As the global chip shortage persists, prospective car buyers face a dilemma: wait out the disruption until showrooms are once again filled with cars or pay top dollar for the few cars that are on
the market.
The situation is also creating a quandary for auto marketers. After all, if your mission is to help sell cars but there are no cars to
sell...what do you do? One answer would be to pull back on marketing and wait it out. But as we’ve learned from previous periods of market flux, smart marketers know that a dip in demand is
actually a time to lean in – to invest in building their brands so they are top of mind when the market settles. As Guy Schueller, industry director, Automotive, at Twitter explains,
“These are the moments for brands to stay part of the cultural conversation and to remain culturally relevant.” In other words, now is the time for auto marketers to play a longer, smarter
game.
Relevant Connections
There are two main ways that auto marketers are building and maintaining relevance while the market is in flux: the first is by focusing on their
brand messaging, and the second is by fixing an eye toward the future of the auto industry, toward electrification, and then claiming their place in it.
One brand embracing both avenues is
Kia. Even before the supply chain disruption, Kia had a new vision for how it wanted to be perceived by the public. The brand wanted to be seen not as a car manufacturer, but as a mobility solutions
company with a deep focus on insights and innovation. So earlier this year, Kia introduced a new branding strategy, a new logo, new models, and a whole new way of showing up to the public. They used a
range of content channels—from traditional media to digital and social media—to make a big splash in-market. As Marisstella Marinkovic, director of Marketing Operations, Kia America,
explains, "with all of the market dynamics that are happening, we wanted to be sure to connect with our customers in a relevant way.”
One of the most relevant conversations in the industry right now
is electrification, and the current flux in the market is proving a golden opportunity for auto brands to build their cachet in this new conversation. As Schueller notes, "Many companies, including
GM, Ford, and Nissan, are using this moment to accelerate their EV aspirational messaging and new vehicle introductions."
Kia seized the moment too, with plans to release their newest entry in
the EV market, the EV6, in Q1 – the first of seven new electric models the company is planning. "We're using the EVs as the springboard to show the real change that is happening at Kia," says
Russel Wager, VP of Marketing, Kia America. For Kia, electrification is more than just a step into the future. It's a part of the new way the company is reintroducing itself to the world, and a chance
to start a new conversation with a new set of buyers. As Marinkovic explains, "The rebranding and electrification are one and the same. We’re looking at connecting our brand strategy and our
brand target to the new buyer, expanding it to those individuals who are into EVs, which is a bit different from our existing target."
For auto brands, like Kia, the opportunity to start conversations with new segments of buyers also has them looking toward a wider array of channels to seed their message. This has been especially
true of social media, where platforms like Twitter have proved a vital testing and listening tool, taking a real-time pulse of how in-market auto shoppers are experiencing the market.
As
Schueller explains, “the chip shortage has been a theme on Twitter, with people talking about the tight supply and high prices.” However, he adds, as the conversation shifts to
electrification, the tone changes. “There are now lots of vibrant EV conversations,” he says, and auto marketers “can try and grow their cultural relevance by observing and fueling
those conversations on the platform.”
Marinkovic, at Kia, agrees. As she puts it, “Twitter is our newsroom and culture tracker. We want to start conversations and make sure we have
culturally relevant content there.” And with so many new entrants into the EV market, in particular—from Kia’s EV6 to Ford’s highly successful Mach-e and
soon-to-be-released F-150—Marinkovic sees a clear opportunity for auto brands to create their own groundswell of energy within that conversation. As she describes it, “We’re taking a
deep dive into the consumption behaviors around EV buyers and are looking to start different conversations about the new brand we’re unfolding. These might be about sustainability, or how to get
educated about electrification, or how to become an EV buyer. Things like ‘How do I set up my home charger?’ or ‘Where can I go to charge?’”
Where Auto
Marketers Go from Here
Ultimately, for all automakers, the current market flux will subside. But when that happens, the question facing them will be whether or not
they used this period to their advantage—to fuel conversation about their brands and grow their cultural relevance. As Schueller says, “Auto marketers can’t
immediately fix the supply chain. But they can still use this opportunity to gain a meaningful advantage by seeding the market, building their brands, and getting consumers
excited about the future of the industry so that when the market does normalize, they are top of mind for in-market shoppers.”