Vehicle purchasers are twice as likely to visit one of the four key shopping tools on a manufacturer’s website as the typical internet browser! It’s easy to see why key shopping tools would have such a close tie-in with sales. They are the proverbial lower-funnel purchasing steps; if you’re looking for a quote or researching a nearby dealer, then you’re definitely serious about buying. But if you’re browsing the photo gallery of Porsche, Lamborghini or Ferrari there’s a good chance you’re doing just that: browsing. These key tools’ innate value comes from their ability to capture consumers’ attention by helping them find the right information at the right time, in the right place, and with a predictable result.

So what is the “right” information?

1. Request a Quote
2. Locate a Dealer
3. Build your Own Vehicle
4. Special Offers

The “right” place is one that’s easy to find, not one requires you to use search windows or other convoluted ways to help you find what should be readily available information, like how to locate a dealer. But what have OEMs done knowing that shopping tools have such a strong correlation with sales? Well, I have seen many revamp their website homepages to make the tools “front & center” for their visitors. Off the top of my head I know BMW, Toyota and Mercury have emphasized the shopping tools throughout their sites. And since they launched these new initiatives, Compete has seen traffic to the shopping tools increase for these three manufacturers.

The “right” time is all about not taking too much of it. Everyone has been in the situation while searching on a particular site when we simply can’t find the next-step function and become frustrated. Whether that is an “add to cart” button, a “next” link, or “purchase” function, when these are not easily detectable we become aggravated with the process, the site and the brand. So the “right” time really is a simple answer - when the consumer wants it - which in the case of a vehicle website is anytime a consumer lands on your site. The shopping tools need to be clearly visible on all pages so a consumer spends little time looking for them.

The “right” result may simply conclude with providing the consumer with useful information, but begins with tool choices and user experience that all play a key role in making the shopping process more meaningful. We know that OEMs are aware of this and are taking corrective action, but how much of an impact do the changes they make have? How do they stack up against the competition?

Well we all know the rise in gas prices is not new news. The price per barrel of crude oil is the leading story in virtually every daily publication. $120, $125, $130, $136 (a record) are all numbers we are unfortunately far too familiar with these days. With these prices translating to roughly $4/gallon at the pump not only are consumers taking a hit but so are the leading pickup truck manufacturers. The chart below shows that as gas prices continue to increase the demand for pickups continues to decline.

Moreover, the month of May brought an end to the F-Series’ reign as the US’s best-selling vehicle, one of the industry’s longest running records. For the first time since 1991 the F-Series was replaced by the Honda Civic in this category. It should be further noted that Civic was not alone. Also coming out on top of the F-Series were the Toyota Camry and Corolla as well as the Honda Accord. This has obviously sent Ford and others scrambling to develop new ideas of how to push the declining pickup market. Ford recently announced employee pricing for everyone on all F-Series trucks for the month of June. This is big news and a desperation attempt by the OEM to put more money on the hood in a declining market. They are obviously trying to sell more vehicles and traditionally this tactic has worked… more money on the hood translates into increased demand and increased sales… Traditionally!!!

With the truck market, however, we’re seeing the opposite. While OEMs are offering record incentives, the increasing gas prices have continued to have a negative impact on demand. While incentives for both Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado have had double-digit percentage increases, year-over-year demand has declined at a tremendous rate.

So what does this mean for the the future of the pickup market? I think it’s safe to assume that if gas prices continue to climb we will no doubt continue to see a decrease in pickup demand and, more than likely, drastic moves by the OEMs to rectify the problem. Already this week we have seen GM announce the possibility of a complete shutdown of the Hummer line. While this measure is highly unlikely for either the F-Series or the Silverado line, we can certainly expect to see record incentives being placed on all full-size pickups.

So is there any good news for these OEMs? Well apparently so. A recent article in Autoremarketing cited a study by Acxiom Corp. that found owners of the Detriot Big 3 (Ford, GM & Chrysler) light-duty trucks are far more loyal to their vehicles than owners of any import brand. Furthermore, these Big 3 pickup owners are more likely to have several pickups of the same brand and/or have another vehicle from their line in their driveway. So while they might be taking a big hit right now and offering incredible incentives, owner loyality will perhaps pull them through. Until then, employee pricing on a new F-Series has me wishing I waited until now to buy mine!!

Yesterday, a colleague of mine was searching keyword results on Compete.com and came across an interesting, albeit surprising finding. When searching for the keywords “pickup trucks” not one OEM appeared in the top 25 destination sites. That means that Ford, Chevy, GMC or any of the other more recent additions to this market, were not top destination sites for people searching for pickup trucks.

