The Role Brand Plays in Demand Generation and Capture for OEMs

Strong Brands Build Better Demand—for Both OEMs and Dealers

For manufacturers who often partner with their dealer networks for marketing and sales efforts, there’s an all-too-familiar tune: “More leads. More quality leads.” Thus it’s no surprise when we hear OEM partners and prospects say, “we need your help with generating leads.” Marketing spend goes to bottom-of-the-funnel tactics; leads get generated and sent to the distributed sales network to work like a speed bag. Performance marketing is everything—dollars in, dollars out, clear cut ROI. So why isn’t this always the right answer that fixes everything?

As it turns out, performance marketing isn’t everything when it comes to generating strong sales for the manufacturer. You’ve probably experienced that moment when those tried and true tactics, dialed all the way up, simply don’t produce enough leads or sales. What do you do then?

The answer is in your brand work—and how you use it.

Investing in Brand—A Call-Back

We’ve recently shared some of our expertise and experiences with brand for manufacturers. We’ve explored how to see the signs for when it’s time for an update, what common challenges and objections a manufacturer is likely to encounter on the road to a new brand, and the benefits of getting it right. There’s something sweet that happens when you can tell your story right, and it resonates; when you’re creating consistent experiences, and making meaningful, connected storytelling moments, everyone can feel it—your employees, your dealers, and your customers.

Still, many struggle to see the connection between brand success and sales impact. There’s often questions of, “What did all this hard work get us? More work?” And too often, the antiquated brand—or even the renewed, freshly-launched brand—is left right where it is, and the focus shifts to immediate sales and leaves the brand in a lurch. There’s a reason this happens so often, though. And thankfully, it’s a fairly straightforward fix.

(Brand) Love Can Build a Bridge

Truth is, you need both the focus on your brand, and all the updated imagery, messaging, bits and bobs that go with it, and the sales-focused marketing campaigns that get leads in the door. BUT spending on one or the other (or both) doesn’t guarantee success. You need a bridge. And that bridge is the high-funnel, awareness-based brand campaign.

If you’re unconvinced, see if you recognize these phrases:

• Like a Rock
• Build Ford Tough
• For the Ones Who Get It Done
• Nothing Runs Like a Deere
• The Ultimate Driving Machine

Admit it: you didn’t just see Chevrolet, you heard “Like a Rock,” by Bob Seger. You saw a heavy steel plate smashing into concrete, and heard the clang. Maybe you saw headlines on a dark highway, or John Deere green, or maybe you saw the red vending machine of PPE gear on your manufacturing floor.

What manufacturers as varied as Chevy, Ford, John Deere and BMW have done—and distributors like Grainger, too—is build brand familiarity into their marketing efforts. We have a name for that instant, memetic experience of the Bob Seger tune or steel plate clang: it’s called Brand Recall. And that hook is what’s missing from most OEM marketing efforts today. It’s the secret link between having brand fans turn into on-the-lot purchasers who don’t want the other guys’ stuff and only want to buy from you.

Brands that spend money warming up their customer segments, and do so by creating memorable, visual- and message-driven campaigns, sow the seeds of future sales into their audience base. They do both themselves and their dealers a favor, by creating memorable moments (a “hook”) now that lock into future customers’ heads what the company stands for: its quality products, and the vision of “I can see myself with that product.” Think driving that truck, wearing that gear, riding that ATV, or towing that boat to the lake some weekend soon. When it comes time to make “some weekend” turn into “this weekend,” the brand with better recall is at a distinct advantage when a buyer steps onto a dealer lot.

“But We Only Invest in Tactics that Lead to Sales!”

If we see real-life examples of brand campaigns working all across our lives, why then are brand campaigns so frequently disregarded when it comes to manufacturers’ own marketing and sales support? We frequently hear objections from clients and prospects that spending on activating brand and driving awareness just doesn’t work. The common excuses sounds like the following:

• This only works for consumer goods
• We can’t track performance
• We won’t see a lift in sales
• The ROI isn’t there

Are all of those true? Of course not. If you track the right things, and think about the budget of brand campaigns in the greater scheme of your entire marketing efforts, the proof is where the rubber meets the road. Let’s break them down:

• All humans are emotional buyers. We use rationalization to justify the purchase, but we’ve got an emotional need for the buy, whether for business or personal use. If there’s a human making the buying decision, it pays to help them remember you.
• We can track performance if we track the right things: impressions, media engagement, direct traffic, brand recognition and sentiment. Use the right metrics for the right job.
• We can track sales lift over time, and connect the campaign to the results via surveys, offers, and other means (verified walk-ins and rise in dealer location foot traffic, anyone?). Connecting brand campaigns to specific offers works well, especially if your audience can remember who you are in the first place. They’ll ask for you by name at the dealer.
• We can prove ROI by viewing our entire media budget—top and bottom of the funnel, all together—since the brand ad today becomes the paid search ad tomorrow. It’s more than channel-specific ROAS. Look at the bigger picture of your marketing investments.

Stick with me on that last point: “the brand ad today becomes the paid search ad tomorrow.” Recall those Chevy commercials (“Like a rock… I’m as strong as I could be…”). You might remember the bigger product launch ads, but chances are you’ve got a local dealership near you that ran some ads, too, that probably started with or ended with the jingle and visual of the truck driving over rocky ground. It’s a strong, strong recall connection when you couple that familiar OEM branding with the “save $5,000 in end-of-year savings at your local Joe Smith Chevy dealer!”

Why is this important? Because you already know that most of your prospective customers— your Total Addressable Market—isn’t ready to buy right now. Oh sure, some of them are. That’s why you spend on paid search, work hard to have good offers on the website, etc. But why do you invest in email marketing? You know not everyone is ready to buy. Some need a little nurturing. Some are “kicking the tires,” both literally and figuratively. And that reminder email three months from now might move the needle.

Now imagine how powerful that search ad, email, or even local dealer TV ad is when it’s familiar. Your next customer has already seen the creative, knows the words and visuals by heart, and just remembered why they started dreaming about your products in the first place. It’s powerful stuff.

Connecting the Dots From Manufacturer Videos to Dealer Lots

OEMs do themselves and their dealers a massive favor when they take the things they’re known for (value propositions, key differentiating features, etc.) and get them in front of customer segments with relevant, memorable advertising. That branded advertising has a long footprint and can extend all the way through awareness to the decision stage.

Creative video ads, trade publication pieces, and the like are just the intro pieces. That same creative, both messaging and visual, can be tied into website content, downloadable pieces, and attached to offers. It can be worked into trade show materials, and dealership point of sale materials like banners, in-store digital video displays, and even simple window clings.

An OEM that uses their brand actively to tell stories and build awareness with future customers builds trust, familiarity, and often loyalty. “I can see myself in that product.” If your brand can’t produce a memorable hit single, it can’t sell tickets to the show. But you get a hit song on the radio? That’s a different story altogether.

Doesn’t your company deserve the same thing? The good feelings of the radio hit leading to the sold out concerts? Do yourselves, your customers and your dealers the great services of living out your brand. Your sales partners will be sure to sing your praises when the customers recall all the things they love you for, and turn awareness into consideration for your products, and eventually well-earned sales dollars and brand loyalty.