Tier 1
Brands and OEMs
- Model launch takeovers in your top DMAs
- Multicultural plans by community and moment
- Brand lift, site and search lift, sales match
Automotive media planning
DOOH that sells cars, not just impressions
Screens mapped to every dealer's market, switched on when shoppers are comparing, and measured by who walked in.
Built for OEM brand teams, dealer associations and dealer groups, and the agencies that plan for them. One buy across billboards, gas stations, grocery, EV chargers and more.
Your dealersCompetitor lotsScreens in the plan
Three kinds of auto marketer. Three different plans.
A national model launch, a regional sales event and a single-store month-end push need different market shapes, screens and proof.
Tier 2
Dealer associations
- Event heavy-ups for every member dealer
- Conquest by DMA against named competitors
- Market tests with holdout dealers
Tier 3
Dealers and groups
- Screens mapped to each store's market
- Service, tire and trade-in offers
- Screen lists and proof your co-op program asks for
Shoppers research online. They choose a dealer on the road.
The buying journey starts on phones and laptops, but the decision narrows in the real world: which models get shortlisted, which dealer feels convenient and which offer creates urgency.
Trigger
Lease ending, new baby, a move, a big repair bill.
Life-stage and lease-intender reachResearch
Reviews, configurators, pricing sites.
Frequency where model searches spikeShortlist
Two or three nameplates, cross-shopped.
Conquest around rival lotsDealer choice
Only a few stores get a visit.
Screens inside your dealer's marketPurchase
Trade-in, financing, this-month offers.
Month-end and event heavy-upsOwnership
Service visits, tires, recalls, the next car.
Service lane offers at gas and car washesDOOH is the one programmatic channel you can buy by a dealer's own trade area and switch on with the same signals as search.
Audiences built for your models, not "auto intenders"
Per-brand and nameplate audiences power the screen plan and can carry into every other channel in the campaign.
Purchase intendersLease intendersEVSUVSedanTruckLuxuryNon-luxury
See a full sample: the audience program we built for a crossover and 3-row SUV launch| Audience | Who's in it | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Compact crossover shoppers | In market for a compact crossover now | Consideration |
| 3-row SUV shoppers | Families shopping 3-row SUVs | Consideration |
| Crossover conquest | Current RAV4, CR-V and Forester owners | Conquest |
| 3-row conquest | Current Highlander, Pilot and Telluride owners | Conquest |
| Vehicle upgraders | New movers and new homeowners | Trigger moments |
| Active families | Households with kids and busy routines | Awareness |
326
counties where one brand had a local dealer, but a rival's hybrid searches outpaced theirs by 36%.
That is local media money left on the table before a launch. Find the places where dealer presence and shopper demand are out of step, then build the plan around the gap.
Find your gapsScreens where drivers already are
Lead with the road and the pump. Add the places with dwell time and intent.
Roadside billboards
Routes to and past dealer rows.
Best plays: Launch, conquest, eventsGas stations
Every driver, minutes of dwell, near every store.
Best plays: Dealer radius, service, hybridCar washes
Owners already thinking about their car.
Best plays: Service, trade-inEV chargers
EV drivers with 20+ minutes to look.
Best plays: EV conquest and launchesGrocery
Family shoppers and community stores.
Best plays: Events, multiculturalParts, tire and oil change
Owners mid-repair, open to upgrading.
Best plays: Service, trade-inRideshare tops
Moving screens in dense metros.
Best plays: Urban launchesDMVs
People registering and titling cars.
Best plays: Used, service, insuranceAirports and transit
High-income commuters and travelers.
Best plays: Luxury and EV launchesOffers need the right screen
Put short, legal-approved copy on screens drivers can read. Save full offer language for screens where people stop.
The new 3-row is here.Smith Motors, Exit 12
Roadside: brand and model
Seven words or fewer, one car, your dealer name and where to find it.
Year-end event. Now on.Offers at smithmotors.com
Roadside: event and URL
When your legal team approves a short-form route to the full offer.
Lease offer headlineYour approved monthly payment and termsFull legal disclosure as approved by your OEM and legal team, sized to read at a gas pump or EV charger.
Pump and charger: full offer
Long-dwell screens carry complete disclosures. Dealer, model and offer swap by market from one set of assets.
Measure what your GM cares about
Every plan comes with proof by screen. Bigger programs get a test designed before launch, so the result holds up.
Standard
- Delivery and proof of play by screen
- A map of every screen and why it's in the plan
- Live dashboard with audience insights
When: Every campaign, including co-op proof
Performance
- Dealer visit lift against a control group
- Website and model search lift by market
- Matched-market and holdout-dealer tests
When: Dealer groups, associations, brand tests
Third-party
- Brand lift studies
- Sales and registration match
- Log-level data into your own stack
When: Brand programs sized for study minimums
Running for auto today
Dealer
A Chevrolet dealer, renewing month after month
Always-on local screens planned with the dealer's agency, with new flights and creative confirmed every month.
Read the case studyBrand audiences
A full-funnel audience program for two SUV nameplates
In-market shoppers, rival-owner conquest and life-stage segments, ready for DOOH and every other channel.
See the programMulticultural launch
A national brand's Diwali plan across the top 5 markets
Neighborhood and large-format screens plus cultural and sporting events, with log-level reporting built for the client's dashboard.
Read how it's builtPlan around the auto calendar
Sales moments are fixed. Book six to eight weeks ahead and heavy up the last ten days of every month.
Model-year clear-out, Diwali
Black Friday events
Year-end sales events
Auto shows, winter tires, AWD
Big Game, Presidents Day
Tax refund season
Spring used and CPO
Memorial Day
Summer events, road-trip service
July 4th events
New model-year launches
Labor Day
Year-end is the biggest stretch for many dealers. If you're planning it now, start with a sample plan.
Questions auto marketers ask us
Get a free plan for your dealers
Send your dealer list and the brands you compete with. You'll get back:
- 1A map of every screen in the plan and why it's there
- 2Your competitor clusters and when they're busiest
- 3Cost, impressions and a measurement plan