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1. The Impact of Blogs on the
Automotive Shopping Process
Gene Cameron
Vice President, Marketing/Media Solutions
Chance Parker
Vice President, Web Intelligence
February 12, 2009
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

2. 1. The increasing AND changing role of the
internet among automotive shoppers.
Gene Cameron
2. It looks like a blog, it sounds like a blog,
and it says it’s a blog…is it a blog?
-Chevy Volt Case Study-
Chance Parker
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
2 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

3. The winds of change are blowing
• Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger told
analysts Tuesday that some of the entertainment empire's
businesses, like its broadcast television network, are
feeling "signs of secular change as competition for
people's time is increasing and the abundance of choice is
allowing consumers to be more selective."
 WSJ, 2/10/09
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
3 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

4. The New Vehicle Buyer has made the
Internet their primary shopping medium
Automotive Internet Usage Trends Used – Vs.
New – Vehicle Buyers 10-Year Trend
Used New
80% 75%
70%
67% 67%
64% 64%
60% 60% 61%
59% 62%
60%
54% 54% 53%
47% 47%
43%
40%
40%
34%
26%
20%
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Based to new and used-vehicle buyers
Source: J.D. Power and Associates 1999-2008 New/Used Vehicle Studies
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
4 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

5. Why this matters to the Auto Industry
• For the industry to recover, qualified prospects must be
brought back to purchase
• Changing media habits of these prospects make it
increasingly difficult or expensive for auto marketers to
reach them
• A new technology is needed to understand how prospects
are using the Internet
• With the new technology, we can identify the importance
of different web sites, and, in particular, blogs
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
5 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

6. New Research from J.D. Power and Compete offers a
clearer view of online activity of buyers and prospects
Compete Panel Power Information Network
2 Million Households Dealers with 25% of Sales
Third party
Surname &
Address
Internet Match Vehicle
Activity Purchase
Information
July, 2008 data today Matched New Vehicle
Database: Prospects
January 2009 data March 3 ~ 203,000
Monthly thereafter New Vehicle
Buyers
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
6 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

7. New Vehicle prospects are on blogs, less than portals,
but in the range of other major sites
1500
1400
upromise.com
1300
1200
1100 nutrisystem.com
1000 servicemagic.com
dubinterviewer.com
900
Index
800 columbiahouse.com
iwon.com
700 everydayhealth.com
shermanstravel.com
600
eprize.net coupons.com
500
money.aol.com
400
classmates.com
300
msnbc.msn.com blogger.com
200 amazon.com
ebay.com www.google.com yahoo.com
100 msn.com
blogspot.com MySpace google.com
0
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85%
Craig’sList
Reach
Source: 2008 OMB - July
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
7 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

8. There is a big gap between personal blogs and
professional blogs, and the OEM blogs are not
apparent
600
550 crave.cnet.com
500
450
luxist.com
400 tmz.com
sixapart.com
350
Index
gadling.com
300 vox.com
250 blogger.com
huffingtonpost.com
200
blogspot.com
150 typepad.com
wordpress.com
100
50
0
0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15% 18% 21% 24% 27% 30% 33% 36%
Reach
Source: 2008 OMB - July
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
8 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

9. Visiting blogs varies by vehicle segment, Mid-Size prospects
blog the most, except Sporty the least, and only TMZ registers
blogspot.com blogger.com wordpress.com typepad.com tripod.com associatedcontent.com tmz.com
Compact Basic 37% 38% 17% 13% 5% 6% 12%
Compact Conventional 28% 29% 15% 7% 6% 4% 7%
Compact CUV 29% 29% 12% 7% 5% 3% 9%
Compact Premium Conv. 22% 22% 4% 8% 9% 3% 8%
Compact Sporty 32% 32% 9% 8%
Compact Utility 35% 33% 14% 7% 10% 9% 11%
Midsize Conventional 26% 26% 11% 5% 5% 4% 9%
Midsize CUV 32% 31% 11% 5% 2% 5%
Midsize Pickup 37% 40% 18% 8% 4% 7%
Midsize Premium Conv. 38% 41% 13% 8%
Midsize Premium CUV 35% 41% 10% 11% 4% 10% 4%
Midsize Sporty 9% 19% 5% 9% 9%
Midsize Utility 37% 35% 11% 4% 12% 2% 10%
Midsize Van 36% 36% 9% 7% 8% 6% 9%
Large Conventional 17% 23% 4% 4% 4% 13% 11%
Large Pickup 30% 32% 11% 8% 5% 3% 6%
Large Utility 29% 30% 31% 12% 5%
Source: 2008 OMB - July
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
9 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

10. With all that visitation, the main activity is
lurking
Blog Activity of New Vehicle Buyers
Commented on someone
elses blog or contributed to 12.80%
an online forum
Posted comment on blog,
past month
11.05%
Published a blog(s) 4.36%
0.00% 2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 14.00%
Source: 2008 OMS - Winter
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
10 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

