Autotrader Utilizes Online Gaming To Attract Car Buyers
ATLANTA--Aug. 6, 2001--AutoTrader.com, the leading online automotive classifieds site, today launched an innovative marketing campaign to enhance online brand awareness among a targeted, young adult-oriented demographic. The "Slide Into Your Ride" online sweepstakes heralds a new era in interactive marketing, known as advergaming. Developed by Midway Games Inc. , a leading software industry publisher and developer, advergaming combines advertising messages with entertaining and compelling game play. Exile on Seventh, an Atlanta-based interactive advertising agency, created the concept and creative elements for this innovative marketing strategy to engage first-time car buyers in the interactive medium of online gaming while expanding AutoTrader.com's reach to a younger, Internet-savvy demographic of 18 to 24 year olds.
"Slide Into Your Ride" builds upon the distinctive images of AutoTrader.com's award-winning TV campaign, drawing a parallel between the memorable offline advertising and the popularity of online gaming to visually demonstrate the empowerment and selection consumers experience when visiting AutoTrader.com. Emulating the popularity of their offline advertising themes, Exile on Seventh designed the creative elements and concept for the advergaming promotion as well, bringing together familiar branding and messaging tactics to increase success for AutoTrader.com through innovative marketing initiatives. Earlier in 2001, AutoTrader.com employed a multi-million dollar, diversified campaign incorporating their signature branding approach into a combination of broadcast and online ad buys throughout NBA, NCAA basketball and NASCAR coverage. Now, embarking on a new frontier with Midway's game expertise, AutoTrader.com further develops the underlying marketing strategy established with core users in previous advertising initiatives, while moving vertically to capture new niche market segments.
"AutoTrader.com sought out a smart and compelling way to attract this lucrative, hard-to-reach demographic and collaborating with Midway and Exile on Seventh provides us with an interactive platform to expand our online brand," said Clark Wood, vice president of marketing, AutoTrader.com. "The fact that more than 45 million people will play an online game this year, coupled with Midway's heritage and primary audience in the gaming space, this relationship was an obvious choice for building our brand awareness and driving qualified site traffic among this highly-desired age group."
After achieving critical mass in 2000, AutoTrader.com established itself as the main source for consumers to visit when making a new or used vehicle purchase, sale or seeking information such as price comparisons, safety tips, financing, insurance or warranty information. Through campaigns like advergaming, AutoTrader.com emphasizes their unsurpassed selection of more than 1.5 million vehicles, resulting in the largest automotive classified site on the Internet.
From August 1st until September 30th, consumers can revv up to win more than $100,000 in prizes from sponsors JBL, Gatorade and Sports Illustrated by playing the "Slide Into Your Ride" Sweepstakes. There are two ways to win, every time a consumer plays the game they have the opportunity to win the instant win prizes, they can also enter to win the Grand Prize Sweepstakes, drawn randomly, which includes $25,000 towards the purchase of a car on AutoTrader.com, $2,000 towards the purchase of a car stereo system from JBL and a year supply of Gatorade. Promotional partners were strategically selected due in part to their lifestyle appeal and popularity to the targeted demographic of online gamers and first-time car buyers alike.
Links and placements to play the game can be found across AutoTrader.com, AOL, CompuServe, Ask Jeeves and CNNsi. This outreach, coupled with a print campaign in AutoTrader Magazines and a rich-media direct e-mail effort aims to strengthen AutoTrader.com's brand awareness and solidify its position as an industry innovator.
To play the online game, consumers click and move cars vertically or horizontally to score more points. The game's one-of-a-kind instant win component appears between gameplay levels for instant prizes, so consumers may play as often as they wish or enter to win the Grand Prize by visiting http://win.autotrader.com.
About AutoTrader.com
AutoTrader.com is the Internet's largest auto classifieds marketplace and a comprehensive main source for consumers interested in buying or selling a new or used vehicle, or seeking information on price comparisons, safety tips, financing, insurance or warranty information. Through its strategic alliances with Manheim Auctions, Trader Publishing Company, ADP, Inc., America Online and eBay, AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location a comprehensive database of 1.5 million vehicle listings from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners, which provide consumers the largest selection of used vehicles in their local market.
AutoTrader.com was created in 1997 and is a majority-owned subsidiary of Manheim Auctions, Inc., the world's largest operator of wholesale auto auctions since 1945. Manheim Auctions, a wholly owned subsidiary of media conglomerate Cox Enterprises, Inc., is AutoTrader.com's principal stockholder and a key investor along with Landmark Communications, ADP, Inc., eBay, Inc., and the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. For more information, visit http://www.autotrader.com or call 404/269-7359.
About Midway
Midway Games Inc. is a leading developer, publisher and marketer of interactive software. Midway games are available for play on all major home game platforms, including the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system and PlayStation(R) game console, Nintendo(R) 64, Game Boy(R) Color and Game Boy(R) Advance and Sega Dreamcast(TM).
About JBL
The Harman Consumer Systems Group (HCSG) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a wide range of high-fidelity loudspeakers, audio and video components and multi-media systems for use in homes and automobiles, and with computers. The Group's brands include JBL, Infinity, Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, Madrigal Imaging, Revel, Proceed, Audioaccess and Lexicon.
HCSG is a division of Harman International Industries, Inc. Harman International (www.harman.com) is a leading manufacturer of high-quality, high-fidelity audio and video products for the consumer and professional markets. The company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HAR."
