New Advertising Campaign Results in Best June Ever for AutoTrader.com

AutoTrader now has the largest mobile audience of any third-party automotive website

ATLANTA, July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A fresh marketing approach reflecting the growing trend of consumers shopping for cars while on-the-go is paying off for AutoTrader.com. The site launched a massive new advertising campaign on June 9 – the largest in the company's 16-year history – designed to showcase how the site's new mobile-friendly features make car shopping easier for consumers anytime, anywhere. As a result, AutoTrader enjoyed its best June in the company's history, and now has the largest mobile audience of any third-party automotive website.

The new commercials feature actors Tom Wopat and John Schneider reprising their roles as the iconic TV characters "The Dukes of Hazzard". The spots showcase AutoTrader's new saved-search feature, which allows car shoppers to save cars that meet their needs to their AutoTrader account and pick up their search where they left off from any device. The commercials also highlight AutoTrader's text alerts; shoppers can opt-in to receive a text when the price changes on one of the vehicles they're interested in. During the commercials, the Bo and Luke Duke characters rely on these features to help them find a new car using their tablets and smartphones while being chased by the local sheriff.

"This is the first time we're not featuring a desktop computer in our commercials," said John Kovac, senior vice president of marketing, Cox Automotive. "More than 50 percent of visitors to AutoTrader visit the site via a mobile device, so we wanted to show off the new features we have that specifically cater to the mobile user. We're thrilled that consumers have responded so favorably."

July is also off to a strong start, as AutoTrader achieved its highest-ever mobile traffic day on July 13, attracting more than 206,000 unique visitors to the mobile site that day alone. Overall, AutoTrader has garnered more than 18 million unique visitors per month on average so far in 2014.

"The nostalgic power of the Dukes and the action-packed storyline draws the viewer in to the commercials, but the AutoTrader tools shine through as the hero," said Jessica Stafford, senior director of consumer marketing, Cox Automotive. "The tagline – 'your car, your way' – is a theme that very clearly articulates our value to car shoppers: we have the tools you need to find your perfect car no matter how you want to shop for it."

More than one third of car shoppers use multiple devices (computers, smartphones and tablets) during the car shopping process, and AutoTrader predicts this figure will rise to 52 percent by 2018. More than 80 percent of car shoppers say that using multiple devices makes the car shopping process easier.

"Mobile isn't the future of car shopping – it's the current state of car shopping. And it's only going to quickly grow and evolve in the years ahead. As a company, we will continue our efforts to innovate new ways to stay ahead of this shift in shopper behavior, and as marketers continue to identify new ways to demonstrate those innovations to both consumers and customers," Kovac said. 

About AutoTrader.com 
Created in 1997, Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace. As a leading resource for car shoppers and sellers, AutoTrader.com aggregates millions of new, used and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of dealers and private sellers and provides expert articles and reviews. AutoTrader.com, which also operates the AutoTraderClassics.com auto marketing brand, is wholly owned by Cox Automotive. Additionally, Cox Automotive owns Kelley Blue Book (KBB.com®), Manheim Auctions as well as companies that provide a full suite of software tools that help dealers and manufacturers manage their inventory and advertising online: vAuto®, HomeNet Automotive®, VinSolutions®, AIS Rebates™, Genius Labs® and Haystak™. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com.

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SOURCE AutoTrader.com

For further information: Nicole Carriere, 404-568-7822 (o), 770-547-7950 (m), Nicole.carriere@autotrader.com