Gunn Nissan saw a 29% increase in eCommerce sales after implementing a two-pronged video ad strategy using video SEO and pre-roll video ads. Video SEO helped their dealer brand and messages rank highly in search results, while pre-roll video ads placed on popular websites helped boost their brand awareness and drive more visitors to their website. This new video ad approach proved more effective than traditional marketing methods and increased Gunn Nissan's sales without needing to increase their ad budget.

1. SuccessStory
Gunn Nissan
Gunn Nissan’s eCommerce Sales Jump 29% with New Video Ad Platform
In early 2011, Gunn Nissan was looking
for an effective way to generate more
awareness of their “One Simple Price™”
philosophy throughout the San Antonio, Texas
market they serve. Like many dealers, Gunn
Nissan maintained a marketing strategy that
included traditional and digital components,
but were beginning to feel a decrease in the
effectiveness of traditional mass marketing
mediumslikeTV,printandradiowhilethecost
for these traditional mediums remained high
and difficult to track with measurable results.
Gunn Nissan began searching for a solution
that would give them an added edge and
increased visibility over their competitors
while boosting sales without having to boost
their ad budget. They soon discovered that
with the dramatic increase in popularity of
online video in recent years, a new market
audience had emerged that can be highly
targeted, and is more cost effective than
traditional mass media: online video ads.
The 2011 Google Automotive Shopper
Behavior Study shows online video ads as the
No. 1 most useful ad format, above all other
forms of traditional and digital advertising, to
connect with prospective car buyers.
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2. SuccessStory
Recognizing an ideal opportunity, Gunn
Nissan began implementing a two
pronged, “push and pull”, video ad
strategy to elevate their local presence
and increase profitability.
“Our eCommerce business is up 29
percent year over year since we started
our video ads back in March of 2011,”
said Tony Rhoades, Executive Director
of Information & Consumer Strategies
at the Gunn Automotive Group.
First, Gunn Nissan began using Video
SEO (Video search engine optimization)
that enabled their dealer brand and
message to “pull” for relevant keyword
search phrases and appear on Page
1 of search engine (Google, Yahoo &
Bing) results with compelling videos that
attract and influence consumers more
effectively than traditional text results.
Online video ads decidedly draw more
traffic than static ads because they
combine the power of television’s sight,
sound and motion with the power of
search engines’ ability to speak directly
to consumers who want to buy or service
a vehicle now. These high impact videos
are extremely effective as they stand
out amongst the myriad of text ads,
influencing consumers in a way that the
written word cannot.
Gunn uses a proprietary Video SEO
platform to distribute and optimize
custom videos through an intelligent
algorithm that continually works to
achieve the highest possible search
rankings on top search engines
for popular phrases like “Nissan
oil change San Antonio” or “Gunn
Nissan reviews”.
A 2011 AutoTrader.com / Polk
Automotive Influence Study shows
that 95 percent of car buyers use
search engines to shop for vehicles
and 98 percent of those same
car buyers do NOT go past Page 1
search results.
“With the average U.S. consumer watching over 21 hours of online video each month, and online video
advertising comprising 20 percent of all viewing material, retailers can’t ignore this audience,”
- AJ LEBLANC, MANAGING PARTNER FOR CAR-MERCIAL.COM,
THE COMPANY GUNN NISSAN USES FOR ITS VIDEO SEO AND PRE-ROLL PLATFORM
ÄCONTINUED FROM THE COVER

