Auto Trader tasked us with designing a simple copy-led ad that would encourage more people to part with their car via their platform, rather than the competition, whilst promoting their “If it’s valued at £1,000 or less, we’ll sell it for free” initiative.

Consumer Research

In order to make this quick turnaround campaign a success, we wanted to create an emotional connection between people and their cars, so they think of Auto Trader if they are actively looking to sell / trade in their motor.

So, we started off by asking people across a range of Auto Trader’s consumer groups if they really are emotionally attached to their cars.  The results were fairly conclusive…

Using our research findings and wanting to poke a little bit of fun at Auto Trader’s main competitor (We Buy Any Car), the copy line pretty much wrote itself…

We took this headline and made it work across various OOH / DOOH formats so it was easily digestible in busy roadside locations and it started to sink into people’s psyche, whilst introducing the promotional message…

And then we elaborated through a catchy radio ad to elevate the emotional connection between people and their cars…

The campaign was then brought to life on Auto Trader’s homepage takeover and various other online assets & banners to create a coherent customer journey, this time using the main ad line as a way to connect with prospective buyers in the market too…

Campaign Impact
Simply Effective

127million Radio Impacts Delivered

58million Digital Impressions

Over 40,000 new customer sign-ups to the Auto Trader website

Grew Auto Trader’s “Bargain Ad” volumes (£0 – £1k cars) by 173% YoY

Impacted GumTree (competitor) bargain volumes – down 8% YoY