“I’m 53 years old, and I’m still learning,” said CEO John Holt while addressing the company on the morning of July 9. “Change is constant. You can either close yourself to it or open your arms to it.”

Holt had announced that Cobalt, the company he co-founded over 15 years ago, is now in the final stages of being acquired by ADP, one of the world’s largest providers of information technology. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010. Until then, ADP Dealer Services and Cobalt will operate as independent businesses.

Once the acquisition is finalized John will lead the new ADP Digital Marketing group within ADP Dealer Services from Cobalt’s offices in Seattle. The new group will include all of the digital marketing capabilities of ADP, including BZ Results, Cobalt and Dealix. This organization will be uniquely positioned to deliver a comprehensive set of digital marketing solutions that will help transform the ways manufacturers and dealers market and sell vehicles and related services.

It’s going to be an exciting time, especially since Cobalt will still be Cobalt – the company’s vision and brand in the marketplace will continue. And Holt will still be here to lead the ADP Digital Marketing group onward to new ideas.

The company meeting was clearly a poignant moment for Holt, as he expressed his pride in the Cobalt’s accomplishments to the packed Seattle auditorium by videoconference to meeting rooms in Lynnwood and at Dealix and Integralink as well as by phone to hundreds of employees over the Internet.

“We’ve come a long way together, but we still have a lot to do,” he said.

Founded 15 years ago at the start of the Internet era, the company has grown its customer base and its capabilities to become a market leader – not just in websites but also in integrated digital marketing solutions for auto manufacturers and their dealer networks. ADP’s existing model complements Cobalt’s, since ADP solutions helps dealers convert opportunities created by Cobalt’s digital marketing capabilities into sales.

ADP’s financial strength, global footprint and capabilities in social media and other technology areas are expected to open up new doors for Cobalt employees and customers. Cobalt will remain laser-focused on building brand awareness for its customers and driving traffic to their stores.

“Some things will change, for sure,” Holt told employees this morning. “But many things will be the same,” he assured. He then entreated everyone watching and listening to keep doing what they’ve always done by sticking to the four C’s: Curiosity, Commitment, Creativity and Community.

“Stay curious,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to commit completely, with a full heart and mind. Be creative, even in the face of things that seem ‘the way they’ve always been.’ Keep community alive; it takes a community to have a company, and this fact is core to Cobalt’s success and spirit.

“I see life as one learning curve after another,” Holt said. “If you embrace them rather than run from them, you can drive yourself to personal achievements that may surprise you. Because of the things I tackled and learned, last year was the best year of my life. It’s daunting to try to make this year even better, but with this announcement it’s off to a pretty good start!”

Like we said – business as usual.

What’s next for John Holt, Cobalt, and Dealix? We’re not done yet. Not even close. Stay tuned.

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

Hello my Friends:

I am proudly presenting my colleague Louise Smith and her guest post in conjunction with some thoughts of mine.

GUEST POST: Louise Smith and VJ

Of great interest to you is the acquisition of new customers, the engagement of your existing customers, promoting customer loyalty and driving revenues. Social Media works “with” your Owner Marketing email campaigns – to do just this. Relevancy and value are keys to successful email campaigns and social media. Here are some ideas:

In your email campaigns:

Implement links/buttons into your email campaigns to promote and link to your social media sites as well (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). VJ’s thoughts: May be the customer is not ready right now to jump on your inventory page or visit your dealer URL, but he would like to see what else you are talking about in the future. Capture them!

Integrate (brief) teasers in your email campaigns about your social media postings such as your involvement, following or supporting local groups, charities, teams, events etc. VJ’s thoughts: An old PR rule is “Do good things and talk about it” – so do it and brag modestly!

Have so called “Calls-to-Action” in your email campaigns that promote postings of events and happenings that your dealership is involved in (Car Clinics, Open House, Charity/Fundraiser car detailing etc.) – then link these activities to your social media page with more information about events. VJ’s thoughts: Create RSVPs for customer evening events, make them feel important, make them your V.I.P.