3. “Today Video SEO is given high ranking
authority by top search engines like
Google, Bing and Yahoo,” explains
AJ LeBlanc, managing partner for
Car-mercial.com, the company Gunn
Nissan uses for its Video SEO platform.
“It is imperative for dealers to make
it onto the Page 1 search results with
high-impact video ads that quickly
draw-in the consumer.”
Next, Gunn Nissan worked to
implement the “push” component of
its strategy. Developing a video ad
network that included Geo targeting
local car buyers on the largest online
video ad network in the U.S., building
brand awareness and purchasing
intent within specific digital market
areas, and driving site traffic with
professionally produced, high quality
targeted TV-style placed “pre-roll”
video ads on highly visited websites.
“Pre-roll” refers to in-stream online
video advertising across high quality,
professionally produced publishers
like MLB TV, that typically run for 15-
30 seconds at the beginning of a
video clip that a viewer has selected
to watch or on a website’s home
page. The pre-roll automatically
runs, and often there is no opt-out
option – a captive audience, just like
traditional TV. The Video Ad network
has the largest collection of popular
national websites consumers visit to
get information and see videos about
news, lifestyle, entertainment, sports,
how-to, technology, gaming, health,
fitness, finance, auto, food, travel,
parenting and family.
“With the average U.S. consumer
watching over 21 hours of online
video each month, and online video
advertising comprising 20 percent of all
viewing material, retailers can’t ignore
this audience,” said LeBlanc. “Dealers
can readily push their message using
video ads to a select target audience
on numerous popular national online
TV networks – it’s truly ‘targeted TV’.”
Gunn Nissan’s initial pre-roll ad ran for
30 days and was featured on 1 of over
40 popular national websites targeted
to only local consumers in the San
Antonio market. The ad had 313,799
video plays with an 82 percent
completion rate, meaning consumers
watched the entire video ad, and 3,716
direct clicks were made to the Gunn
Nissan website – a 1.18% click rate.
This modest website conversion rate
resulted in increased sales at a cost
comparable to what would be spent on
standard pay per click (PPC).
SuccessStory
Gunn Nissan
However, with standard PPC an ad is
not viewed every time it shows up in
sponsored links. Video pre-roll ads always
play and are seen whether the consumer
wants to view it or not. Just like traditional
TV advertising, video pre-roll gives you the
power of brand awareness, but online
video has the ability to convert that viewer
toanactualwebsiteleadthemomentthe
video ad is played because the directly
clickablevideotakestheprospectrightto
your website.
“MLB TV, along with the other sites in
the Video Ad Network, has a huge online
presence and has afforded us a great
opportunity to build our brand awareness.
There are a lot more San Antonians who
now know… ‘At Gunn, One Simple Price™
means no fine print and No hassles’. The
greatest thing about these pre-roll ads
is that the consumer can click directly
on the video ad and go straight to our
website. ThankstoAJatCar-mercial,Sean
Stapleton and Tom Walls at VinSolutions
we are now working to find better ways to
trackthisactivity,”saidRhoades.
Additional stats from the Influence Study
byAutoTrader.com/Polkshowtheaverage
carbuyervisitsfivedifferentdealerwebsites
before setting foot in a dealership. Dealers
cannot afford to remain static online, as
onlinevideoadsarefastbecomingthenew
“norm”inadvertising.
With 24/7 easy access to research
vehicles, the increased use of tablets,
cell phones and laptops and the “no
pressure” aspect of searching online,
more than 9 out of 10 consumers start
their buying process online. Dealers have
a phenomenal opportunity to get in front
of in-market car buyers with maximum
exposureforminimumcost.
Tony Rhoades
GUNN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

4. SuccessStory
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Gunn Nissan
• Use Video SEO to ensure that your dealership’s brand and message
appears on Page 1 of the search results with compelling videos that attract
and influence consumers more effectively than traditional text results.
• Use a Video Ad Platform that drives site traffic with professionally
produced, high quality targeted TV-style placed “pre-roll” video ads on
highly visited websites.
• Work with a Video SEO and Video Ad Platform specialist like Car-mercial.
com to Geo target ready car buyers and build brand awareness and
purchase intent within specific digital market areas to capture local in-
market consumers.
IN A NUTSHELL
GunnNissaneCommerceSalesJump29%withNewVideoAdPlatform
“OUR ECOMMERCE BUSINESS IS UP
29 PERCENT YEAR OVER YEAR SINCE
WE STARTED OUR VIDEO ADS BACK
IN MARCH OF 2011,”
-TONY RHOADES
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION & CONSUMER
STRATEGIES AT THE GUNN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP.
Gunn Nissan’s
eCommerce
Sales Jump
29%