Here’s a quiz for you out in Adland: Guess the brand from the following clues in a TV/YouTube video ad.
Shiny SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle, for those of you who haven’t bought one yet) parked outside a suburban house.
Modern Mum, all clean, smiling and shiny, hops in. She checks that the two Modern Kids (also clean, smiling and shiny) are strapped into the spacious back seat. She reverses, utilising the rear-view camera.
The SUV then wafts smoothly in and out of the glass and steel canyons of the clean and shiny urban landscape. Modern Mum finds her way by activating Apple CarPlay from the uber-tech touchscreen on the dash. Funky upbeat music weaves its way through the whole ad.
Any guesses?
Ford? VW? Hyundai? Kia? Suzuki? Toyota? Renault?
It could be any of them, so alike are all car ads these days.
And, frankly, I’m not surprised.
Most car marketing is bland, middle-of-the-road (ha ha ha) and non-controversial. Also – dull and formulaic.
The challenges of automotive marketing
In defence of our local agencies, which make the stuff – as opposed to importing it – dealing with mega-corporate OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers, as they call them in the trade) is a bureaucratic minefield.
There are plenty of “Jobsworth” people to deal with (that is, “more than my job’s worth to approve this edgy creative”).
That’s why a lot of the marketing in the automotive space showing humour and a bit of risk-taking is coming from the sellers of used (oops – should that be “pre-loved”?) cars.
A standout campaign: Auto Trader
One campaign that stands out for its wackiness is for Auto Trader, the mega online selling platform that dominates the used car market. Not only in South Africa but elsewhere too.
It debuted at the beginning of January, just the time when people are thinking of making important financial decisions or just trying to recover from the hit to their wallets during the festive season.
That’s the “get a car or sell a car” time.
It’s a combination of South African humour – from cracks about the “two pot” pension scheme, which provided temporary windfalls for many, to a typical oke with his “double cab bakkie”… only now he needs a “quadruple” one to accommodate his massive Great Dane.
It all borders on the absurd – but that’s what makes it work. Who wants to see another bland Mum and Pop SUV ad?
Given that it comes from the agency Retroviral, I’m not surprised.
You cannot ever accuse them of being boring, and humour is their stock-in-trade.
In today’s ho-hum advertising world, that’s why their work stands out.
Not only does it stand out, but it also works as an attention grabber. When your client is in an industry where you need to grab the attention of potential clients as quickly as possible, then it’s effective.
Orchids to Auto Trader and Retroviral
Customer service as marketing
One of the best – cheapest and most effective – forms of marketing, as I have said many times, is top-class customer service.
In South Africa, that is sadly lacking.
At the risk of generating howls of outrage from some of their less-than-happy customers, I want to say that, in my personal experience, dealing with Outsurance has taken the pain out of the grudge purchase of insurance.
The company is in your face on multiple platforms, promising great deals and that “you always get something out.”
My experience with Outsurance
We joined them in 2018 and, up until the last year or two, had no claims to make on our household and car policy. That changed, with first a ruptured geyser and then, recently, a damaged ceiling from a leaking roof – which manifested itself during the recent torrential rains.
Dealing with Outsurance reps – both over the phone and in person – was one of the best customer experiences I’ve had. And I say this despite the fact that lodging those claims meant we lost our “Out bonus” – which we had received on a number of occasions previously for not claiming – and had to pay an excess.
The fact that this happened and yet I am not fussed and consider myself fairly treated shows that Outsurance walks the walk.
It’s good marketing because, when our renewal comes up later this year, we won’t be going anywhere else.
An Orchid to Outsurance for taking some of the stress out of life’s misfortunes.
