Thought Leadership Summits - Automotive Social Media Summit 2010

June 9, 2010

The Ritz-Carlton,

Marina del Rey, CA

For more information
please contact us at
(415) 553-4142 or

Sponsored By:

ibm

ibm

SMT

Agenda

June 9, 2010

Noon – 1:00 PM
Registration & Lunch

1:00 PM
Welcome
Jon Munzel
Founder
Thought Leadership Summits

1:05 PM
Remarks from the Chair

Adam Boalt
President & Founder

GOSO

Biography

1:15 PM
Keynote Presentation

Gary Marcotte

Senior Vice President - Marketing
AutoNation

Customer Engagement – The Gateway to Real Loyalty

Today’s automotive customer is the ultimate free agent. There have never been more options, more choices, more vehicles, more ways to shop, and more information available upon which to base critical decisions. Earning the true loyalty of today and tomorrow’s sales and service customer depends on our ability to engage with our shoppers and owners and provide them with valuable information that makes their life better, and their choices easier and more rewarding. A wide variety of technologies - Social Media, eMail, Owner’s Portals, Web Sites - now make it possible for us to create 1 to 1, customized engagement on the customer’s terms, enabling the creation of real connections, real insights and for the first time, real trust with our customers. Gary’s presentation will show how AutoNation is leveraging Social Media and integrating it with existing technologies to improve customer engagement and increase the loyalty of its 6 million plus active customer base.

Biography

2:00 PM
Mark Kleis
News Editor

LeftLaneNews.com

Ford Fiesta Agent

Taking Your Hands Off the Wheel – Consumer Trust and Social Media

The art of advertising is rapidly evolving - developing and changing into a more intelligent conversation. In years past companies spent millions upon millions of dollars creating mass media campaigns that tried to convince consumers to first trust the purveyor of the message, and then to trust the message itself.

Now, companies like Ford are pioneering the development of nimble, cost effective, and cutting edge Social Media campaigns. This new style of communication is not meant to replace traditional advertising, but instead to augment it in new and creative ways. Social Media allows companies like Ford to actually converse with consumers about their products – and in many cases allow their customers to do the talking for them. That’s the goal of Ford’s Social Media strategy: creating avenues for its customers – whom Ford is willing to trust – to tell their story for them. In an age when consumers’ trust of corporations is lower than ever, the timing couldn’t be better.

As an actual Ford customer, Mark’s presentation will provide the consumer’s point of view. Mark will start by explaining how he was identified and recruited into the Ford Fiesta Movement. He’ll then describe the experience and the impact he had through both his direct and social networks. The discussion will end with a review of the results Ford is achieving in reduced cost, improved response time, broader reach, increased impressions, and of course the ultimate measure of success - sales.

Biography

2:45 PM
Eric Miltsch

Internet Director
Auction Direct USA

How Social Media Will Improve Dealership Performance and the Consumer Experience

Social Media is positioned to continue to increase the speed of historic change that technology has caused within the automotive retail industry over the past 10 years. Automotive consumers have been demanding change for a long time - change that improves how they shop, how they buy and, most importantly, their overall experience and satisfaction. Instead of selling through their customer base year after year, smart dealerships have been listening to their guests. In doing so, these innovative dealers have gained an understanding of the changes in their customers’ behavior and truly recognize the significant opportunities Social Media is creating. Eric’s presentation will review how Social Media’s impact is different in the pre-owned retail market and how Auction Direct USA has leveraged that knowledge in the development of their Social Media strategy. Eric will then explain how Auction Direct USA has integrated Social Media with their showroom shopping experience, online browsing, and customer relationship management capabilities, and the benefits they are seeing in customer satisfaction, sales, and cost reduction.

Biography

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Networking Break

4:00 PM

Scott DeYager
Social Media Manager
Toyota

Leveraging Social Media in a Crisis - Toyota's Approach to Navigating Recalls

Social Media offers a an unparalleled opportunity for brands to engage their customers, but also presents significant challenges related to the lack of control over the content being created and shared. Users are free to share positive or negative experiences, and companies have to learn how to participate in their conversations. Doug’s presentation will describe how Toyota used Social Media to help manage recall information - educating its customers, listening to their concerns, and maintaining their trust and brand loyalty. Doug will detail how Toyota used a variety of platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Digg, and Tweetmeme to guide Toyota through an unprecedented series of events that required the communication of complex product and safety information.

Biography

4:45 PM - 5:45 PM

Closing Panel Discussion:

Moderator:

Mike Cooperman
Senior Director - Marketing
JD Power Web Intelligence