T here was a time when launching a new car meant a fairly predictable marketing playbook. There would be a newspaper advertisement, perhaps a television commercial, radio spots, billboards, a press conference and a few dealer activities. Consumers encountered the new model through a handful of well-established channels.
The automotive marketing landscape today looks very different.
A new vehicle can be introduced through Instagram Reels, YouTube videos, TikTok, influencer collaborations, digital advertisements, online reviews, launch events, test drives and a steady stream of social media
content. A single launch can generate more content in a few days than an automotive brand might once have produced in months.
And yet, with all these new ways to reach consumers, one question has become increasingly relevant: are we marketing more effectively, or are we simply marketing more?
For years, automotive marketing operated across what the industry broadly called ATL and BTL – mass- reach channels such as television, radio and print on one side, and more targeted activities such as dealer activations, test drives and events on the other. Eventually, the idea of TTL brought
these approaches together, recognising that awareness and engagement could not really exist in isolation.
Today, however, those lines have become considerably less distinct.
A creator’s video can reach hundreds of thousands of people like a traditional mass-media campaign, while a digital campaign can be highly targeted and still generate widespread awareness. A test-drive experience can become a Reel. A newspaper story can become a social media post. A television advertisement can be dissected, discussed and shared online within minutes.
The channels have changed. The boundaries between them have blurred.
But the fundamental challenge remains the same: how do you get people to notice, remember and trust your brand?
The problem with having more to say
The automotive market itself has become more crowded.
Consumers today have more brands, more models and more technologies to choose from than ever before. Vehicles arrive loaded with features that would have seemed extraordinary a few years ago. Advanced driver assistance systems, connected technology, panoramic cameras, large infotainment screens, premium interiors, multiple drive modes, impressive range figures and increasingly sophisticated safety features are no longer confined to a handful of premium vehicles.
Everyone has something to talk about.
And that creates another problem. When every brand has a long list of impressive features, simply having more features does not necessarily make a vehicle more memorable. When every launch comes with polished photographs, dramatic videos and a group of influencers creating content around it, even the content itself can start to look familiar.
The question is no longer just, “How do we tell people about this car?”
It is increasingly, “Why should they pay attention to us when everyone else is saying something too?”
That is where marketing has to go beyond communication.
The rise of the creator
There is no denying that influencers and content creators have changed automotive marketing.
And rightly so. People don’t always want to see a perfectly scripted advertisement telling them why a car is wonderful. They may want to see someone actually sit inside it, drive it, park it, charge it, use its features or take it on a road trip. They want to see what the product looks and feels like in everyday life.
Creators can bring a degree of
relatability that conventional advertising sometimes struggles to achieve.
But there is a danger in reducing influencer marketing to another checklist.
Send the car to a certain number of influencers. Get a certain number of Reels. Achieve a certain number of views. Move on to the next launch.
That may generate visibility. But visibility and connection are not necessarily the same thing.
The value of a creator is not simply in the number displayed beside their follower count. It is in whether their audience trusts them, whether the partnership makes sense and whether the content adds something to the consumer’s understanding of the vehicle.
In other words, influencer marketing works best when influence is actually involved.
Digital is a tool, not the whole toolbox
There is also a growing tendency to treat digital marketing as though it has replaced everything that came before it.
It hasn’t. Digital has transformed the way brands communicate, and there is no question that it needs to be an important part of any modern automotive marketing strategy. But digital marketing is not marketing in its entirety.
A Reel is not marketing. An influencer campaign is not marketing.
A digital advertisement is not marketing.
They are tools within marketing. Traditional media still has a role to play. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio may no longer dominate the way they once did, but they continue to offer reach, credibility and context. An automotive story in a respected publication can do something different from a 20-second social media video. A television campaign can build a different kind of mass awareness. A radio campaign can reach people during their daily commute.
The point is not that traditional
media is better than digital.
The point is that one should not be discarded simply because the other has become fashionable.
Marketing is also about relationships
Perhaps this is the part of marketing that gets lost most easily in the race for reach and engagement.
Automotive marketing is also about relationships.
Relationships with journalists. Relationships with media houses. Relationships with creators. Relationships with dealers. Relationships with customers. Relationships with the wider automotive community.
And relationships cannot simply be switched on when a new vehicle is being launched.
You cannot disappear for months and suddenly expect a meaningful relationship when you need coverage, a review or a social media post.
The same applies to customers. Marketing does not stop once someone has bought the vehicle. Their experience with the dealership, the service centre, the brand’s customer- care team and the wider ownership community continue to shape how they perceive that brand.
In fact, some of the most powerful marketing may happen when nobody is calling it marketing at all.
A customer whose problem was handled well can become an advocate.
A journalist who has been treated with respect is more likely to engage with a brand.
A creator who is given genuine access rather than a rigid script can produce more credible content.
A dealer who understands the product and communicates confidently can influence a purchase decision far beyond what an advertisement can do.
A campaign can buy attention. A relationship earns it.
So, what is not marketing? Perhaps the answer is almost everything we commonly label as the marketing strategy.
The newspaper advertisement is not
the marketing strategy.
The television commercial is not the marketing strategy.
The influencer is not the marketing strategy.
The launch event is not the marketing strategy.
The Instagram page is not the marketing strategy.
The press release is not the marketing strategy.
They are all pieces of it. The real challenge is knowing how those pieces work together.
A potential customer may first see a car in an advertisement. They may then watch a creator’s review, read an article, visit a showroom, speak to a friend who owns one, attend a test drive and eventually follow the brand on social media. None of these touchpoints exists completely independently in the consumer’s mind.
The consumer sees one brand. They don’t see ATL, BTL, TTL, PR, digital, influencer marketing and dealer marketing as separate departments or
budget lines.
They see the experience. That is why integrated marketing matters more than ever.
The future isn’t traditional versus digital
The automotive industry’s marketing landscape will continue to evolve. Today’s most powerful platform may not hold the same position five years from now. New creators will emerge, new formats will replace existing ones and technology will create entirely new ways for brands to communicate.
But the fundamentals will remain. People will still have limited attention.
They will still be surrounded by choices.
They will still question what they see.
And, ultimately, they will still need a reason to trust one brand over another.
So perhaps the question we should be asking is not “Should we do traditional media or digital?”
It is “What does each channel do best, and how can we make them work together?”
Use digital where digital is powerful. Work with creators where creators can genuinely influence. Use traditional media where it can provide reach, credibility or depth. Create experiences that allow people to interact with the product. Build relationships with the people who tell your story and, most importantly, with the people who buy the product.
Because marketing was never really about a channel.
It was about attention, relevance, trust and relationships.
The channels have changed. The cars have changed. The consumer has changed. But those fundamentals haven’t.
