Hitting the Strip to Boost Auto/Ad Sales

By: Jennifer Saba Classified ads are useful, but they're not exactly lookers. Auto advertisers, however, have found a new way to stand out.

John Shepherd, founder of AutoToons, started a 26-week series of comic strips customized for dealers. "This is a vehicle to sell more ad space and revitalize a dead account," he says. "I just want to bring some creativity to a model that I still think has a lot of life in it."

The story line follows an older couple's experience as they hunt for a new car. "The characters have no names," Shepherd notes. "That's intentional, so readers can see themselves in the characters." Newspapers can lease the strip from AutoToons and bring it to dealers in the area. Or dealers can lease the strip and buy space in the newspaper. (AutoToons will only license a comic to one dealer per market.)

Once in place, the strip is tailored to the dealer using a series of dialogue that emphasizes good service. "There is more to business than just price," Shepherd says. "Customer service does enter the picture. That feeling you are going to be taken care of by someone is important."

Some newspapers have had success using the strip as branding tool to entice dealers to run in other parts of the paper. The News Sun in Waukegan, Ill., is running the series on Page 2 every Friday. Tom Zalabak, classified director of Suburban Chicago Newspapers, which owns the News Sun, says the dealer snatched it up. Selling the concept to other papers has been more of a challenge. "It's slow right now. We like to go out with new ideas all the time, but everything that is different takes longer to sell," he says.

The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., also used the strip with a dealer that already advertised with the paper. Says Donna Melby, the paper's classified manager, "I had someone in mind that was looking for something unique." A Chevrolet dealership is running the series in the Saturday classified section.

Brian Kermoade, advertising sales consultant at the Daily Republic in Fairfield, Calif., liked the comic because he wanted to change potential customers' perceptions of dealerships. "We are always searching for ways to keep people interested," he says, adding a Buick dealership is running the strip in the main news section.

Not all papers are enchanted with the idea. At least one advertising sales executive thinks the concept is interesting, but the series is too slow-paced. "When you read them," she says, "it's kind of blah."