How Can Car Manufacturers Use USB Sticks For Marketing?
Gentlemen, start your engines! Not only are some of the worlds most advanced motor manufacturers constantly challenging the boundaries of what makes a great motor car, but they are now looking at how they use the latest USB memory stick products within their marketing plans, their trade shows and during their driving day experiences.
For an industry that is renowned for its technological innovation, its cutting edge design and impressive marketing it’s perhaps no surprise that the humble USB memory stick has also been embraced. After all, there are significantly more things you can do with a memory stick than you can do with a CD or DVD, and they’re far more popular with customers, dealers, showroom staff and the motoring press.
Some of the more innovative uses include capturing driver data (and car performance data) during race days and driving days. At the end of the race/driving experience, the data can be uploaded from the memory stick onto a PC for review and analysis. This is something that was simply not possible with CD/DVD technology but now, providing memory sticks with the right performance specification are used, it’s easily achieved.
Smart Spending
The global advertising and marketing spend in the automotive industry runs into billions of pounds every year, with the lion’s share still going to TV and print advertising in the short term, but new communication channels and USB flash drives are a growing part of the mix. The ratio of media, promotional tools and techniques used is changing. Historically it was very much a combination of TV and print advertising coupled with the sales skills of showroom staff, all of which of course has to be underpinned by a great product. However, far more money is being pumped into online advertising now than ever before, with the internet now being seen by many leading car manufacturers as the start and end point of a consumer’s search for a new car.
Car manufacturers have to now embrace all forms of communication including online advertising, YouTube videos, social networking, apps, Twitter and more. By virtue of these multiple channels, consumers are better informed, have access to reviews on the cars posted by other owners and access to huge amount of comparative data at their fingertips. Consequently, when todays car buyer arrives in the showroom he/she often does so armed with as much information about the cars on show as the salesperson. With this in mind, glossy brochures are fast becoming a thing of the past. Instead you’ll be able to hook up to the manufacturers web sites, download content to your iPad, mobile phone or notebook or alternatively take all of the content away in a digitised format on a branded memory stick.
Tradeshows & Press Events
They are also a great idea to hand out to members of the motoring press at Press Events, as journalists can go away armed with something memorable and easy to carry that contains all of the press pack information, web links, video clips etc.
Eco-Friendly
Using USB flash drives also help motor manufacturers with their “eco-friendly” status because pre-loading data on the flash drives significantly reduces print and transportation costs.
Upturn in Sales
When we read statements issued by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) that “car sales have now risen for 19 months in a row” and sales of new cars have “increased in the UK by 12.1% on the same month the previous year”, we like to think that we’ve done our little bit!
At the moment the motoring industry is only scratching at the surface of what’s doable with a USB memory stick and understanding where they can add value but given their constant competition between the brands both on and off the track it’s going to be an interesting space to keep an eye on!
It’s not just the car industry that have spotted the opportunity to drive sales by giving away branded and pre-loaded USB memory sticks; we also seeing similar things happen in the house building sector and of course loads of professional photographers are now using USB memory sticks to promote their services and provide their clients portfolio on.
If you’re looking for ways to drive your sales then you might want to think about getting yourself some branded USB memory sticks – if you do, give us a call. We’d love to hear from you.