Keep up the core premise of successful email marketing: right time, relevant messaging, of value to targeted customers. VJ’s thoughts: When tailoring your sales messags think about the three categories according to a study of Nielsen Online: Baby Boomers love monthly and quarterly cash-back savings  –  Generation X is looking for convenience factor (Loaner cars, Play area, Business center, WiFi)  –  and the Millenials just appreciating Specials and Deals in what is ”Cool and In” with instant gratification!

On your social media postings:

You need to be relevant, give value, share information, follow/support your “locals”, be conversational, embrace the fanatic fans and respond to the problems in a timely manner. VJ’s thoughts: Best example: Toyota, where were they the whole time when the issues of their recalls occurred. Now they are pumping millions of $$ into national ne page print-ads and prime time T.V. commercials.

Who to follow or to be-friend? Support your local teams, organizations, chamber, business groups, consumer groups, community events. VJ’s thoughts: Reach out to them and let them know about your ambitions for them. Tell your local community that you are supporting them and you will steadily talk about their deals (barber shop and the retiree Wednesday haircut for $7)!

Not sure what to “tweet”? – You can start off by re-tweeting relevant information about happenings in your community, great news about your brand, events etc. – share local business news. Is a neighbor business or a good customer who is a local business owner offering “specials”? You can support these in brief tweets or postings. VJ’s thoughts: Has a customer of yours “pimped” their ride and is this possible share worthy? Post it with a testimonial from them. Did you solve a problem for a customer – turning them into a satisfied customer – share it!

Always include a sign-up for email actions on Social Media site and promote a value (like free car wash, a special price for the next oil-change) of signing up for email sign-up. VJ’s thoughts: Allow your customer to decide if they want to follow you. Permission based marketing has since decades the highest ROI.

Call to action value of your service coupons on your website. VJ’s thoughts: Involve each of your profit centers – Service, Parts, Wholesale Parts, Bodyshop, and even Finance!

Keep your postings current. VJ’s thoughts: Please, it does not make sense you are telling on your website “follow me on twitter” and a customer who then finally follows you will see that your last post said “Happy Thanksgiving”, even so it is now March!

Be authentic in your postings, and do not speak about politics, race or use “bad” language. VJ’s thoughts: It happens and I showed it numerous times on my speaker sessions: ” Wow, the customers are so crappy today. Is it full moon or what?” – YES, this is an original twitter post I grabbed and just imagine when I would be a customer of this dealership, and had visited them today for an oil-change. How would feel? Really CRAPPY after reading this, right?

Be conversational, sharing and relevant! VJ’s thoughts: That means with all due respect – NO INVENTORY FEEDS appearing in your twitter stream. I see frequently tweets or facebook posts which are stating “Just uploaded a YouTube video of an 2002 Ford….” and a second later the next tweet says “Just uploaded a YouTube video of an 2004 Buick…” Come on, please!

Here are a few links that you may find as great resources:

• www.drivingsales.com ideas and help in establishing your social media plan
• www.dealerrefresh.com find out what other dealers and automotive peers are doing in Social Media
• www.SocialMediaBuzzer.com hands-on Social Media practice advice from an ex-dealer/e-commerce director

Community Counts
Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of getting to know a few of these well-respected and enthusiastic DieHards. They have shared with me their stories of Cobalt’s past and present and are certainly on board for the future. Cobalt’s exponential growth within the past decade and a half is undeniable and couldn’t have been accomplished without them.

“Seeing us grow from dot com to big company is amazing. Throughout the ten years I’ve been with Cobalt, no matter what department, there’s a feeling of close-knit, small community. I love working at Cobalt because of the people I work with as well as our strong leadership,” said Ben Patawaran, account advocate.

