Acuity are automotive marketing experts and brand guardians to Citroen UK. Each quarter they create a free insight publication for automotive marketeers on how to increase sales and customer retention. How to leverage national marketing at a local level. Kwik-Fit. In need of a Kwik-Fix? Interview with Claire Cardosi, Citroen UK Innovations in automotive marketing: UK's first interactive mailer

1. AUTUMN 2012

2. overview: expert advice: franchise focus:
what is how to leverage kwik-fit. in need
frontline national marketing of a kwik-fix?
marketing? at a local level

3. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
dealer focus: innovations in frontline doctor:
interview with frontline marketing: YOUR Q&A
claire cardosi the uk’s first
interactive
direct mailer
OVERVIEW / 3

4. overview:

5. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
is frontline
marketing?
With most big brands there’s still a real
disconnect between national and local
marketing. The former looks for ways
to establish brand equity, whereas the
latter is far more concerned with hitting
targets – and getting the bonuses.
We use ‘frontline’ to describe your
franchise network or sales outlets
– inevitably parts of your business with
their own unique set of challenges.
They’re also areas that, more often
than not, are focused on ways to
increase sales and customer retention.
WHAT IS FRONTLINE MARKETING? / 5

6. expert advice:
Words of wisdom 1. Be consistent
This quarter’s expert is Tony Searle, If the global or national marketing has
managing director of Acuity. worked, people should know about your
brand, like the look of it, and now have the
motivation and desire to find out more.
So, here I am: the consumer. I’ve seen
the ad, downloaded the app, ‘liked’ it
on Facebook and been suitably ‘fluffed.’
I also have a shortlist, funding’s in
place and there’s the kind of eagerness
retailers love. Now it’s time to check out
the landscape.
Now, what you might not realise about
today’s landscape is it’s still quite
local. Even in an online world, there’s
something reassuring about making
big-ticket purchases locally. Not only
is it handy if something goes wrong
afterwards, there’s also the feeling
you’re doing business with someone
‘like you’ who probably knows the same
people and places.

7. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
In fact, according to The Newspaper Look at Volkswagen. It has the creative During the same period, Citroën’s 200
Society, the average distances travelled genius Helmut Krone to thank for an franchised dealers spent an aggregated
by people buying ‘big’ items might advertising style that’s been going strong total of £11m in local press. That’s
surprise you. for over 60 years. His minimalist layouts twice as much as Citroën itself, with
and obscure headlines still remain countless more insertions – and
White goods: 6.9 miles
at the heart of the company’s global each one hammering home the same
Brown goods: 6.7 miles
strategy. Six decades (and counting) is powerful set of ideas and messages,
Computer hardware: 8.1 miles
some testimonial. And some marketing with a ‘local twist.’ In so doing, Citroën
Clothes: 8.9 miles
weapon: just pick up any magazine effectively tripled its media footprint,
Furniture: 11.3 miles
across the world and the local VW dealer with no extra cost to itself.
But what does all this mean to big will have an ad that prospects can spot a
brands, especially the huge global mile off. Imagine the countless millions Next quarter: qualifying your prospects.
giants? In short, everything. of column inches that represents every
single day, and all paid by local outlets.
So how can a global brand engage at this
very micro level? How can it manage all During 2011 one of our clients, Citroën
the little details? How can it make sales UK, spent £5.5m in national newspapers.
outlets work on its behalf? And how can it In transforming their brand, they created
triple the value of its advertising spend? some truly memorable messages and
images – making the reasons to choose
A number of key tactics can be used. Our
them more about emotion, and less
preferred one is consistency – and all the
about price.
big brands agree.
EXPERT ADVICE / 7

8. franchise focus:
kwik fit
The other day, we were thinking about our
marketing toolkit, and some of the large
companies or franchises that could use it
to better localise their global marketing
materials. One of the names that came up
was Kwik Fit. But we actually concluded
there were perhaps other ways it could
In each edition we put our heads together and move forward. Here’s why…
think about how a large UK franchise could be
doing things better with some blue sky thinking. Kwik Fit started life in the early 70s and
is now the UK’s leading supplier of fast-fit
This quarter, it’s Kwik Fit. tyres. It currently runs over 600 outlets
in this country, with a similar amount
across France and Holland. There have
been a number of owners over the years
(including Ford) – but currently it’s the
Japanese corporate, Itochu.
With a 20% UK share, Kwik Fit is easily
the market leader in fast-fit tyres. But
its MoT testing and servicing have only
5% of the market – illustrating the hugely
fragmented nature of car servicing here.
What can it do to improve customer
loyalty and up-selling?

9. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
Easy wins
There’s good money to be made in All these simple tactics should improve Women feel more confident when
servicing cars. In fact, according to sales in retail servicing for the company. it comes to simpler things like tyre
Castrol’s Business Services Car Repair It’s hard to imagine how they couldn’t. replacement though. For them, this buy-
Trend Tracker Report it accounts for and-go process is less fraught and just
over 30% of all profits for main car Maybe there’s a need for greater easier all around.
dealerships. But main dealer servicing investment at branch level in bringing on
is considered to be too expensive – with board high-quality managers with sound So back to Kwik Fit. With its 20% market
most customers never seen again once retail experience. But there might be an share, it has hundreds of thousands of
the warranty period ends. To be precise, even more obvious strategy. opportunities each year to connect with
that’s around 40% of customers, or some female customers and get them coming
800,000 people every year. Talk about a According to 2011 data from Bosch Car back for vehicle servicing and MoTs. After
lost opportunity… Service, 70% of women would happily let all, the need is there – but they just need
their husband, boyfriend, dad or brother someone to trust.
That means there are millions of take their vehicle to the garage, rather
disenfranchised drivers in the UK. than do it themselves. Having witnessed Perhaps Kwik Fit could use a retail expert
And around one in five of them will have the process close-up, I don’t blame them. to make branches more ‘female friendly’
visited a Kwik Fit at least once while and less macho. For example, a smart
they were ‘tied’ to their original main “It is clear that there is still a feeling and welcoming reception area? Free
dealership for servicing. of discomfort amongst women drivers Wi-Fi? Cleaner toilets? For such simpler
towards taking their cars in for a fixes, the benefits would be immediate
What was that experience like for them? service, which could be why they are and probably quite significant.
Were Kwik Fit staff trained to be sales leaving it up to men.”
people as well as fitters and managers? Bosch Car Service Concept Manager,
Were customers asked when their MoT Howard Price.
was due, or when their warranty ended?
Was each customer given literature about
servicing and MoT testing services? Was
anyone ever invited back for a free winter
or summer check?
FRANCHISE FOCUS / 9

10. dealer focus:
with
claire cardosi
citroën uk MARKETING
How many dealers do you have in the UK? Once the consumer is aware of our
Within the Citroën network we have brand and products, the role of dealer
nearly 200 dealers that hold a full sales marketing is played at a local level. This
contract, more if you include the sales involves being more targeted with the
outlets and authorised repairers. main aim of getting the customer to visit
the dealership. At this stage they are
What is dealer marketing? closer to purchase and the relationship
Dealer marketing is producing material can be built up with the dealer, with the
that promotes the brand and product, aim of leading to a sale.
whilst being tailored for the local market.
This tailoring could be amending the What are some of the biggest
creative or choosing activities/medias challenges Citroën face with dealers?
that are relevant to the local area. With any nationwide Franchise there
are variations between the location and
How does dealer marketing differ from size of the outlets. Our dealers vary in
national marketing? terms of size, location and whether they
The aim of national marketing is to raise are independents or part of a group.
UK wide awareness of the brand and Producing material that meets all of
products. These activities are aimed their desires and requirements can
at the early stages of the purchase be challenging.
journey to get the Citroën brand onto a
consumers ‘shopping list’.

11. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
What systems do you have in place to What are some of the biggest trends in
address those challenges? dealer marketing right now?
To ensure that we create marketing There is a higher expectation than
material that is relevant for all our ever for marketing material to be
dealers we produce a large variety of localised and relevant to the customer.
items, allow dealer personalisation Technological developments are aiding
through our online toolkit and gain this but it also means that there are so
continuous feedback. many marketing channels to consider.
Choosing how to use each channel and
How do you work with Acuity? ensuring that each is correctly managed
We work with Acuity on a day-to-day can be very time consuming for an
basis as they produce all of our dealer independent business. Within dealer
marketing material including overseeing marketing it’s important to choose the
the technological development of our channels that are relevant to the target
online marketing toolkit. We have a team market in that local area and to carry
of staff within Acuity who work solely on them out effectively, rather than trying to
the Citroën dealer marketing account be in all places at all times.
and are dealer facing.
With the proliferation of social media
Acuity also produce all of our showroom it’s easy for a small business to be
point of sale, direct mail pieces for the distracted by new channels and to focus
network and model launch material. a large amount of effort on them without
considering how they are relevant to
What differentiates Acuity from the market, business and customer
other agencies? base. This is an area we’re trying to
Acuity are an extension of our marketing help our dealers with my giving them
department as they carry out a wide an awareness of all areas of marketing
range of activities for us, above and through training sessions, and helping
beyond those outlined above. They have a them to choose the areas they should be
strong understanding of our market and focusing on.
business and so continuously propose
relevant new ideas to us.
DEALER FOCUS / 11

