AutoTrader.com Gets Game

By: Andrew Gordon (Adweek Magazines' Technology Marketing) AutoTrader.com, the Internet's largest auto classifieds site, is turning its marketing into a game. The Atlanta-based company is using an online video game to help attract a younger demographic than the company usually courts.

"We needed to start making inroads to a younger demographic, as well as show consumers how our site works," said vice president of marketing Clark Wood. "The game is a great vehicle to do both."

The company's broadcast ads, geared toward men ages 25 to 49, depict a white and barren environment, where cars pop up from nowhere, reflecting the actor's description of the car he is looking for. It plays upon the Web site's ability to present automobiles based on users' preferences.

The game is geared toward a slightly younger male group, ages 18-24, the age when buyers are shopping for their first car, often a used car, said director of advertising John Kovac.

In the game, "Slide Into Your Ride," cars of a particular make -- picked by the player -- pop out of the ground. The player must line up three or more cars to make them disappear. Each time a car is moved that doesn't result in a line disappearing, more cars pop out of the ground, as in the commercial. The goal is to get rid of as many cars and rack up as many points as possible.

The game, which runs through September, offers players a chance to win prizes from sponsors JBL, Gatorade, and Sports Illustrated, as well as the grand prize -- $25,000 toward the purchase of a car on AutoTrader.com, $2,000 toward the purchase of a car stereo from JBL, and a year's supply of Gatorade.

"We were looking for something to engage our customers, something that would be entertaining for an audience that is very Internet savvy," Wood said. He hopes the game will accomplish two things.

First, turn game players into buyers. And second, he believes the game will build the company's brand, hopefully among those who may not be ready to buy a car now, but sometime soon.

Jim Nail, an analyst with Forrester Research, sees more potential for the latter. He said games can help build brand awareness and resonance. But as for increasing sales, he doesn't know of any research that has determined whether games at Web sites translate into sales, and as such, remains unproven.

AutoTrader.com will promote the game on AOL and its related properties, along with online advertising at the game sponsors' sites, and in AutoTrader's magazine.