A Problem in Advertising, with GMC Trucks

Gentlemen, my name is Bill Bingham, the GMC dealer  in Richmond, Virginia. In the next few minutes, I want to tell you about an experience of mine  in facing a problem that I'm sure is common to most of us. I made these remarks originally  at the NADA truck dealers convention last May in Atlantic City. Several of the dealers  who heard me felt strongly that I should share this experience with the rest of the GMC  dealers in hopes that they might benefit from my experience. And so GMC has kindly made this time  available today. Here is essentially what I said. It is well recognized that successful  merchandising today must be based on a two‑fold identity. The identity  of the brand name and the identity of the retailer who sell it. Identifying  the brand and its features is primarily the manufacturer’s responsibility. The  identity of a dealer is up to the dealer. Well, gentlemen, there was a time when  I thought that everyone in Richmond knew Bingham GMC. My father started the business  in 1940. I joined him in 1946. We were active in community affairs. We advertised with  mostly price ads and newspaper and on radio. All of which we handled ourselves. We had reason  to be pleased with our sales and our profits. In 1968, we were forced out of our old location  because a new highway was coming through and my father retired from the business. We weren’t  in our new location very long before our sales figures, though still good, indicated that we  were not well identified here as we wanted to be. The only answer, it seemed to me,  was more advertising. So on our own, we stepped up our radio and newspaper  ads, still emphasizing price. But the results were disappointing. Obviously,  something else had to be done. But what? A friend of mine suggested that  what I needed was professional help. Professional help with my advertising.  I’m thankful that I followed his advice. I admit it wasn’t easy. The larger ad agencies  weren’t interested in the budget of a single dealership. We just didn’t have enough money to  spend. After much searching, I finally located a young adman just starting out in his own  business, but with fine, creative ideas. Among the first things we did was to conduct  a market survey. We contacted 100 people who had recently purchased Ford trucks and 100 who had  purchased Chevrolet trucks and asked them several questions. The results were rather surprising. In  spite of the fact that Bingham had been selling GMC trucks in Richmond for nearly 30 years and  in spite of the fact that we had consistently advertised on radio and in newspapers, 58% of  the Ford truck buyers and 53% of the Chevrolet truck buyers could not name our dealership.  Clearly, we had a serious communication gap. But before deciding on a better way to  reach our market, we asked the question, exactly what prospects should we be trying to  reach? All of us have regular customers with whom we communicate through our sales force. As  long as we’re making money, it’s easy to depend on these friends for our sales. But in today’s  competitive market, with costs rising as they are, is this enough? No. We need to widen our field  of customers. And we have to remember that 70% of the trucks are bought by individuals and  small fleets of five or less vehicles. The people who are difficult to reach because they’re  not sitting in an office waiting for our salesman to call. They’re out on the job. What’s the  best way to reach these prospects? the big 70%. With the results of our survey in hand, our  ad agency planned a campaign to tell these individuals and small fleet users where to buy GMC  trucks in Richmond. Since our budget didn’t allow the use of all media in the volume we needed,  we settled on an outdoor billboard campaign. Billboards along the busy truck routes in  Richmond. In my city of Richmond, Virginia, one billboard for 30 days, 24 hours a day, 7 days  a week, costs less than one 30‑second TV spot, one time on one station. And what are the  chances of a one‑truck or small‑fleet user ever seeing that spot? We needed the best possible  exposure. And we got it with outdoor advertising. The results: our ad campaign started in  October 1969 and our sales for the first 6 months of 1970 were 35% over the same period  of the previous year. Our sales so far in 1971 are 60% over the same period in 1970, mostly in  the individual owner and small business category, which are difficult if not impossible  for a salesman to hunt down. By the way, our campaign in 1970 won an Eddie  award, the advertising man’s Oscar. Our campaign in general is directed to the  local identity of GMC and Bingham. One‑half of our boards deal with service because our service  department is an important sales tool. And since we play it up in our advertising, we make service  available for the longest time possible each working day. We don’t care whether the customer  comes in the back door for service or in the front door to buy a truck. Just as long as he comes  in. Unless we get to see him, we can’t sell him. In addition to the billboards, we use direct mail.  Postcards with the same message as our billboards are mailed at 14‑day intervals to prospective  business firms, mainly one‑ or two‑truck users who have not bought a truck from us in several  years or who don’t use our service department. And we always try to keep a good inventory on  hand. If delivery on something we don’t have becomes an issue, we use a factory  pool and other dealers’ inventory. Gentlemen, as I said before, Bingham GMC has  been in business for 30 years. We advertised. We had every reason to think we were well  known, well identified. But like all of you, I want to make my dealership as  profitable as possible. When I think of the sales we missed in past  years because we hadn’t established identity as GMC trucks in Richmond, because we  didn’t get professional help, it makes me shudder. We all need to widen our base of customers.  In my case, the ad agency helped me to do this. The exact program we used in  Richmond may not work in your area, but a professional adman can tell you what will  work. I hope you will let my experience help you. I firmly believe that dealers must set themselves  a realistic advertising budget. A lot of expense can be saved if you get professional  help right at the start. Let’s face it, we’re not advertising men. Our business is  selling trucks. The truly wise individual is one who knows how much he doesn’t know  but knows where to go for the answers.