2011 Promo 100: #4: Aspen Marketing Services
The recession imploded the automotive industry. But despite it all, now is a great time to be in automotive, says Patrick O'Rahilly, CEO of Aspen Marketing Services. The reason? There is a strong emphasis on the sector's most important asset — existing customers.
Research has shown that customers who regularly bring their cars to the dealership for service are five times more likely to buy another car from that dealership — and with all that behavioral data piling up, dealerships can focus on maintaining and building those loyal relationships.
Budget cuts and flagging sales forced many dealerships to close, but those that survived have found a new road, including clients like General Motors, Volvo and Toyota.
Over the last 12 months, the agency's top priority has been cleaning up dealerships' databases and appending email addresses to provide viable communication channels other than direct mail, a move that helped Aspen last year generate 80% of its net revenue from existing clients, O'Rahilly says.
As part of Aspen's services, its proprietary CRM platform, including Estrike (for email) and Quickstrike (for direct mail) allows dealers to build and deploy their own promotions. Dealers are focusing communications on fuel efficiency, low financing and trade-in values. The platform provides dealers with key response rates and benchmarks via a dashboard.
As dealers plan their own programs, their interest in understanding why a program worked has increased. Dealers also want to learn about appropriate mailing frequency to avoid fatigue, and how to balance their channel mix for maximum return.
“They're concerned about the language they use as well as the channel. They don't want to be too marketing speak,” O'Rahilly says.
Aspen tracks a variety of metrics, including customer spend, gross profit per customer and amount and length of financing. The agency recently added live vehicle information, such as current mileage and oil life, directly from the telematics system in the vehicle.
One client, Volvo, deployed promotions in June to customers in the U.S. and Canada based on behavior and preferences. It utilized email, direct mail, mobile and telemarketing. For example, when a customer reaches a certain number of miles on their vehicle, they might receive a “due for check-up” or “come in for an oil change” message.
Also in June, marketing services firm Epsilon, known primarily for its proprietary data, acquired Aspen for $345 million, giving Aspen a “gateway to new markets” throughout Europe and Asia, as well as database, technical and strategic support. The new partnership also adds 130 analytics experts, including a strategic consulting group.
“With Epsilon's knowledge and expertise, we're able to enhance our current platform,” O'Rahilly says.
