers and sellers,” the company added.
