Kelley Blue Book Co. wants to be the brand for all seasons.
The Irvine-based auto information provider plans to spend 20% more on advertising this year—a campaign that’s expected to cost at least $24 million and put its name in front of the consumers “every single day.”
“We will go from 42 weeks last year to 52 weeks this year,” said Dan Cullen, the company’s senior director of marketing, referring to its current schedule of TV, radio and digital ads.
The latest marketing push follows the company’s first national TV advertising campaign that ran through 2013. Company executives credited the nearly $20 million campaign with increasing traffic to the KBB website by 16% last year to an average of more than 16 million unique monthly visitors.
TV will take a bigger chunk of spending this year, topping $10 million compared with $6.9 million a year earlier.
Digital spending is expected to increase beyond the $12.9 million KBB spent on the prior campaign, Cullen said.
The marketing push has officially started—its 30-second “Price Advisor” and 15-second “Shine a Light” TV spots have had more than 770 national airings since their release in November, according to iSpot.tv.
They were produced by KBB’s Detroit-based agency of record Doner and have a similar feel to the company’s first one-minute TV commercial, “Projection,” released in June 2012.
Two more ads are in the works, with a focus on kbb.com’s features, such as “Ratings and Reviews” and “5-Year Cost to Own.”
The TV ads will air on sports-oriented programing such as the NCAA’s upcoming annual tournament—informally known as March Madness—as well as “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
Kelley Blue Book also is working on a project basis with Rockfish, an Atlanta-based digital advertising agency. Rockfish is putting together a social media campaign that’s scheduled to launch next month and will promote the brand on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.
“Our primary objective is driving traffic to the website,” Cullen said. “We want (to) have 10% more visitors in 2014.”
The company’s media budget, also handled by Donner, will include traditional radio spots as well as placements on digital radio channels such as Pandora, Spotify and satellite radio.
This year’s campaign includes a new, high-speed twist: KBB announced last week that it will wrap its brand insignia around Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s vehicle during the June 22 Toyota/Save Mart 350 race at Sonoma Raceway. The sponsorship will continue throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Earnhardt’s vehicle displaying the KBB.com logo.
Privately held AutoTrader.com acquired 88-year-old KBB from its founders in 2010 for an undisclosed amount—a deal the Wall Street Journal pegged at “$500 million-plus.”
KBB’s revenue is not disclosed. AutoTrader.com reported $1.2 billion in revenue in 2012, with more than 3,000 employees and attracting 29 million unique visitors each month. The company is owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises Inc.