DieHard Dedication
In Part One of this article, I wrote about the amazing transformation Cobalt underwent from using dial up connections and hard-copies of websites to being first in line for dealer and OEM digital marketing. One thing that remains consistent with Cobalt, despite new technologies and the ever-changing automotive industry, Cobalt has held true to its motto of “work hard, play hard.”

“During the 2001 earthquake, I was the safety coordinator for my floor and had to make sure everyone evacuated. I ran through the floor to double check; and there was still one person typing away at her desk. She just had to send off one email before leaving. That’s dedication!” said Patawaran.

Room for Even More Growth
Many of the DieHards began when Cobalt had fewer than 100 employees. Now, the company has grown to over 1,000 strong, expanded their offices across the nation and gained large accounts with Lexus, GM and Volkswagen.

“Winning GM was definitely one of the greatest accomplishments we’ve had at Cobalt. We were in the right place at the right time. After that moment, we doubled revenue, hired 350 employees and did 5,000 websites. The aftermath of that sale was incredible,” said Matt Muilenburg, vice president of enterprise marketing solutions.

With its efforts to double innovation, the company’s growth trajectory will not taper for quite sometime. Cobalt remains on the pioneering end of digital marketing for the automotive industry with its unique and successful digital ad packages that coordinate marketing messages from the brand to the dealer.

Work Hard, Play Hard
Another point that rings true for Cobalt’s corporate culture is its strong sense of community. Aside from company parties, events and celebrations, trust and camaraderie is the foundation of Cobalt and one of the reasons why the company has so many DieHard employees. In everything they do, DieHards and newer employees, alike, work hard and play hard.

Cobalt believes the same thing, a belief that manifests itself in many ways. For the next few months, Cobalt is sponsoring two Cobalt employees – Mark Bathum and Shane McSimov – in their efforts to do good.

Mark is realizing a goal he has had for 20 years, and started seriously trying for in 2008 – to race for the US Paralympics ski racing team. In 2010, in Vancouver, he will achieve that dream, but only after a lot of hard work and arduous training. Mark raced all last season to see how it would feel to do it. This year he’ll still be working, though remotely, while ramping up his ski training schedule in preparation for the big event. Cobalt will be following his efforts closely and supporting him in his bid!

Mark’s not the only one reaching out, though. Shane McSimov, another Cobalt employee, is organizing his own charity event in a very different way: a charity ping-pong game. Shane has challenged Scott Harrison, the founder of the organization charity: water to a $5000 ping-pong match in New York City, with the money going to build a well for a community that needs fresh water.

As Shane says, “A ping pong match in NYC can that save lives overseas and give clean drinking water to an entire community for 20 years; that’s a game worth playing.” The event will take place in early 2010, and will be streamed live on Ustream.com.

We’ll be writing more about Mark and Shane in the next couple months. Until then, keep updated on Mark’s progress on his website at www.markbathum.com, and you can donate to Shane’s ping-pong game by clicking here.

Cobalt is proud of both Shane and Mark for their efforts to give to something greater than themselves. As hard as we work, Cobalt also knows that when it comes to what really matters, it’s just what you do.

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

Robin Pisz, national interactive marketing manager for Lexus, and Theresa Haven, manager of the marketing communications campaign management division of Honda Motor Company, were also awarded at the same dinner. Previous recipients include Pamela Rodgers, Dealer Owner of Rodgers Chevrolet, Lynn Myers, General Manager of the Pontiac-GMC division at GM, and Bobbi Gaunt, the now-retired President of Ford Motor Company.

The Professional Achievement Award has been presented every year since 1997, to recognize women for their commitment, professionalism and success in the automotive industry.

“These women embody qualities well worthy of recognition, and we are privileged to honor their achievements,” said  McKoy. “Not only are they successful and accomplished in their careers. They are also leaders in business and their communities, and serve as role models.”

Jody DeVere, WAAI President, had this to add: “We are so pleased to present these women with the Professional Achievement Award and congratulate them on this much-deserved honor.”

