Trends + Trendsetters The Best
in Automotive Content Marketing

NewsCred Trends + Trendsetters NewsCred’s
Strategy Team helps brands build and hone their content strategies, taking into consideration marketing goals, brand positioning and the competitive landscape. Our Trends + Trendsetters guides aim to educate marketers on trends, opportunities and content strategies that best-in-class brands are utilizing to engage their audiences. In this guide, we’ll take a look at content marketing in the automotive industry. Interested in learning more? We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out at strategy@newscred.com - Liz Bedor, Associate Brand Strategist, NewsCred

In a recent study by
J.D. Power and Associates, new-vehicle owners were asked to cite the reasons they chose a particular make and model of a vehicle they purchased.

Of the 10 reasons most
frequently cited?

“Like the image the vehicle
portrays”

So what if your automotive
brand doesn’t portray the image you want?

Content marketing can help.

In this guide, we’ll take
a look at three automotive brands leveraging content marketing to transform their brand perception and engage their desired audiences.

Lincoln Now The Lincoln Motor
Company

According to research by Polk,
an automotive market research firm, the average Lincoln buyer is older than the buyers of any other luxury car brand.

Wanting to introduce itself to
sophisticated, younger drivers, Lincoln decided to reimagine tradition through content that is interesting enough to grab attention on its own merit. Source: Adage, ‘Content Marketing: It’s Not About Shock, but Good Storytelling’

“We know it’s important to
authentically engage customers according to their lifestyle. - ANDREW FRICK - Group Marketing Manager Lincoln ”

Introducing: Lincoln Now Site lives
at www.now.lincoln.com A comprehensive storytelling platform designed to celebrate individuality. Features intriguing artisans, makers and craftspeople in the fields of art, design, fashion cuisine, engineering and more.

Content topics are a balance
between luxury and culture and Lincoln automobiles and brand history. Auto Shows Future Vehicles Heritage Lincoln Artisans Lincoln Automobiles Film Ideas Music Architecture Detroit Stories Everyday Icons Hello Again Inspiration The Reimagine Project

Luxury Uncovered Content • All
things luxurious, including film, ideas and music. • Features artists, musicians, directors, filmmakers, actors and entrepreneurs. • Tells stories of interesting people who embody Lincoln values.

“Rhythm is a Danger”interviews Damien
Chazelle, screenwriter of the Academy Award Nominated film, Whiplash. Violinists get back problems and singers get nodes – it’s something I hadn’t seen before in a music movie. You see it sports movies all the time. We don’t really think of music as physical, but it is. “ “

Lincoln Automobiles Content • Lincoln
history, iconic models, new models, behind the scenes and inspiration. • Celebrates Lincoln heritage and historical company moments. • Spotlights interesting venues, events and announcements.

“Artisans of Lincoln: Inspirations of
the MKC”interviews Lincoln’s color and material designers, Janet Seymour and Jenny Kubinec. We pulled off the end of an orange, where the flower end is, and we were looking at the shape inside the orange just by chance. We ended up doing a wheel based on that. It turned out pretty cool. Everything inspires us. “ “

Lincoln Culture Content • Features
everyday icons, speaking to their passions and motivations. • Detroit stories spotlight inspirational people who have contributed to bringing culture into the city. • Shares small businesses and initiatives that are working to enrich the Detroit communities.

Interview with Naomi Long Madgett,
City of Detroit’s Poet Laureate. I got engaged by mail because my first husband was still in the army. “ “ My first poem was published by a daily newspaper in Virginia when I was 13. “ “

Imagery is high-quality, powerful, emotional
and people-focused.

Content is a mixture of
video, articles, photos and interviews.

Lincoln’s social media consistently incorporated
throughout. Instagram and Twitter account feeds are displayed at bottom of every page.

Every photo, video and highlighted
quotes are easy to share with pre-populated text. Hashtags are incorporated throughout posts to categorize campaigns, such as #FilmUncovered.

Social accounts have consistent look
and feel as Lincoln Now hub.

Social accounts link back to
Lincoln Now sites, rather than main Lincoln website. now.lincoln.com/YouTube www.now.lincoln.com

YouTube channel hosts all Lincoln
Now video content and also various commercials and video campaigns. Again, consistent look and feel as Lincoln Now and other social channels.

The Vanishing Game
Land Rover

In 2014, Land Rover embarked
on a unique branded content project–an interactive digital book, The Vanishing Game, written by British author, William Boyd.

The project aimed to build
the brand’s reputation as a vehicle for adventure, discovery and exploration.