11. The time spent varies widely by specific blog
Market traffic minutes
site (weighted) per user
deadspin.com 1,814 82
corner.nationalreview.com 1,338 71
myfamily.com 3,007 54
perezhilton.com 15,443 36
network54.com 1,670 36
dlisted.com 3,249 33
blogthings.com 3,775 32
xanga.com 10,398 30
townhall.com 1,685 27
bloglines.com 2,894 26
Source: 2008 OMB - July
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
11 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

12. Summary Observations
• The Internet is the primary tool for auto shopping
• New Vehicle Prospects are visiting blogs significantly less
than portals, but the aggregation of personal blogs
reaches about 35%, about the same level as leading
social sites and other media brands
• Professional blogs reach less than the aggregated
personals, but some have higher composition of New
Vehicle Prospects
• Prospects for different vehicle segments visit blogs
differently
• High proportion are lurking, not interacting
• Engagement with specific blogs varies widely
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
12 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

13. Implications
• Auto marketers must find a way to participate in the
blogosphere – their prospects are hanging out there
• The old advertising model of pushing out dominating
messages will not work in this space
• The new approach must be listen, engage, attract
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
13 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

14. Some thoughts about the future of blogs for
automotive marketers
• Look for a blurring of the demarcation between blogs and
social sites
• Twitter may become the way to provide deeper
information for “followers” - but it is only visited by 1% of
New Vehicle Prospects
• Twitter offers a palliative for our ADD culture
– Check out what GM and Toyota are doing on Twitter
– How did GM do on Twitter for the Volt last night?
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
14 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

15. 1. The increasing AND changing role of the
internet among automotive shoppers.
Gene Cameron
2. It looks like a blog, it sounds like a blog,
and it says it’s a blog…is it a blog?
-Chevy Volt Case Study-
Chance Parker
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
15 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

16. There are blogs and then there are blogs…
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
16 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

17. In fact, the vast majority of all blogs are personal blogs,
not professional blogs
Composition of the Blogosphere
100%
90%
79%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
21%
20%
10%
0%
Personal Professional
Source: Technorati “State of the Blogosphere”, Dec 2008
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
17 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

18. In addition to blogs, message boards also represent
another huge source of conversations
Composition of the Blogosphere
100%
90%
79%
80%
70%
60%
Probably
50%
larger than
all blogs put
40%
together
30%
21%
20%
10%
0%
Personal Professional Message Boards
Source: Technorati “State of the Blogosphere”, Dec 2008
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
18 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

19. Consumers trust each other more than they trust professionals
Consumer Generated Media Links to Behavior
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
19 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

20. There is a lot of buzz about the Volt on both blogs and boards
Online Chevy Volt Discussions
 A resource for
Blogs information in general
34%  Highly influenced by
professional authors
 More discussion  No Volt owners (yet)
& opinion sharing Boards
 Consumer-driven 66%
Over 17,000 Online Discussions
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
20 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

21. Pros vs. Joes: Important differences in perception
Professional Blogs:
Professional Blogs
• Very focused on the design of the new Volt
• Very positive about the Volt concept car
• Pretty negative about the production photos
Personal Blogs and Boards
Personal Blogs
• Much more focused on price and day-to-day functionality
• Concerned about the price and the pay-off
– “The Volt's pricing hasn't been announced, but it won't be cheap - probably $35-40k. And the car only
seats 4…so it’s not ideal for young families like mine.”
– “I applaud GM for making the Volt, but like the Prius, I would expect the payoff to be long term.”
• Much more positive about the production photos
– “From what I've seen, the design on the Chevy Volt is being raped by critics. Heck, there was a
headline on yahoo about how much people hate the design. Well, I for one love the design of the Volt.”
– “Personally I love the new design... much better than the concept IMO. If I were to buy a Volt I wouldn't
want some wacky design that shouts GREEN! I want a normal car that has good looks, which is
exactly what they have delivered.”
– Yes, the production Volt looks more pedestrian but I have to say I don't agree an ounce with the writer.
It's not ugly by any stretch. It's blends well with the family of Chevy vehicles, IMO. Hopefully, since it's
not like the Prius it won't be associated as much with the douchenozzlery that surrounds the Prius.”
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
21 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

22. Summary Observations
• Not all blogs are created equal
• Engaging on or with professional blogs is only part of
the challenge
• Personal blogs (and boards) also wield a lot of
influence
• The buzz from the “Pros” doesn’t always equal the
buzz from the “Joes”
• Don’t make the mistake of listening to only the “Pros”
• Don’t try to control the “Joes”
© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
22 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

23. Thank You!
News and Updates:
www.onlineautomotivereview.com
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© 2008 J.D. Power and Associates,
23 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.