This is the second award Zornosa has received in 2009.  She was earlier recognized by TARGUSinfo with the 2009 Market Leadership Award. Both awards stem from the leadership role taken by Dealix for the creation of the Qualilty Pledge and Hassle Free Lead Retrun – innovations that have been embraced by Dealix’s customers, the nation’s franchised auto dealers.

Upon receiving the WAAI honor, Zornosa said “An award like this is really a recognition of the great work done by the whole Dealix Team. I am truly honored to be part of such a great group!”

Congratulations to Anna Zornosa for all her accomplishments in the automotive industry, and on receiving this well-deserved recognition!

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

For years I’ve asked dealers why they advertise in newspapers, radio, and on TV. I usually get the same answer, “because we always have,” or I hear “because it creates good traffic!” I typically follow up with the question, “how do you know?” That’s when I hear the crickets chirping. I will never tell a dealer to quit advertising with the traditional mediums, just show me the ROI! After all, if I spend $10K on a newspaper ad that runs through a weekend, shouldn’t I expect a nice return on that investment?

High performing dealers today are turning to online advertising to survive during these turbulent times. They must be able to measure all the effectiveness of their advertising and make quick, intelligent decisions on whether the ad is working or not. Digital marketing is one of the true silver bullets in advertising. Everything is measured and can be changed instantly. You want to push an old age unit, put it online with an attractive price. If that doesn’t work (and we will know within a day if it does or doesn’t), throw it on usedcars.com and just get rid of it then move on.

Automotive advertising companies that want to help their dealers need to learn how to partner with the store. They have to understand the dealer’s goals and integrate a complete advertising strategy. Everything that a dealership does offline should drive traffic online! Today a dealership can make a minimal investment in digital marketing, and for just a few thousand dollars they can have an advertising campaign in a box. All digital advertising should be designed to drive traffic, be it walk-in, phone-in or email leads.

Automotive advertising companies that want to help their dealers are thinking of new and creative ways to drive qualified traffic to the dealer. Technology can be overused in dealerships in so many ways today, do your sales consultants know how to do a proper meet and greet, can they take an inbound call on a sold vehicle and get the prospect excited to visit the store? We have to make sure that dealers understand that it’s time to go back to the blocking and tackling in the dealership, and as far as advertising goes, there are companies that are experts on how to drive qualified traffic to your dealership. It’s time to start listening to those experts and putting together the proper mix of traditional advertising and digital marketing!

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

The holiday season is here, and at Cobalt that means we give a little more, financially and otherwise. In a previous entry we talked about Cobalt’s involvement in Northwest Harvest. In December, Cobalt is working with Treehouse and Childhaven, “two Seattle-based charities that do enormously important work for children and families. Children are the most vulnerable members of our society and the economy has pushed many more Washington families towards hardship,” in the words of CEO John Holt.

Cobalt has worked with both organizations in past years. This year Cobalt is donating $10,000 each to both Treehouse and Childhaven, and also matching employee financial contributions up to an additional $5,000 through December 23rd.

Decorated Christmas trees stationed throughout the Lynnwood and Seattle offices give employees the opportunity to make a more personal contribution to a child in need. The trees, part of a toy drive also sponsored by Treehouse, are hung with colored tags which describe presents Seattle children have wished for. Employees can choose a tag and purchase the presents themselves, then bring them in and place them under the big tree in the lobby to be donated. This is one small gesture that will hopefully make the holiday that much brighter for a child.

“It’s a thin line between fortune and despair,” said John Holt, “and I believe we recognize and honor our good luck when we reach out a hand to another.”

At Cobalt, reaching out with gifts from the heart is just one more sign of the holiday season.

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

Last year, dealers using Cobalt’s unique ProCare SEO service more than double, on average, their monthly website traffic vs. those not using ProCare.  And, over 675,000 email leads were generated from those same consumers to our dealers. Just last year alone, over 50 million consumers visited a Cobalt powered website from search engines!

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive