Studies: One Fiat Chrysler Brand Wins Love, The Other Wins Sales - Forbes

2019 Ram Power Wagon Crew Cab

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

A pair of surveys of online interest in specific auto brands reveals that social media love doesn’t necessarily translate into sales for one Fiat Chrysler Brand but a surge in searches for another brand, does.

Let’s start with the good news. The Ford F-series line of pickup trucks is the long time sales leader in that segment, but the race for number two is getting tighter as FCA’s Ram Truck brand gains on Chevrolet.

A study of online interest in pickup truck brands by auto shopping website CarGurus.com shows Ram trucks accounting for 3.96% of new model searches in March--an almost 1% increase over March, 2018 and a 0.7% increase over the last two years

That’s still far behind Ford trucks which captured 5.44% of new truck searches so far this year, with a 1% boost over the past two years. This year, so far, Ram is still behind Chevy trucks which attracted 4.8% but ahead of GMC with 2.2%.

However, over the past two years Ram’s pace of search growth leads both Chevy and GMC with a .63% increase in compared with .33% for Chevy and .87% for GMC. Ford leads all with a 1.03% boost in search share for new trucks.

The spike in online interest for Ram appears to be contributing to its increased sales. The brand is up 24% through February over the first two months of 2018, with pickup truck sales up 19%.

Don Mason, Vice President, Global Head of Brand Advertising Partnerships at CarGurus.com

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“Ram has positioned itself with an aggressive stance in the pickup truck market to blunt the efforts of its competition and capture share from its largest rivals,” said Don Mason, Vice President, Global Head of Brand Advertising Partnerships at CarGurus.com in emailed comments. “Last year Ram's dynamic advertising strategy led to this shift in engagement from shoppers toward their trucks, and the trend is continuing into 2019. This is likely caused by the resurgence of the 1500 that's shaking up the truck market.”

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. report sales quarterly, so it won’t be clear where their pickup truck brands stand until first quarter numbers are released next week.

Among full-line brands, Kia Motors recorded the biggest spike in new model searches over the past two years with a 1% increase to 2.9%.

Meanwhile, another FCA brand is enjoying online “love” according to a another study, but sales aren’t following.

Crisp Labs, a unit of U.K.-based social media management company Crisp Thinking Ltd., looked at reactions to 19,846 Facebook posts published by the top 50 auto brands from January, 2018 to January, 2019 in developing its Automobile Social Reaction Index, or ASRI.

2019 Dodge Challenger

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

The ASRI revealed FCA’s Dodge brand’s posts received 461,187 “love” reactions on Facebook, beating Mercedes-Benz which attracted 382,629. Dodge achieved its mark with just 408 posts compared with 869 by Mercedes-Benz.

According to the report, “Muscle cars, which dominated the American car industry in the 1960s, have come roaring back to life: Dodge’s most Loved post was a video that featured the Dodge Hellcat.” The most “loved” post of all, however, was by Ford for the return of the Mustang Bullitt.

Emma Monks,Vice President, Crisis Intelligence at Crisp, based in Leeds, U.K.

Crisp

What does it mean to be loved? “Ultimately it means having fantastic customer loyalty, for your brand to be part of the public’s every day vocabulary and for you to occupy a meaningful space in your customer’s life. In short; for your brand to matter,” said Emma Monks, Vice President, Crisis Management at Crisp via an email interview.

Posts by, and related to, Dodge may have seen the love on Facebook, but that love didn’t necessarily extend to the showroom. With a line of mainly passenger cars and one aging minivan, the brand is losing out, like others, to the public’s avid preference for pickup trucks, SUVs and crossover vehicles. Dodge sales are down 5% through February with its Challenger muscle car off 25%.

Crisp’s Emma Monks says “it’s notoriously difficult” to draw a direct correlation between social media success and return on investment, adding, “it often contributes to more softer metrics than pure sales, such as corporate reputation. Good social media content, if backed up by a quality product and excellent customer service, can convey brand values and purpose to the consumer in more vibrant and innovative ways than other media channels.”

The trick, she says, is for car companies to continue to build relationships with those who respond to their social media post in hopes of landing eventual sales. After all, love is nice, but as the saying goes, you can't live on it.

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/edgarsten/2019/03/25/studies-one-fiat-chrysler-brand-wins-love-the-other-wins-sales/

2019-03-25 14:37:00Z

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