Home > News > featured news > FordDirect and Waymark collaborated to Offer Free Personalized Video Ads to Auto Dealerships Affected By COVID-19

FordDirect and Waymark collaborated to Offer Free Personalized Video Ads to Auto Dealerships Affected By COVID-19

Waymark | May 08, 2020

Free, custom videos available to dealers for online and TV advertising
Special video templates for dealerships, COVID-19 response messaging
Videos are created in minutes without traditional video production resources

FordDirect and Waymark announced a partnership that will provide Ford and Lincoln dealerships with free, custom commercials that allow them to quickly reach their audiences with updates on how they are adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Waymark has designed a series of free COVID-19 response templates for businesses of all sizes in a variety of industries.

Read more: Marketers set to double down on digital advertising despite measurement issues

The two Metro Detroit-based companies joined forces earlier this year to create the FordDirect Video Marketplace, where Ford and Lincoln dealers nationwide have access to videos they can easily customize for use on social media, digital advertising, and TV. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Waymark and FordDirect are offering custom video templates for free so dealers can quickly inform audiences of new developments, initiatives, and updates.

Every auto dealer in America has a message they need to get out right now. Dealers recognize that video is the right medium to reach their customers, but might feel like creating high-quality video content is currently out of reach. We want dealers to know that it is easy for anyone to make engaging, custom videos without any kind of editing or production expertise. It is important to us to support the entrepreneurship and business community right now, which is why we are providing these resources free of charge.

- Nathan Labenz, founder and CEO of Waymark

Auto dealers are feeling the economic effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, as consumers stay inside and defer high-value purchases like new cars. Auto analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley has predicted sales could slip by 9% this year, and local dealers are already seeing a stark change, with new car sales down the first two weeks of April 55% according to J.D. Power.

The FordDirect Video Marketplace features original content from Ford's latest brand campaign, Built to Lend a Hand, that dealerships can leverage to reach their local markets with personalized copy, colors, logo, images, and more. In addition to helping dealers communicate new efforts and programming in response to the pandemic, including "test drive from home" promotions and online retailing, Ford is also covering the costs of these new adaptive services for many dealerships.

Having tools that allow us to pivot quickly in times of crisis is absolutely critical," said Trisha Habucke. Dealers have had to rapidly change their business with new initiatives to support customers during this crisis, and we're committed to helping them adapt with resources like these videos so they can develop timely messaging.

- Digital Retail Director at Ford Motor Company

Waymark is also a member of the Facebook and Instagram marketing partner program and has been recognized in the platform's "Automotive Playbook for Dealers." The templates for auto dealers were created to adhere to Facebook's recommended strategies and are ideal for social media advertising on both mobile and desktop.

About Waymark

Waymark is an art and technology company that empowers anyone to make exceptional video ads in seconds. The company is working to bridge the gap between local advertisers and the future of video with their proprietary video technology, which makes high quality video at scale a real possibility for advertisers. With Waymark's premium video templates, advertisers are able to create agency-quality content quickly and affordably. The company's collection of templates are professionally produced, full commercials that anyone from a global brand to a small business can personalize in minutes. Waymark is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and is online at Waymark.com

About FordDirect

FordDirect is a partnership between Ford and Lincoln dealerships and Ford Motor Company. Our mission is to help the Dealers we serve succeed at retail. This unique partnership adds unmatched insights because Ford Motor Company provides us data, as well as direct streams of incentives and digital content. We are the data hub for Ford and Lincoln dealerships. This allows us to analyze consumer interactions and offer an enhanced suite of products that help Ford and Lincoln Dealers drive retail sales and brand loyalty unlike other solutions on the market. Learn more at forddirect.com

Spotlight

Ad Tech 101: How to increase your eCPM

From using ad mediation platforms to using different ad placements, here we provide 6 tips to get you started in increasing your eCPM.

More featured news

Spotlight

Ad Tech 101: How to increase your eCPM

From using ad mediation platforms to using different ad placements, here we provide 6 tips to get you started in increasing your eCPM.

Related News

DISPLAY ADVERTISING, RETARGETING

Clinch Partners Samsung Ads for Personalized Video and Digital Ads

Clinch | February 23, 2023

On February 22, 2023, Clinch, a creative advertising service provider, announced a certification with Samsung Ads, to offer a new automated data-driven personalization solution on the Samsung Ads platform. Through the partnership, it will provide personalized video and digital ads on a larger scale. It is a dynamic ad serving and DCO or personalization platform and creator of Flight Control, the Omnichannel Campaign Activation Platform. The certification will help run and optimize dynamic and personalized programmatic campaigns for Samsung TV Plus and Audience Extension inventory suite of Samsung North America. In addition, it will provide connected TV, online video, display and mobile advertising campaigns through the Samsung DSP. Its solutions are open to Samsung Ads clients and partners worldwide this year. Samsung Ads is Samsung Electronics' advertising platform for smart devices over desktop, mobile and TV. With a deep understanding of customer experience, it connects hardware and software companies with advertising agencies for the growth outcomes of brands at a vast scale. In addition, its single-source TV data provides consumer engagement opportunities during the connected TV experience. Advertisers would be able to make creative decisions with the use of Samsung Ads' automatic content recognition (ACR) technology through the partnership. This technology provides unparalleled insights based on the smart TV behavior of the audience. In addition, with Clinch's Flight Control omnichannel activation platform, the leveraging advertisers could customize and scale campaigns quickly through a single workflow. This platform also provides multi-platform campaign insights in a real-time scenario. CEO of Clinch, Oz Etzioni, said, "Samsung has established an incredible global footprint, fueled in part by their commitment to providing innovative consumer experiences." He added, "Through this partnership, we are able to bring a new level of real-time personalization to millions of Samsung-connected devices with superior automation and efficiency." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) About Clinch Clinch, an advertising company, provides solutions for personalized video ads, real-time optimization with location, user and product, multi-screen advertising, unlimited scalability, dynamic rich media HTML5, automatic generation in all ad formats, and creative programmatic solutions. It is recognized as an omnichannel advertising service with AI-driven dynamic personalization technology and offers customized ad experiences across different channels for enhanced advertising performance and ROI. It automates workflows and provides data for personalized video and display ads across programmatic, CTV, social media, in-app, native, and DOOH.

