• by Tanya Gazdik , July 16, 2020

Vroom aims to show that buying a car doesn’t have to be like a trip to the circus (where the used car dealers are some very scary clowns.)

The ecommerce platform for buying and selling used cars is launching a national campaign from Anomaly, its first since going public last month.

The campaign is based on the insight that consumers loathe the traditional dealership experience but don’t realize they have other options, according to Vroom.

While the pandemic has shone a spotlight on ecommerce, inspiring traditional car dealerships to scramble to offer remote buying and delivery options, Vroom has  allowed consumers to buy and sell cars from their homes since 2012.

The campaign was researched and filmed in advance of COVID-19 and the IPO in June, says Vroom CMO Peter Scherr. 

“After the pandemic hit, we did additional audience research and found the message still resonates with consumers, and our ecommerce offerings with contact-free delivery are even more enticing for potential Vroom customers,” Scherr tells Marketing Daily.

Vroom’s  target customer is anyone who is overwhelmed or dissatisfied with buying and selling cars through physical dealerships, he says.

The first spot, “Circus” (where the dealership is like a nightmarish three-ring circus) debuted July 6, and “Pressure Cooker” is set to air in August. The media buy includes Discovery, CNN, FXX, HGTV, and MotorTrend. On the digital side,  pre-roll ads are running on video streaming sites like Hulu and YouTube.

“We wanted to showcase in a humorous way that car buyers are fed up with the same old process of buying and selling cars at the mercy of dealerships,” Scherr says. “We felt that this was the right time to go live with the campaign, as our business model is more relevant than ever, given the global health crisis.”