This year’s Carology event, hosted by TRADER, reached new heights with diverse speakers, unique venues and an engaged audience of hundreds of automotive industry professionals.
TRADER Carology was hosted across major cities in Canada including Toronto, Montreal and for the first time ever, Ottawa and Vancouver. This year’s topic, Automotive Industry Disruption: Thriving in a Time of Change, resonated with retailers and agencies alike. With a constant shift in technology and shopping trends, there was a clear need to share insights into consumer expectations and how auto retailers can prevail during these disruptive times.
The speakers featured at the event were Brian Pasch, founder of PCG companies, Tim Scott, National Leader for Automotive Dealership Services at Deloitte Canada, and Trevor Byrne, Group Account Director at Red Urban Canada, leading the Subaru Canada brand. Each shed light on trends in the automotive industry and provided takeaways for attendees.
Trevor Byrne opened the floor by sharing trends he’s seen from the agency side of the industry, examples of disruptors that are changing the way we see technology today and ultimately will affect the automotive industry. He encouraged attendees to take risks and use a small portion of their marketing dollars towards out of the box thinking. His takeaway for attendees? Measure results. Retailers should reflect on the tactics they used, analyze the data, and adjust their digital marketing mix accordingly.
“I think it was really insightful. The speakers gave me some things to think about and rework within our dealership.”
Tim Scott of Deloitte’s Automotive Division provided insights from newly released Deloitte research on consumer behaviour. Scott explored how mobility will affect retailers, including current challenges, trends, and future opportunities. He dove into how consumer expectations have shifted and why dealers should focus on building loyalty and creating lasting impressions with prospective buyers. His takeaway for attendees is to stay on top of consumer expectations, while ensuring their teams are equipped to adapt to these changes.
Brian Pasch’s presentation focused on data and measurement as a method of how automotive retailers can gain a competitive edge. He explained that in reality less than 15% of leads dealers receive from their ads are interested in purchasing a vehicle. He approached the discussion around leads and what metrics are the most important for dealers to measure. Pasch made one thing clear in his presentation – it’s not about the quantity of leads, it’s about the quality of traffic and engaged consumers visiting the dealer’s lot.
“Carology was very insightful and very relevant to my everyday dealership operations. From the guys on the sales floor, to our internet department, we took away some key learning.”
With the expansion into new markets Carology had a record breaking audience in attendance. This year was a resounding success with 90% of attendees agreeing it was an exceptional event and will definitely be back next year!
Carology came about 4 years ago with the goal for TRADER to share insights and provide educational information on how consumers shop and what they’re looking for in their ideal car buying experience. The annual event brings together hundreds of auto dealers, OEMs and agencies to hear firsthand experiences of what it takes to win in an increasingly competitive digital automotive landscape.
Carology dates for 2019 will be announced on our social channels. In the meantime to continue learning about insights from TRADER and educational information subscribe today to Carology Insights.