ADVERTISER CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT

DoubleVerify Launches CTV Viewability Solution for Advertisers

DoubleVerify | February 17, 2023

DoubleVerify, a software solutions provider for digital media, has recently launched its solution for scaling viewability on the Connected TV (CTV) for advertisers, measuring the delivery through its DV Authentic Ad platform and MRC-accredited metric to ensure media quality across digital environments of the CTV. This solution will help advertisers and ad brands to set a consistent standard for media quality across all digital environments with CTV and make advertisers understand the impact of the ads, even if the TV is disconnected. The authentic ad is visible fully to a real person, brand, and digital environment. Advertisements are created to raise awareness of the company's new product or service, even to change one's brand perception. Their viewability is a critical key performance indicator for advertisers in all digital media platforms. It is a misconception that all the CTV ads are, by default, viewable. A survey conducted by DoubleVerify in 2022 states that one of the four top-performing CTV digital environments and applications continued to play advertisements even after the television was off. This issue is known as "TV off." Another industry study suggests that this challenge will cost advertisers more than 1 billion dollars as ad waste in CTV. CEO of DoubleVerify, Mark Zagorski, said, "As CTV impressions continue to be sold at a premium, brands need insight into which platforms and environments offer the best viewability rates." He added, "To that end, we're excited to launch this first-of-its-kind solution and continue to lead in measurement and innovation for CTV buyers. This release enables advertisers to address growing challenges in CTV, such as the "TV off" issue and offers insight into whether ads had the opportunity to make an impact across digital environments in a consistent manner. This capability also provides measurement parity across multi-screen campaigns, allowing advertisers to make better-informed campaign optimizations and increase budget efficiencies." (Source – Business Wire) About DoubleVerify DoubleVerify, a software platform for digital media solutions, makes digital advertising stronger and safer through its services like impression quality and audience quality solutions for brand marketers, brand safety and fraud protection, transparency and accountability to digital media, and ad viewability. There should be a fair value exchange between sellers and buyers of digital media. The Fortune 500 advertisers trust it for data and analytics, driving campaign quality and effectiveness and increase return on digital advertising investments worldwide. It provides authentic independent third-party measurement solutions to brands and agencies in all advertising platforms, including CTV.

AD TECH AND MARTECH

Hivestack Partners With mc R&D GmbH for Programmatic DOOH Advertising

Hivestack, mc R&D GmbH (mcrud) | February 01, 2023

On January 31, 2023, Hivestack, the world's top independent programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad tech firm, has partnered with Germany's biggest passenger TV network provider, mc R&D GmbH (mcrud). mcrud's 5,800 displays on 2,000 public transportation vehicles (subway, bus, and streetcar) may now be purchased programmatically using Hivestack's supply-side platform (SSP). Hivestack will provide local and international advertisers, agencies, and omnichannel DSPs the ability to create, activate, and assess programmatic DOOH campaigns across mcrud's DOOH screens in two major German cities with the integration of mcrud's inventory. The biggest passenger television provider in Germany, mcrud, shows high-quality programs on Berlin and Munich's public transit. Berliner Fenster station serves more than two million people every day in Berlin alone. The agreement with mcrud would enable advertisers to reach a potential weekly audience of 20 million people. Managing Director at Hivestack, Will Brownsdon, said, “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with mcrud in Germany. Our goal at Hivestack is to connect buyers to audiences on the move and across a wide range of OOH environments. mcrud represents just this, offering incredible reach in a unique and captive environment.” (Source – ExchangeWire) Germany's expected DOOH ad expenditure for 2022 is €708 million (£622.5 million). Digital outdoor advertising has grown consistently, sometimes at double-digit rates. In 2018, DOOH's total sales were still €410 million (£360.4 million) (source: Nielsen Media Research). However, this is a 72.5% increase within four years. Programmatic DOOH technology provides marketers with unparalleled reach, enabling global companies to target their customers precisely through large-scale DOOH displays. About Hivestack Hivestack is the most prominent independent, worldwide, full-stack marketing technology firm that enables the buy- and sell-side of programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising. On the purchase side, marketers leverage the demand-side platform from the firmto design quantifiable campaigns that activate DOOH displays in real-time, depending on customer behavior and audience movement patterns. On the sell-side, DOOH media owners use the supply-side platform and ad exchange from Hivestack to generate programmatic income. Additionally, DOOH media owners may use its ad server to support audience-based, directly soldcampaigns.