Carmax Leave-Behind

We were lucky enough to have part of the Carmax ad team come to VCU and listen to our pitches. What follows is a portion of the materials we handed out to the Carmax team when we pitched our campaign. Hopefully, I will have some of the actual ads that my teammates created to post soon.

Carmax


The definition of value is relative worth, merit or importance. We are striving to create a community of Carmax customers. Each customer will value something different. The key word in the definition of value is relative. Initially starting this campaign, we went around and around trying to define exactly what value was. The theme that we kept circling around to is that value IS relative to each person. Value varies; one person might value his money whereas another might value his time. Carmax offers a variety of different types of value: time, money, quality cars, no hassle/haggling, service options and research. We want each person in our community to feel as if their value is personalized, rather than a one-size-fits-all view of value.

Our community of Carmax consumers need a leader. They need someone to follow, to envelop them into the community. We decided on Max. He is there to help, not sell you a car. He’s a community leader, not a car salesman. He is there to take questions and answer them and be a moderator on the Carmax discussion board. He is the new face of Carmax. In being a community leader, Max will show the more intangible aspects of value. He exudes a trusting nature, which is all part of the value you get when you shop at Carmax.

Max’s personality will draw consumers in to the community. He will make consumers and potential consumers want to interact with Carmax employees, therefore creating brand loyalty.

Max is integrated into every part of this campaign. He will be in every touchpoint with the consumer - on TV, in print and online. Max will also be welcomed into communities by having MySpace and Facebook pages.

In creating a Carmax community, we will be creating brand loyalty. People need to feel involved. They need to feel that their voices will be heard. They also need a link between the brand and themselves, and that’s Max. He is what brings the brand into consumer’s homes and neighborhoods. We’re looking to establish this community and brand loyalty so that consumers will recommend this brand to their family, friends and continue to buy cars there themselves.

Another part of being involved in a community is convenience. We have discovered that although some people find the convenience of being able to shop Carmax online, the dealerships are still far enough away from their homes that they might not want to drive there. We have created smaller Carmax shops where people can pick up or sell their car and have it repaired, instead of driving to the larger dealership. These Carmax shops will be available for use only to Carmax customers.



Creative Work for Campaign Community:

New Website --
The website was created to feature the new “Ask Max” section, and the discussion board.
We simplified the tabs in order to make sure that each group within the community can find exactly what it is that they value. We also wanted to put the focus on Max.
Part of the reasoning behind developing a new website is to draw people into a community of Carmax consumers. One of the ways we want to do this is to have a section where consumers can personalize an emblem that can translate into their online life, such as on MySpace or Facebook, or their everyday life in items such as stickers and keychains they could get from Carmax.

TV Spots --
Max will be featured here as well. He will be reading correspondence from current Carmax consumers, whether it’s an e-mail or a written letter or testimonial. We are using these spots to direct the consumers toward the website, in order to have their voices heard like others have.
Another series of TV spots will feature customers who are coming to talk to Max about what they need out of car shopping - whether it’s time, a competitive price or the security of the service plans. Max would explain the benefits of shopping at Carmax and encourage other customers to visit him on the website.

Print Ads --
There are two focuses for our print ads.
The first is to push people to the Ask Max section of the Carmax website. We want people to get familiar with Max, and this is one of the ways we were doing it.
The second set of ads is for the high-awareness target. These ads are designed, again, to get people comfortable with Max. They are also designed with the idea of putting the focus on different, relative, values. Each target will feel as if Carmax is talking solely to them, but in reality, they will be speaking to all people because everyone values something different. Each ad will highlight a different benefit of using Carmax, although time is a common theme.

As a fun side-note, we used a fellow student to model Max after and we used him in our pitch. He came in the presentation room to give a personified visual of how we envisioned our Community Leader. Jeff, our Max, was excited to be there, enthusiastic about Carmax and put our audience at ease by making them laugh. Thanks again, Jeff, you really helped make our pitch.