The adventure thriller, which can
be found at www.thevanishinggame.wellstoried.com, follows protagonist Alex Dunbar on a mysterious driving adventure across the UK.

“What I tried to achieve
was to make the Land Rover an inherent presence in the story, something always there–implicit, strong, solid, reliable, ready to function–very like the part it plays in my memory. - WILLIAM BOYD - Author The Vanishing Game ”

The story is brought to
life online through a multi-sensory experience, comprised of video, photography, animation, sound, music and narration.

Land Rover also promoted The
Vanishing Game through an intricate multi-media marketing campaign to further enhance reader engagement and activity.

Custom content by NewsCred was
shared on media outlets, including Vox Media, Quartz, NYTimes.com and Travel + Leisure.

Readers and actual Land Rover
owners were encouraged to share personal driving adventures with #WellStoried.

The images were collected and
showcased on a dedicated Tumblr site, www.wellstoried.com, searchable by keywords or location.

Dare Greatly
Cadillac

Despite a strong year for
the luxury automobile market, Cadillac sales dipped 6% in 2014. Source: Forbes, “Cadillac Risks Break From Detroit with New ‘Dare Greatly’ Campaign”

Realizing the brand needed to
redefine itself, Cadillac launched“Dare Greatly.”

“The Cadillac brand needed to
change. We needed to have a new point of view to show why we’re relevant. - UWE ELLINGHAUS - CMO Cadillac ”

The effort seeks to differentiate
the brand through what Cadillac stands for, rather than one-upsmanship such as‘more horsepower,’ or‘more torque’. Source: Forbes, “Cadillac Risks Break From Detroit with New ‘Dare Greatly’ Campaign”

“Cadillac wants to create interplay
among the brand values of boldness, sophistication and optimism, and yet be inviting and approachable. We want to inspire. We want people to dream Cadillac again. - UWE ELLINGHAUS - CMO Cadillac ”

Introducing: Dare Greatly Site lives
at www.dare-greatly.com The hub celebrates the daring, whose passion and vision have reshaped their industries, our lives and our future. Content includes video interviews with accomplished risk-takers on the dares they’ve taken and unique perspectives in life.

Jason Wu, Iconic Designer Jason
Wu came to the US as a boy of 9 with a love for dressing dolls. He dared to follow his passion and went from fashion intern to an arbiter of style tasked with revolutionizing one of the world’s most iconic fashion brands.

Jason Wu on how his
mother’s daring inspired him. I really admire my mother for daring, despite what people said, she bought me a sewing machine and she let me play with dolls. That was something that growing up, culturally was quite unacceptable. She dared to let me be different, and in fact, embraced what I wanted to do. I definitely wouldn’t be here without her. “ “

Anne Wojcicki, Health Care Advocate
Anne Wojcicki was a successful stock analyst on Wall Street. She dared to risk it all and devote herself to DNA research in hopes it could unlock the secrets to curing the world’s diseases.

Anne Wojcicki on why she
took such a risk, leaving Wall Street and starting her genomics company 23andMe. When I was working on Wall Street, I felt slightly trapped in that I was investing in a healthcare industry I didn’t really believe in. For years I really struggled with this idea that people were making money off my illness and I wanted to do something different. “ “

Steve Wozniak, Visionary Inventor Steve
Wozniak was a college dropout with a talent for computer circuitry. He dared to quit the only job he’d ever known and market his invention, the personal computer, and founding what has become one of the world’s most valued companies.

Steve Wozniak on how he
feels about today’s technology. Technology these days intimidates me all the time, but it also makes me feel like, ‘Gosh there are a lot of people that are going to fast having more fun than I am with the technology!’ Technology is the fun of today. “ “

Videos are of high-production value
and show the interviewees in casual, authentic environments.

Content is easy to share
on viewers’ social channels.

“This is a reinvention, not
just a repositioning. This is not a campaign. We want people to say,‘Look how much Cadillac has changed.’ - UWE ELLINGHAUS - CMO Cadillac ”

Cadillac social accounts have consistent
look and feel.

Much of social content is
inspired by and tagged #DAREGREATLY.

“Luxury brands don’t sell products,
they sell dreams. People need to find Cadillac inspiring and having a spirit and attitude, a clear point of view. - UWE ELLINGHAUS - CMO Cadillac ”

Want to learn more? Our
team of strategists can help your brand build a marketing growth engine. From ongoing support and program management, to customized strategy sessions and workshops, we’ll set your brand up for success.

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