The ever-increasing demand for cars poses quite a challenge for the entire automotive industry. The product ranges of most brands are becoming increasingly extensive, both in terms of models and personalisation. Today's consumers are keen to take advantage of the ability to customize vehicles to suit their preferences. At the same time, all brands are experiencing immense pressure to electrify their lineup.
The effectiveness of car branding and the unification of its image depends immensely on the level of commitment and effort of the individual dealers. It is important that each applies the same standards, guidelines and policies. Moving forward, there is no doubt that effective management relies primarily on efficient, two-way, communication. Dedicated web applications, which are tailor-made for very specialized needs, prove to be very helpful in such situations.
An example of such a solution is JLR HUB - a tool created for Inchcape JLR Poland, the importer of Jaguar and Land Rover brands in Poland. The system facilitates the coordination of the marketing activities of all dealers belonging to the Polish group of car distributors of both brands.
JLR HUB consists of four basic modules: Marketing Plans, Campaigns, Gallery and Product Materials. Each of these can be flexibly adjusted according to the needs of the company in question and more can be added as required.
The central module of the entire system is Marketing Plans, as the effectiveness of the marketing of the entire brand depends on the effectiveness of each dealer's actions. It is therefore necessary to plan, execute and monitor the effectiveness of these activities on an ongoing basis, which can be problematic for large importers. JLR HUB allows one to develop, together with the dealer, annual and detailed quarterly marketing plans. Once these are approved by the importer, dealers are required to provide regular updates on performance and report KPIs. This brings all the data together in one place, making it easier to control the effects of the activities undertaken and the expenditure incurred by dealers on each activity.
The Campaigns module allows the importer to share on an ongoing basis, up-to-date marketing content submitted for publication by authorized external entities - creative, PR and social media agencies. Dealers are notified every time such material appears, and can therefore use it immediately in their own communication channels. From the point of view of the entire brand's marketing strategy, it is very important that everyone receives the materials as quickly and conveniently as possible and that the Importer has confirmation that they have been downloaded.
The Gallery module allows the storage of all audiovisual material, mainly the results of photo shoots, for promotional activities and makes them available to dealers and their subcontractors. Images, video and other files can be organised according to a number of criteria, such as the model of the car, the date of the photo shoot or even by the people in the images. In a similar vein, the Product Materials module also distributes up-to-date price lists, newsletters and brochures.
It is very important to properly secure internal materials, which sometimes contain confidential data. Only people previously added and verified by the administrator have access to JLR HUB resources. In addition, the appropriate level in the authorisation hierarchy can be set for each user (e.g. dealer, creative agency, etc.). Thanks to these and a set of other security features, no data falls into the wrong hands.
IT systems improve management and communication not only vertically, i.e. from the importer to the dealers, but also horizontally, i.e. between individual dealers. The application developed for Inchcape JLR Polska is just one of many examples of the use of such a solution. The programming presented in this article can also be adapted to the needs of other entities in the automotive industry.