So what’s the deal? Based on the list it would appear that people are researching, and a lot. Among the top 25 destination sites were traditional 3rd party sites like KBB and Edmunds as well sites that offer reviews like consumersearch.com, rankingsandreviews.com and pickuptruck.com.

But are OEMs sitting back and waiting for the 3rd parties to drive people to their sites? Are they relying on their vehicles to drive traffic into the showroom and ignoring online efforts? Do they even know they aren’t making the top 25? They do now…

For all of the golf enthusiasts out there, particularly in New England, nothing gets the blood pumping like warmer temps, melting snow and green grass. Another “unofficial” season kick-off is upon us as well — The Masters – with first round coverage beginning April 10th. For me and my group of golfing buddies this tournament has always been a great motivator for getting over the winter doldrums.

Also, if you’re like me, you probably spend many weekend afternoons watching live coverage of the weekly PGA events. And as with any of these events you can’t help but be inundated with various television ads or company logos on the apparel, bags and golf balls of the players. Between the PGA tour and the players themselves the public is exposed to literally hundreds of companies throughout a television broadcast. This year The Masters Tournament will have its traditional sponsors — AT&T, IBM and ExxonMobil — but in an effort to expand globally Masters Chairman Billy Payne announced a new group of sponsors designed to help promote the tournament internationally. The top three are ESPN, which will provide live 1st and 2nd round television coverage for two days, as well as Rolex and Mercedes- Benz.

From the list of sponsors the one that struck me the most was Mercedes-Benz, since week after week, television viewers are flooded with Tiger Woods-backed Buick ads. While one might argue Buick is effectively reaching a large sub-segment (over 60) of the golfing world, one cannot deny the influx of a younger generation into the sport. Also, my visits to local golf courses and country clubs lately tell me that golfers are driving luxury brand vehicles rather than “Dad’s old Buick.” That’s not to say Buick is the only automotive sponsor of the PGA - for many years now Cadillac has been at the forefront of the sponsorship stage within the PGA. Through television ads and the sponsorship of one of golf’s favorite players, Fred Couples, Cadillac has carved out its niche in the PGA. But this makes sense to me because Cadillac not only fits within the older generation, but also recent marketing campaigns by Cadillac have focused more on the younger generation of car buyers.

However, if this really is the case, do Cadillac and recently announced sponsor Mercedes-Benz resonate better among golf enthusiasts or does golfing superstar Tiger Woods help Buick lead the pack among the golfing community? In fact, golf enthusiasts are 5 times more likely to visit a Buick website than the average online consumer and 2-3 times more likely to visit a Mercedes or Cadillac site respectively (data gathered using Behavior Match).

This is especially noticeable as we get closer to golf’s largest event – The Master’s — where Buick shows a large spike. So it appears that Buick, while maybe not the brand that fits the stereotypical view of a golfer, has the golfing recipe for success; host two of your own PGA tournaments (The Buick Invitational and the Buick Open) and have the world’s most recognizable sports figure back your brand.

While looking at Boston.com the other day it was impossible not to notice the main headlines — gold has reached record highs, the dollar continues to fall against foreign currencies, the market is down big-time and of course, gas prices continue to climb to record levels with some analyst speculating $4/gallon by this summer. Every day we read different articles about how to save at the pump. From fuel saving due to what some call “hypermiling,” meaning to drive your vehicle in such a way to achieve as much as 100 miles/gallon or more, to becoming more thrifty at the supermarket in order to retain more money for the growing gas prices, one can’t help but be affected.

This got me thinking… With all the focus on fuel savings and more and more car companies launching hybrid models, the top tier luxury/supercar brands must be taking a bath. Well in fact, the opposite is true. Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce have not only shown significant increases in online activity but also achieved record sales last year. Bentley sales were just over 10 thousand units, up 7% year-over-year. Lamborghini was up 15% year-over-year with slightly more than 2,400 units sold. And Rolls-Royce showed the most improvement year-over-year, up 25% with 1,010 units sold.

Apparently the demand for these vehicles is only increasing. In the U.S., Lamborghini’s largest market, they have more than doubled their number of dealerships in less than two years from 14 to 30. At the same time Rolls-Royce and Bentley continue to break into new markets with great success. 2007 marked Bentley’s first year in the Korean market selling 100 cars.

So while most of us are worried about the possibility of a recession or even depression and constantly complaining while experiencing the much overused phrase “Pain at the Pump,” there is obviously a select group willing to shell out large sums of money for one of these high end, gas guzzling automobiles. With sales at record highs and website traffic increasing dramatically monthly and annually it’s nice to see at least some of us get to drive a supercar!