I’m in Denver for the  Colorado Automobile Dealers Association‘s  first-ever Innovative Dealer Summit. A day-long event that starts with 7:30am breakfast, I’ll be covering it here and for CIR, but I’ll also be tweeting about # ISD10 as ClassifiedTiger.

There are many simultaneous sessions and a few  keynotes but I’ll primarily be in the sales and marketing or social media sessions, as that’s what our media-industry clients need to hear about.  First up is Jared Hamilton of Driving Sales ,talking about Aggressive Search and Social Strategies for Proven ROI.

AutoTrader.com’s CEO Chip Perry speaks at the noon luncheon sponsored by his firm. His topic: Automotive Advertising: Embracing the Internet as an Influencing Medium.

Representing the non-profit  Television Bureau of Advertising, Scott Roskowski will discuss Automotive Marketing and Media today.

AskPatty.com’s Jody DeVere talks about Marketing to Women on a Zero Budget. That’s at 2pm.

There’s lots more – a jam-packed day and early evening, for sure. More later.

Target Media Partners just announced the relaunch of its Recycler.com, and the site’s expansion U.S.-wide. Recycler.com is the online companion to a 37-year-old print free classified publication. The new national site offers advanced search features, keyword highlights, seller profiles and live user support.

“Our local free-ad model was so successful, we felt it was time to take it national, and to give buyers and sellers across the nation a better alternative to what is currently being offered in the online classified marketplace,” said Pam Johnston, Recycler.com’s COO, in the announcement. “We’ve retained Recycler.com’s local content and feel, while providing users greater flexibility with expanded search options and state-of-the-art technology.” Read the rest of this entry »

CarDealerWiki.org is the new creation of PCG Digital Marketing CEO Brian Pasch. Created as a free place for auto dealers to showcase their services, testimonials, vehicle videos and even auto listings, and to talk among themselves, the wiki also allows consumers to write dealer reviews. Not many have so far – it’s that new – but Pasch has uploaded several categories of manufacturers by state, and posted a walk-through video about creating a dealer profile.

While publishers and broadcasters probably won’t be welcome to showcase here (each profile has to be approved before publication) it soon might be  a good place to find auto dealer advertiser prospects, and find out what the dealers need from their marketing resources. Read the rest of this entry »

The Heart & Mind ad campaign launched by AutoTrader.com in May has worked so well for its own marketing and that of its dealer and private advertisers, that the auto listing site is expanding the campaign. Additional broadcast coverage will include USA Network, ESPN and ABC.

The SportsCenter show on ESPN, and ABC’s Saturday night college football and Monday Night Football will start airing AutoTrader.com commercials very soon. You’ll also see the Heart & Mind spots on Fox NFL Sunday, the post-season playoffs of Major League Baseball, and TNT’s World Series and NBA coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

EBay site Mobile.de is Germany’s biggest classified site for used cars. Now the company wants to focus more strongly on the new car sales. According to the business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, Mobile.de is currently negotiating intensely with manufacturers and dealers.

Wirtschaftswoche quotes Mobile.de boss Martin Tschopp, who says, “In five to 10 years the new-car sales has the potential to become just as big as the used-car sales.”

The search option “new cars” was launched on the site only a couple of weeks ago. Since then the new car inquiries on the site have increased by 80 percent and new cars represent almost 10 percent of the 1.4 million classifieds.

Besides buying a new car, users are also offered the possibility to configure their own new vehicle. Mobile.de offers price discounts of up to 43 percent (the average discount is 15 percent). For this service Mobile.de cooperates with the site MeinAuto, a specialist for the online sales of new cars.

According to Wirtschaftswoche, experts see an enormous potential in the new car segment online. The CAR institute at the University of Duisburg expects this young market to generate yearly sales of  €8 million within the next five to eight years.

The leading Portuguese online classifieds company Sapo has introduced new tools and a new look on its car classifieds website Auto.sapo.pt. Auto Sapo, includes listings of classifieds of used or new cars, trucks, bikes and boats in Portugal, Angola and the Cape Verdes Islands And is owned by PT Comunicações, S.A., the leading telecommunication company of Portugal.  Read the rest of this entry »

Yahoo! en Español Autos now offers over 2.5 million vehicle listings of dealers and individuals selling new, used and certified pre-owned cars throughout the U.S.  In the Spanish language, visitors can see and car vehicles and their reviews, photos, and research specifications.

“Every month millions of Hispanic consumers in the U.S. turn to Yahoo! en Español Autos to research, buy and sell cars online,” said Armando Rodriguez, general manager, Yahoo! Hispanic Americas, in the announcement. “With a revamped interface, more advanced capabilities and by partnering with market leaders like Autocosmos and Cars.com, we are expanding the depth of our content. Our relevant and comprehensive experiences, like Yahoo! Autos, enable advertisers to reach highly engaged audiences with scale and impact.”

Some of what’s added to the site for its Hispanic audience are auto specs from Polk, car values from Kelley Blue Book, and granular comparison of up to four vehicles.  Visitors can now share the information with friends as well.