The auto group owned and managed 9 dealerships, and they all needed to advertise different promotions on new models or special discounts every month. This was a fast and customized job. Each dealer had a manager who had a specific idea for the kind of manufacturers’ brands they had to represent and sell. A good understanding of the design brief (i.e. “make this and that”) and capturing the characteristics of the manufacturer’s branding aesthetics were required each month.
Not only the constant key communication was put in priority with the dealership’s manager for getting an approval for the design, I also started a process of building brand guidelines for each dealership based on the demographics each dealership was servicing, plus the unique character of the vehicle manufacturer (think Ford vs. Ram vs. Volkswagen). With this system established, I was able to produce creative ads on a tight deadline each month for multiple dealerships to support the sales they needed.
Volkswagen, Ram, Jeep & Chrysler, Hyundai, Ford, and Fiat were the major manufacturers that were represented by the auto group. Each dealership’s main vehicle brands had to be differentiated to speak to the emotions of the customers who by nature want different things. For example for the township of Langley whose dealership prized on looking rough and tough (think cowboys and country music) a very masculine, charismatic, all-powerful graphics to deliver the message of promotions on Ram pickup trucks were curated. Volkswagen, on the other hand, was located in South Surrey-Whiterock city area where a lot of well-to-do residents were interested in import German cars. They associated themselves more in sophisticated and modern designs than the strong and stout aesthetics of countryside. For advertising a VW vehicle, more urban and sophisticated graphics and directions were always used which speaks more to people who wish to purchase a VW.
The graphics shown above showcase a few examples of designs for internal communication that were also created with the company’s own brand in mind. As the sizeable auto group hosted a family-fun event, the design objective was to showcase how family-friendly the company is and how big the capacity of the organization is to host an event like that. Therefore, the graphic was made to look like a ticket to a big, fun carnival.
Also for a customized promotional materials, the design was produced with the dealership in mind– how they come across to the customers. In the custom coffee card design for the general Tim Hortons Coffee, a modern, tach-savvy look of the Hyundai vehicles was borrowed to create the cover graphics of the gift card.
Each graphic received a branding experience to represent certain types of vehicle manufacturers & the dealership that carried the models. The managers of the dealerships were happy and satisfied because it was teamwork to create an exact and effective message to help sales!
• When the workload is big and the turnaround time is tight, make a system to run the design process.
• Everyone has a different opinion of what is right.
• Constant communication is a key to teamwork.
