As a dealership, it is in your best interest to select an agency who will ensure your dealership advertising is both FTC compliant and manufacturer compliant. That means disclaimers are appropriate, and creative is executed with the appropriate design specs, fonts and images, and is submitted for pre-approval to your manufacturer’s ad compliance website.
In addition to the pre-approval process, getting any and all possible co-op reimbursement at the end of the month is also critical. That means not only having a prior approval on your web, broadcast and print materials, but also acquiring and matching the appropriate invoices from vendors and stations, making sure dates are correct, ISCI codes are correct, and that scripts and invoices have proper notarization. It also means making sure your materials are submitted in time to meet the co-op submission deadlines enforced by your manufacturer.
JVS Marketing knows the importance of all these measures and will always do our best to ensure your ads are legal and that you won’t leave co-op dollars on the table.
Do you want to get all the advertising you can- and get back what you paid for it?
Of course you do.
But unless you have a dedicated support team skilled in compliance codes and co-op, you’re losing a lot of money, time and free advertising…not to mention the hair you’re pulling out trying to make sure it all meets the stringent criteria required.
Too often, dealerships and the Major Automobile Industry Brands (Ford, General Motors, etc…also known as OEM’s) go head to head over issues that could easily be circumvented from the get-go. (The key is gaining pre-approval, even if it’s not required.)
At JVS Marketing, we understand why dealerships don’t often take full advantage of co-op money. The dealerships may believe it still works like the past when only traditional advertising co-op was approved leaving digital advertising claims to be rejected.
But finally, a truce has been reached and now digital advertising expenses have become “cool again” and as a result, millions of previously unspent co-op dollars can now be spent to reach consumers online.
This is beneficial to Dealers and the Manufacturer.
Because the 2014 Automotive Buyer Influence study revealed that 4 out of 5 consumers use the internet during their car-shopping process and spend over 75% of their time shopping online for their next vehicle. So in essence the manufacturers are now recognizing why digital co-op is important and should be funded.
Of course, the same compliance codes must be adhered to, but if you have an agency who knows and understands co-op advertising is a three-prong marketing strategy, the dealership will come out on top.
Here’s how it works:
For every vehicle a dealer invoices, money is set aside by the Manufacturer for marketing and advertising. That money is divided up into three tiers
The first is National advertising and it is how the OEM creates broad awareness and brand image. This creates familiarity wherever that brand is sold- no matter how small the geographic area.
The next level is Regional advertising which reinforces the brand’s image, but also delivers key features and strengths along with a call to action- Buy now!
And finally- the third Tier is Local advertising, which is where the dealerships get to have their name involved. This is targeted to the shoppers in their market using price points, incentives, rebates and reasons to buy now included in the message.
Before, dealerships didn’t see the value in national or regional advertising because it didn’t directly identify their dealership. But this is no longer true. Studies now show a cohesive message across the board, (nationally, regionally and locally) generate 82% of consumers responding more positively to a unified message versus the opposite.
So dealers can really benefit from this Three-Tier Marketing approach if they utilize their resources.
Dealers accrue funds based on things like Percentage of MSRP & invoices of new vehicles purchased from OEM. It’s also based on the dealership’s percentage of sales of new and/or CPO vehicles. KPI evaluations and dealer sales performance warranties also come into play.
And there you have the reason why so many dealerships don’t get their reimbursements. OEM’s have a reputation among dealers for being too “challenging” to work with when trying to get reimbursed for their co-op dollars. But since the OEM’s now realize how much brand experience is important across every touch point (especially digital), they are loosening up a bit.
Of course they still have strict standards and justify it by saying they have spent millions building their brands and want to have consistent messages across the board.
So the best way to do that is to make sure each dealership is compliant.
There are specific rules that include corporate logos, approved typefaces and visual treatments, (graphics) that have to followed.
The easiest way to get your money is to let JVS Marketing handle all those rules for you.
JVS is well versed on the “pre-approval process…everything goes through the manufacturer’s compliance department for preapproval before it is ever placed in an ad. They know how to submit for co-op reimbursement and follow all criteria, including time, because if it’s not submitted on a timely basis, the old saying goes- “you use it, you lose it.” Dealerships could lose their entire funds for that month if it’s not handled correctly.
Another thing many dealerships may not realize is very important- You still have to be compliant with your OEM’s brand standards even if you don’t submit an ad for reimbursement.
As a dealership, it is in your best interest to build cohesive messages and save money on creative expenses. This can be accomplished by choosing a compliance agency who will make recommendations for corrections and approve graphics before the ad(s) run.
In addition to the pre-approval process, getting your money at the end of the month is critical! That means acquiring every invoice from radio and television stations, making sure dates are correct, that every script has the proper station stamp, that your video pdfs are sent to corporate and any follow-up phone calls or emails are handled without delay.
That’s what JVS Marketing does for its dealerships. It’s only one of the reasons JVS Marketing is worth the investment. Their billing specialists handle every detail with accuracy, skill and persistence- so you don’t have to.
JVS Marketing knows it’s your money and doesn’t want you leaving co-op dollars on the table. You earned it every time you sold a car. Now let us help you get it.
