An Auto Dealership Avoids Major Reputational Damage After a Marketing Mishap

CLIENT’S CHALLENGE 

In the earliest week of the COVID-19 pandemic, a big-city auto dealer stirred local outrage with a simple mailer advertising the week’s top sales deals and discounts. The flyer itself wasn’t the issue. But each of the 30,000 brown envelopes filling mailboxes across the city included the phrase “Time-Sensitive Contents – Open Immediately – Coronavirus Stimulus Assistance.” The tactic reflected a clear case of misleading advertising. The mailer also exposed the dealership potentially to federal and state charges of deceptive advertising practices. The crisis threatened to stain the dealership’s excellent reputation earned over decades among its customers across the city and its suburbs. “This was a horrible mistake,” the dealer’s owner said. “We never saw the envelope. This was an accident. Please help us immediately share that with our customers and explain how this occurred.”

THE STRATEGIA SOLUTION 

Within hours, the Strategia team met with the owner to understand which member of the dealership’s team had been in direct communication with the third-party marketing firm that created the flyer. While the dealership’s management had approved the flyer, it had neither viewed nor authorized the design of the brown envelopes. That didn’t absolve the business of legal responsibility, but it did give Strategia the basis of a messaging strategy and platform that might mitigate negative public perception. “Once we knew the facts,” points out Strategia CEO Lissa Druss, “our strategy was much broader than simply saying ‘sorry, this was a mistake.’ I knew the owner was deeply upset. So, we set out immediately, to make this a positive story – and to take advantage of the incident and its publicity not to merely defend the dealership’s integrity, but to reinforce it. Mistakes happen. There was no ill intent here. And this dealership’s customers had the right to know that.”

IMPACTS + OUTCOMES 

Within hours of first receiving the client’s urgent phone call, Strategia had spoken to many radio and television interviews as the dealership’s representative. One venue, a major local radio station, gave the story a six-minute slot – just enough time to speak directly to the issues at hand authentically and with passion. “In my 30+ years as a professional, I have never seen a man more remorseful or heartbroken about this,” the Strategia spokesperson said. “That’s the kind of man he is. He is a stand-up type of person. This is the first time the owner ever used this company – and he will never do so again. There are so many good customers out there going through hardship right now. This must have blind-sided them.” The outreach was successful. No federal or state charges were levied. And the social media outrage that fanned so many emotions dissipated quickly without further flare-up.