12. FINALIST – dadi awards 2012
for Use of Technical Innovation
FINALIST – THE PRINT &
DESIGN awards 2012
for cross media
& digital print

13. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
innovations in
frontline marketing:
Here at Acuity, we’ve created an It worked by recipients scanning the
entirely new way to promote the new direct mail piece with their smart
Citroën DS5 model to new and existing phones. They were then taken to the
customers. Our brief was to develop a app. Here they were shown nine images
solution that engaged customers with and three videos of the three DS line
the product and dealer network in a way models. They could also get their local
that brought to life the brand signature dealer’s contact details and choose
of ‘Créative Technologie.’ a number of different calls to action
– including contacting their dealer,
A lot of vehicle manufacturers still rely on requesting a brochure or call-back,
conventional direct mail. But the problem expressing an interest in a DS Discovery
is it’s all pretty generic with very little Day or even booking a test drive.
opportunity for personalisation. Time for
something new. Critically, the app also allowed Citroën
to precisely measure the campaign’s
We developed a direct mail piece that success, as all interactions were
used digital watermarking – a technology collated and passed to the relevant
that can be used in conjunction with dealers. It showed that over 80% of
a mobile app to serve up a rich and dealers received a response, with
engaging experience between printed around half leading to requests for
page and smart phone screen. We believe further information.
it to be the UK’s first interactive mailer.
INNOVATIONS IN FRONTLINE MARKETING / 13

14. DOCTOR:
Dear Frontline Doctor,
Q. We’ve recently learnt that many of Q. But why spend time nourishing
our car dealers are creating local press the brand when, ultimately, it’s
advertising, with very little control sales that count?
or input from our Marketing HQ. The
problem is it’s all completely at odds A. Because, according to the TGI, 25% of
with the look and feel of the brand the UK adult population intend to buy a
at national level. So consumers are new car in the next two years. And one
completely confused as to what our fifth of them think it’s important the car
products and pricing are about. Why is reflects their personality. So it’s actually
this happening? What can we do about it? very important these people clearly ‘get’
your brand and what it says about them.
A. Despite this kind of situation being In fact, it’s one of the main reasons your
hugely damaging to brands, it’s a sector spends around £550 million a year
problem many vehicle manufacturers on advertising.
face. It’s because there’s still a
big disconnect between dealers or And that’s why it’s so key you reflect
sales networks and their marketing your national marketing spend, engage
departments who are trying – and failing your dealers or sales networks in
– to engage them. Dealers are more local marketing and present a clear,
interested in hitting sales targets and compelling and consistent brand to
scooping bonuses, whereas marketing potential customers at what we call
teams tend to be more interested in the ‘frontline.’
establishing brand equity. In a way,
they’re both right.

15. FRONTLINE THINKING / AUTUMN 2012
You might think the solution lies in the Each one is important for manufacturers
manufacturer taking Draconian control (just ask us how) – but the one which can
over its dealerships or sales network. make the biggest change at a local level
But you’d be wrong. For it to really work, is Marketing Content Automation. With a
you need to engage with them. The flexible online marketing portal provided
first reason for this is networks have by the manufacturer, a sales network
a profound knowledge of their local can create a range of materials that are
area and market – and without their on-brand and with the right tone of voice
help, much of that will go to waste. The – not just for local press, but for multiple
second is that, ultimately, people always marketing channels too.
eventually find their way around anything
they regard as red tape or too controlling. Of course, there are certain elements
that impact its success, but that’s what
In actual fact, the solution is more around our clients pay us for. If you’d like to
a combination of marketing automation know more about how we work with
coupled with a two-way dealer-marketing Citroën UK in the area of marketing
forum. If you’re unfamiliar with marketing automation, just get in touch.
automation, it normally takes three
forms: Process Automation, Marketing
Content Automation and finally Marketing
Fulfilment Automation.
FRONTLINE DOCTOR / 15

16. T 01923 244 241 oak yard
F 01923 232 751 queen’s road
E info@we are acuity.com watford
@we are acuity hertfordshire
we are acuity.com wd17 2ql