Digital Mileage

Chris Reed
Chief Marketing Officer, Cobalt

 I was talking to a close friend about a call I had received from a recruiter about an opportunity at a company called Cobalt in Seattle. We both had spent our careers at the cutting edge of technology and analytics, working with the world’s most sophisticated companies as clients. Our impression of the automotive industry was one of slow moving behemoths in decline. The idea of focusing my energies on that industry was just a non-starter; how could I stay on the cutting edge in such an industry? I told the recruiter that I wasn’t interested.

The recruiter was persistent. Did I understand that Cobalt was a leader in digital marketing, one of Google’s largest partners? Did I know that Cobalt had pioneered new practices in coordinated marketing across thousands of independent businesses? It seemed Cobalt was actually a digital marketing company that happened to specialize in the auto industry. What could it hurt to talk with them? I did talk to them and I’m glad I did. The auto industry is different. Buying a car, after buying a house, is one of the largest investments many of us make in our life. The car itself is more than a hunk of metal and plastic, it is symbolic of freedom and a means to express ourselves – whether that be to signal our status or our commitment to the environment. The industry has a rich history and many characters. What I discovered was that Cobalt was leading a quiet revolution within the industry, working with forward-looking manufacturers, Internet firms, agencies and dealers to exploit the rapid adoption of the internet by auto shoppers, lowering costs and bringing objective measurement to new areas of marketing.

As a marketer, I was fascinated by the opportunity to understand a specific shopping process in great depth, to deliver tailored experiences to the shopper to speed their decision, and to have the analytic insights to optimize their experience over time. Cobalt’s culture was also appealing. Having been in large companies and start-ups I knew I liked organizations that were still dynamic enough to create personal opportunity, but had sufficient scale to have market impact. Cobalt was in that “sweet spot” – I felt I could make a difference. The company’s culture was still guided by its founder, John Holt, and had a solid foundation of integrity and mutual respect, values that are important to me. I did make the move to Cobalt and I can honestly say there hasn’t been a boring day since. It is a pleasure to consult with a diverse set of clients and partners – independent business owners growing their businesses, advertising agencies and digital marketing leaders like Google and Yahoo! – to develop new cost-effective marketing approaches ideally suited to the times.

Today, Cobalt is ideally positioned within an industry in re-birth. The last year has shaken the industry to its core, challenging long held assumptions, opening minds to new approaches. There is absolutely no doubt that one of those new approaches will be the active embrace of the internet as a primary marketing channel for the industry. J. D. Power & Associates projects that the automotive industry’s spending on digital marketing will increase by 150% from 2008 to 2011. Cobalt is the clear leader in digital marketing for automotive retail networks – where the majority of this spend will occur. The industry itself is almost guaranteed to grow by 50% in the next few years from today’s depressed sales levels, as the market returns to the rate it needs to support population growth and vehicle replacement. If you are considering an opportunity with Cobalt don’t let the media image of the auto industry deter you. Here at Cobalt we are excited about the opportunity to transform and strengthen one of the world’s largest industries – come and join us!

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
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