Ottawa and Toronto area dealers attend TADA’s fourth installment of this informative full-day conference.

The Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) recently hosted the latest edition of their Auto Dealers Innovation Series, welcoming dealers and industry professionals from Ottawa, Toronto, and surrounding areas.

In Toronto, the day kicked off with an energetic and entertaining presentation by Dennis Moseley-Williams, founder of Dennis Moseley-Williams Strategic Consulting. The topic of his presentation: The Experience Economy.

Moseley-Williams explained that product and service are no longer enough to compete today. Instead, dealers need to go a step beyond service and offer an experience.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, American Girl and Bass Pro Shops have figured out how to make the buying process into an experience that elevates them to the top of their individual industries. Moseley-Williams argues that dealers need to do the same.

Next, Kevin O’Rourke, Head of Automotive at Bell Media and Dan Iwasa-Madge, Co-founder & Head of Product and Analysis at Brainsights tackled the weighty subject of data collection and analysis.

Iwasa-Madge explained how “neuromarketing” can harness the power of data in order to figure out which ads actually stimulate viewers and keep their attention, and which ones fizzle out.

He also explained that not all ads work on all screens. TV ads, for example, lose their impact when viewed on smaller screens (tablets and smartphones).

Brent Wees, Director of First Impressions at NextUp ended up pinch-hitting for the scheduled speaker, Kate Frost, founder of Date Frost. She could not make it due to unplanned scheduling problems, courtesy of Hurricane Irma.

Wees used Frost’s slides and information to explain the phenomenon of “Insta-Success,” or success on Instagram. He explained the dos and don’t of using Instagram, helping dealers understand what it takes to make an impact online using this visual platform.

The day ended with a presentation by Scott Meyer, Cofounder of digital marketing firm, 9Clouds. Meyer focused on Facebook, explains how dealers can best target customers on this social media platform while limiting their investment, and maximizing returns.

Look for a full report in an upcoming issue of AutoJournal.

[wds id=”574″]