Client

Tom Gill

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Strategy
Mode

Creative
Mode

Capabilities utilized

Brand Strategy • Creative Production • Marketing Deployment • Agency of Record

Capabilities utilized

Brand Strategy / Creative Production / Marketing Deployment / Branding

Client background

What they were looking for:

Tom Gill was a Chevy dealer in a sea of Chevy dealers (including the largest Chevy dealership in the entire world). If you knew about their lifetime oil changes, free tire rotations, and Disney-esque customer experience, their tagline of “Why in the world would you shop anywhere else?” made sense. However, to most car buyers in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, they were just another car dealer with goofy commercials trying to cut through the noise.

What we found:

Tom Gill’s success in the market stems from a focus on used cars and customer service, rather than marketing as dictated by Chevrolet corporate. Tom Gill brought in Disney to consult on their customer experience. When other dealers cut prices every month, Tom Gill offers customers value with lifetime free perks on all vehicles. A relationship with Tom Gill brings a bit more magic than your typical vehicle purchase.

Results

Growth in market share that placed Tom Gill in the top 5 Chevy dealers in their market. All-time high sales months. Reduction in advertising spend.

How we did it

Unique
Challenges:

Lots of competitors in a small radius. Drastically different audiences existing in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, which necessitated a brand balancing modern and Americana.

Marketing
Opportunities:

Tom Gill hated cable. Their digital campaigns didn’t reflect their value and could be confused for every other dealer’s price/payment advertising.

Messaging and
Placements:

We focused on reaching new markets with a “Why Tom Gill” message through cable, OTT, and display ads. We also utilized YouTube pre-roll to reinforce this message to those cross-shopping Tom Gill’s competitors.

The brand process

We went through several branding sessions to build a brand that fit Tom’s unique personality. What we uncovered was a deep care for customers and the soul of a showman lurking just under the surface. Combining these two ideas, we created a new tagline and brand best summed up with the line, “Where you always feel the magic.” We’ve successfully used this cornerstone of the brand throughout creative since.

Our Favorite Campaigns

Tom Gill Is Magic

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Driving Insight:

Tom Gill needed a refresh.

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Objective:

Change Northern Kentucky’s perception of Tom Gill Chevrolet.

This campaign was the foundation of our relaunch of Tom Gill’s brand. We sought to differentiate Tom Gill from both competitors and their past “hokey” commercials. What better way to do so than with more on-trend animation that communicates the volume of Tom Gill’s offerings in a style reflecting their new brand?

Cartoon Gills

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Driving Insight:

People tune out holiday season auto ads.

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Objective:

Give people nostalgic, fun content to consume.

Typically, dealerships use the holidays to have year-end clearance events and raffle prizes, but 2021 was anything but typical. With the global chip shortage leaving inventory scarce for all dealerships, no one was having sales. To drive attention for Tom Gill without getting gimmicky, we called back to everyone’s favorite holiday specials by scripting and illustrating our creative to imbue a holiday favorite with Tom Gill’s magic.