Max Steckler
Vice President, Advertising Products
As a child, I remember being consumed by the adventurous themes of Wild West TV shows. I loved the stories about discovering and developing untamed lands to create a future full of growth and opportunity. Sure each gun fight was fun, but the real excitement was in knowing that the next episode would take the story farther West to greater lands of opportunity. Today I see the automotive industry as getting ready for its next big Wild West episode.
In the past, the auto industry had been on a consistent wagon train to sell large volumes of cars. In fact, up to 2008, annual new car sales were north of 16 million units for many years. Unfortunately, the industry experienced a forest fire while it was trying to expand and settle more land. The industry sales rate was slashed, resulting in significant financial impact on dealers, manufacturers, and the vendors that serve them. Companies closed, bankruptcies were filed, employees were laid off, and dreams were put on hold. Here we are now, more than year after the beginning of the downturn. As I look around, I’m beginning to feel that familiar anticipation and excitement for the next big episode. Like in the aftermath of a real forest fire, I see automotive industry green shoots rising up from the ashes.
Building New Settlements
During the pre-forest fire days, Cobalt invested heavily in innovation, working to create new solutions in local, digital advertising to help dealers and manufacturers spend their marketing dollars more efficiently. We internally developed new products and services and acquired best-of-breed companies to meet the future needs of the market. I was fortunate enough to be a member of the remarkable teams that pioneered four new product lines within Cobalt – paid search, email marketing, display advertising and re-marketing advertising. Each one of these new “settlements” enabled Cobalt to help the industry adopt and leverage 
digital advertising as an extremely effective option for automotive advertising. Cobalt was clearly going in the right direction with its product portfolio. Remember the hero that always saved the day in the Wild West shows? I recall that strong relationships and trust were always at the core of that character’s success. Just like a Wild West hero, Cobalt has also focused on its industry relationships. During our 14 years of history, we have made significant investments in building strong relationships with the majority of the industry’s dealers and manufacturers. With these relationships comes a responsibility to support them in all times. This became increasingly true as the downturn of 2008 unfolded.
The Settlers Make the Difference
Automotive industry members have been under extreme stress over the past year. As business shifted and priorities changed, there was discomfort for everyone. Cobalt responded to its customer challenges as if they were its own. We introduced new solutions with innovative features, new packaging and pricing, and higher service levels to encourage the ‘green shoot potential’ of the industry.
Our goal was (and still is) to keep everyone moving forward to capitalize on every possible opportunity. 
Needless to say, being a thought leader in a market that is shifting requires a certain appetite for ambiguity. Given that Cobalt is addressing automotive AND local digital marketing (a fast paced market segment in and of itself), our organization requires people who are comfortable with quick decisions and have a desire for creating revolutionary solutions. We attract employees who are hardworking, passionate and dedicated to making a difference in an industry. It is exciting, scary and extremely addicting all at the same time. The quality of our current crop of team members is simply astounding.
Changing the Face of Auto Advertising
Automotive dealers spend close to eight billion dollars annually on local advertising. Currently, most of this money goes to un-measurable traditional advertising methods like newspaper, radio and TV. Today, Cobalt is changing the game by offering turn-key local digital advertising solutions, which provide dealers with more advertising value for the dollar. We focus on making it easy for dealers and manufacturers to plan, execute and measure the ROI of their local digital advertising. I strongly believe that Cobalt is the best provider of these valuable solutions. Our 14 years of automotive experience and unparalleled product and service innovations makes me very comfortable staking this claim. I personally have experienced seven years of the journey and have thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.
The Future of Automotive and Cobalt
I firmly believe in the future success of the automotive industry – and of Cobalt’s place in this exciting transformation. If you ever visit the site of a huge fire a year or two after the destruction, you will always be amazed at the green growth and the vitality of the local eco-system. In this way, the introduction of more efficient business practices and innovations, such as turn-key, multi-channel local digital advertising solutions, allows the automotive industry to produce more profit with less vehicle sales, encouraging it to replenish and grow. I’m proud to say that Cobalt is part of driving this transformation. Clearly, Cobalt’s Wild West adventures have only just begun!
The Cobalt Group
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