Well that was a blur....and a pain in the feet. It's always that way after sitting in the office, or the car, or client's dealerships and OEM offices. But to stand for all but 90 minutes in a day is tough. Anyway, the day was full to say the least. After breakfast (Thanks Motor Press Guild!), it was time to listen to Stefan Jacoby, Volvo's new CEO. Hmmm. Insightful but the conversation around the table with High Gear Media at breakfast was more than a bit higher on the engagement meter.
Then it was time for the Volt road trip replay, oops, the GM press conference. Aside from the obviously dirty car and great impact that their trip from Detroit to LA provided, the car part of it didn't have the normal sizzle. The Camaro convertible was nice...
VW's booth was packed. And that's not only becase of the food spread after their conference. Lots about the EOS convertible and Heidi Klum, not enough about the Golf Blue-e-motion or next-gen Passat. Not earth-shattering, but better than GM. Could have been more "we're taking over the industry by 2017".
Jaguar (ok, and Land Rover too), which has surprised my since changing ownership, seems to be getting their swagger back (pun intended). The concept and approved-production cars seem to be edgier and willing to take more risk than in the past 10 years. The stand didn't seem to really work for the media trying to see but it was clear that they're gaining on the buzz factor.
Mercedes may have won the "our press event can kick your press event's butt" based on the Ducati and cupcake tie in, but so did the car stuff. It was the second bland presentation of the day (both German) but the CLS63 is just simply rocking and the B Class did get a lot of nods. They'll continue to sell cars and compete for the luxury sales title with Lexus and BMW. It seems to be about little notches in the bedpost these days....
Porsche was about the Cayman R. And food. And wine. The historical video was cool and the Cayman definitely hits on way higher marks than the past version. They didn't disappoint this year and their booth (room) always seems to be just beyond pristine. So someone should tell their people to turn down the stuffed-shirt feeling and have some fun. Isn't that what Porsche is about anyway?! (that and a lot of dead presidents).

Sorry, Nissan was accidentally missed but onto Fiat. After taking part in Mini and Smart press conferences and being around the Audi A1 marketing machine, it's not surprising to see a small car. I hope the 500 can make the brand, dealers and customers happy. I'm still reserving comment but my temperature is going to have to go up slightly...soon.
Subaru is just killing it in sales and they don't need much in the way of redesigning their product line. So that's when it was lunch.
Ford continues to impress. Got to hear/see about a few of the buzz models and spent 15 minutes chatting with @ScottMonty. The upcoming Focus ST definitely got my attention on the spec's alone. Then there's chatter about an electric Focus. What really was fun? Slot car racing and a new simulator (they've had some over the past few years at LA Auto Show, SEMA, NADA, etc). Still bummed that I missed them when they were penny stock just a few years ago...
Honda seems to be going steadily, but slowly, down the path of alternatives. You can count on that. Honda's Fit EV keeps the drum beating but their gas cars are so efficient, where is everything going? The cars still need more life (but the last two seem to at least be designed by someone with a pulse) but their engineering is so sound, you just have to listen for 40 minutes. (Actually I started a conversation with Brian Glickman from Edmunds so my story should be changed!). No oohs or aaahs but some nodding heads at the close.
Skipped Dodge and Lotus for compelling conversations and walking around before the early departure this afternoon.
A few things are clear:
- Budgets are coming back, spurred by sales and profits. The booths are bigger again, there's espresso machines and music blaring, heck all companies had their lights on the whole time! The buzz is back and it feels good. As one of my friends said today, even the carpet padding is a couple grades up from the last couple years and that's a great sign!
- Giveaways are cool, but if it's less than two inches by two inches or you wouldn't want/keep it yourself, send it back to the ad agency or widget maker.And make sure everyone there gets your media kits...you never know how many of the non-media people acutally do stuff for lots of dealerships!
- IMPORTANT: Now get the excitement from the show flloor to the dealers, back it up with better education than they've been receiving and we'll really have something to celebrate. Retail sells cars. Not the OEMs.
That's my story and I'm...sticking to it! Maybe another round tomorrow. Press conferences are Hyundai, Audi, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, Wheego, Morgan and Perana.
Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results
DrivingSales Executive Summit 2011: The Big Bang (And Oh, What Comes Next?)
Wow. What happened last week was amazing. Nearly every session at this year's DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) rang the bell. From the opening comments on Sunday to the closing minutes Tuesday, nearly everything seemed to gel with a couple standing ovations to boot. This, ladies and gentlemen, is engagement, learning and a focus on the dealer at its best.
Day one featured returning emcee Charlie Vogelheim introducing DrivingSales' own Jared Hamilton followed Paul Potratz, JD Rucker and Jason Falls as the opening keynotes. Having outside-the-industry, topic-rich speakers has been a hallmark since the opening of the DrivingSales Executive Summit in 2009 and this year simply added to the validity of such influencers.
Day two started with a social media study by Dealer.com's Kevin Root and Matt Murray, then featured Aaron Strout on location-based marketing which presented some still very-new ideas to the crowd of over 400 attendees*. Four sessions of breakouts followed, covering a range of in-the-moment subjects, in addition to the Dealership Best Idea presentations. In between, two powerful events happened: a new Digital Marketing Dilemma "battle" format that had people buzzing into the evening and beyond day three, along with the DSES-exclusive Innovation Cup Vendor presentations. After the cup participants used up their allotted time, all attention was on the evening keynote Gary Vaynerchuk. He stole the show, got the more-than-typically-timid audience leaning forward and received what was described by nearly everyone as a one-of-a-kind, never before seen standing ovation. And a resounding ovation it was, not a "my gosh that was a boring presentation but at least it closed the day" kind of applause with people standing. Gary Vee rocked the house and converted the few not-yet-socially-commited dealerships on the spot. He followed that with a signing for his "The Thank You Economy" book.
Day three opened with Google and closed with the cup. And in between we heard from Zappos' Rob Siefker and what could arguably be the automotive industry's "Big 5" CEOs representing Dealer.com, Cars.com, ADP, DealerTrack and AutoTrader.com talking about what's coming in 2012. Many viewers not only enjoyed the big-company heads, they were comparing notes about who hit the ball the furthest (Mark Bonfigli of Dealer.com provided the second standing -albeit provoked- ovation of DSES).
Even with heads-up prep prior to DSES by the DrivingSales team, the Google session seemed to miss what most of the dealers there wanted to hear including answers to, among other things, Google Places questions. So there is room to improve in 2012 as well as grow. And by all signs, DSES may be getting quite a bit better and bigger in the coming year.
Kudos to those that made the draw in the breakout sessions including Jeff Cryder, Joe Webb, Tracy Myers, Cory Mosley, Marc McGurren, Brian Pasch and Dennis Galbraith.
The most heartfelt appreciation and thanks to Jared Hamilton and the entire unsung DrivingSales Executive Summit team. They put together the finest event for North America's most progressive dealerships out of a passion for what makes the industry tick. It was also a bit of a compliment to many of the DSES speakers as they were also invited to participate across town at the JD Power & Associates Internet Roundtable. You know who you are and the fact that what you contribute makes a difference to the industry. It was a pleasure to spent some incredible time with you at Bellagio over three days in October 2011.
Until next year...be well, be listening, be teaching, be growing and be yourselves!
Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results
*Being as how DSES is the only automotive conference streamed live as it happens, we may not know the total amount of attendees above the 400+ in attendance, but it's easy to say the impact went well beyond the walls of the Bellagio Hotel conference center. Dealers everywhere were affected by the 2011 DSES. DrivingSales and DSTV proved once again that you need to serve dealers in the ways that you are founded on. Education goes everywhere...socially.
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