Think Insurance, the specialist motor trader insurance broker; brings this story to you from across the pond. We loved this Marketing Campaign from an American car dealer. A car dealership in Florida launched a clever marketing campaign this month – If it rains more than one inch on the morning of 8th April 2011, any customer who purchased a car from them in March will get it for free!
Jeff King, General Manager of the dealership explains why he came up with the idea “Every car dealer advertises the same way. They open up their mouth and they start screaming at people. In this market that we’re in, when you do that, people just don’t come in the way they used to ”.
He goes on to say “This is a way for us to cut through the clutter, it’s a way to start having conversations with people. People come up to us now and say, ‘Tell me about the deal’. We get to have a conversation”. And it seems to be working, King says the dealership is having plenty of conversations! “We’re off to our best month ever, we’ll probably do close to 200 cars this month”.
You might think King is keeping his fingers crossed for sun on the morning of the 8th April, but he has confirmed he is praying for rain! The clever dealership took out an insurance policy against the rainy day – much like “hole in one insurance” at golf courses. King has checked weather forecasts and they are predicting thundery weather. “So we’ve got our fingers crossed,” said King.
A local weatherman says despite the forecast predicting rain, he doesn’t think the dealership or the insurance company are taking a big risk. “Nothing is impossible, but I would say the odds are working in the house’s favour at this point,” explained Steve Smith, morning meteorologist on First Coast News. “April tends to be a drier month,” Smith said. “We are moving toward the time of the year where the fronts are becoming less and less of a factor. I think they are making a safe bet at this point”.
Smith went as far as saying that he thinks the dealership and insurance company have “got it in the bag,” but a freak storm could yield more than an inch of rain on 8th April – like it did five years ago. So, if the weather station reports more than one inch of rain between 6.00am and 11.59am on the morning of the 8th April, King should expect to see his more recent customers celebrating!
Think Insurance applaud this innovative marketing campaign, but are warning any UK motor traders who might be thinking of following suit.… they’re not called April Showers for nothing!