B2B eBook
Client: Manheim
Project: 'GM Dealer Lane'
Opportunity
In response to a competitor’s takeover of General Motors inventory, Manheim launched a counterattack in 2008 with The General Motors Dealer Lane, providing designated lanes and run times for GM franchised dealers to feature and sell their high-quality vehicles with Manheim. The program would be available at all GM/GMAC Manheim sale locations nationwide (20+ locations out of Manheim’s 80+), with an additional online presence for Simulcast locations. Manheim needed consistent branding to promote this program at all participating locations (in-lane or online), not to mention a national announcement to dealers everywhere that Manheim was now the smarter – or better – source for sought-after inventory.
Solution
MLT Creative partnered with Manheim to ensure an integrated, consistent approach that would help GM franchised dealers succeed. We started by branding the lane as the “smarter” way to buy and sell General Motors products, a descriptor that cleverly played off the name of the aforementioned competitor. The creative was intended to make dealers feel as though the program gave them the smarter edge, and multiple Manheim incentives (discounts on fees, buy-back guarantees, etc.) ensured the lane’s success through 2010. MLT branded the program by creating not only national print and online ads, but also editable templates that Manheim locations could customize themselves for upcoming sales, including posters, flyers, table tents, counter mat inserts and direct mailers. These templates further reinforced the consistency of the program across all points of purchase. MLT also developed a special dimensional mailer featuring a desk nameplate that read “GENIUS,” sent to a select group of dealers to generate buzz and excitement about how the program could make them successful and “smarter.”
