Evora marketing...

[Bibs]

...what would you do?

Lotus are moving into an area that they not so long ago vacated with the new Evora. The car is getting superb press and reviews so all is well and if you worked @ Lotus or a dealership, how would you get bums on recaros and convert porsche and high end audi/bmw drivers into a Lotus? Do you think there is a place for us as Lotus enthusiasts to assist, we are after all past/current/future owners so often have first hand knowledge/experience of the brand?

[mail@stefan-boehm.de]

just two words: "show off".

Go, where the potential clients are. Make them experience "by accident" that there ARE car manufacturers who know their stuff AND can supply more individual stuff than VAG etc. Park Evoras (subtly equipped with some stickers) at about every posh location, every posh event, in front of every hotel, at golf events etc etc. Raise awareness, meet the customers at "their" location. Job done.

the whole "faceless people" campaign could have been great, but they just didn't pull it through.

[Nunaco]

well...one thing is clear...you need to want really one...I leave/work in Hannover,Germany. Here you have Porsche, Ferrari/Maserati, Bentley, official dealers.....but I need to drive to Hamburg to see one lotus dealer... so 300km drive for a test drive...lotus is an unique brand...which I really want to jump to it....but about marketing...do they even now this word? Anyway...these guys have done a great job...I was dreaming for a cayman just a couple of weeks ago..now...it's all about Evora! Like me..others will follow...I'm sure....they only need to be able to "get" one insight.

[Andrew]

I have lost count how many Lotus's i have helped sell it easy get the first cars out to the customers now . Still thinking of opening up my own dealership one day .

[dodgey_rog]

One thing that always let Lotus down, especially of late is the dealers. In the 80's and early 90's when the brand was experiencing its peak and then the recession hit, the hard core dealers like Bell & Collvill always thrived because they're enthusiasts of the brand, something that rubs off on customers when they visit, the only problem is there aren't enough of them. When i visited a dealership recently to look at an Evora, the guy i spoke to had great pleasure in telling me his boss was off on a jolly in it instead of being at the dealership for potential customers. When you set out your brand with the likes of Porsche et al, you need to make sure your 'sellers' are of similar, albeit in a Lotus way, are capable of representing the brand. With all of Lotus Design capabilities behind them, i'm sure they could come up with a retail conceot to set them apart from the competition, look at the heritage they have in motorsport, lets face it, without Chapman, F1 wouldn't be anywhere near where it is today, he brought them forward about 40 years in technology terms.

The only real way to market a car like this is to get some product placement with high profile people, i hate to use this as a reference but when Beckham had a TVR Cerbera, people lapped it up! The more people see it and experience it, the more they will get turned on to it, parking it up with stickers on it is slightly naff.

I thought the Faceless People campaign was clever, but let the cat out of the bag too soon, therefore losing momentum. Maybe some viral marketing with tasty music and artistic angles of the car driving might be worth a look?

[TomE]

1) Get some cars along to events that are high profile with the target market, including car and non-car events. For example monthly Goodwood Breakfast Clubs (I offered to take the B&C demo car down there but it was decided to keep it in the showroom), PistonHeads Virginia Water meet, Ace Cafe for the car ones. For non-car events, things like Goodwood (horse racing) meet, polo at Windsor, rugby, cricket. Park the Lotus Roadshow at Canary Wharf and Broadgate in the City etc - and do test drives not just static.

2) Get some "real people" (not journalists) into the cars and get their video and text reviews up on YouTube, Pistonheads, Porsche forum, AMOC etc. Guy's post about the chap who tested an Aston back to back with the Evora was really valuable - online testimony from the person concerned would be hugely beneficial.

3) Brief the dealers on the details of the main competitors and get them out driving them. The dealers are huge Lotus enthusiasts but it often surprises me that some don't know details on journo reviews, specs, pricing etc on the competitors. With the Evora taking Lotus into a new arena, the sales folks need to know stacks about the Cayman, 911, Vantage, GTR etc etc.

[mail@stefan-boehm.de]

3) Brief the dealers on the details of the main competitors and get them out driving them. The dealers are huge Lotus enthusiasts but it often surprises me that some don't know details on journo reviews, specs, pricing etc on the competitors. With the Evora taking Lotus into a new arena, the sales folks need to know stacks about the Cayman, 911, Vantage, GTR etc etc.

this has been addressed v v nicely and detailed by Lotus over 20 pages within at least the EU dealer presentation documents.

[Winders]

Get it in the next Bond movie!

With the bad guy driving it against the Aston. Have Bonds car get trashed by the Evora and later in the movie have Bond turn up in his own Evora and save the day!

Simple really...

[Al]

Bibs to answer your original question which we have strayed away from a bit.

Maybe suggest have a central register of Evora owners with the factory coordinated through this Forum willing to be contacted by a prospective owner by e-mail or phone etc. giving only maybe approximate car location (city). Dealer can access this list and either give out contact detail directly or maybe make the initial call for approval and then give out contact detail. The latter maybe preferable to dealers as well as Lotus as they will know their customers and what individuals are like. Thus they can maybe not necessarily match the closest person but the most similar demographic etc. which will also assist selling the car. The list could also be used maybe simply to show different colour combinations off as the car does suit some much better than others. Prospective customers might want to travel just to confirm choice is what they expect in the 'flesh'. Lets face it many of us have really struggled with this and are still have some doubts about decisions.

Otherwise Lotus need to get their $h1t together on marketing the car on the Website and keeping dealers informed. For such a great car it is still pathetic. Really pathetic. Coming from Porsche ownership to Lotus for the first time (although a brand fan since the 70's - lusted after an Europa - and knowledgeable about history and products) there is a definite need to be dedicated to this purchase right now. Prior to this I was looking at AMG's and Audi's and the websites are all great. I find it strange I am telling my dealer basic information due to this website all of which has been correct to date. Not his fault it would seem. I am not sure without this Forum I would have stuck this out over last year with so much calmness. So the Forum has already done much to support Lotus!!

Having said that I do like this family brand dedication atmosphere that seems to prevail so maybe you cannot have everything as one does not go without another!

[pfoster@fiberbyte.com]

We don't really have what I would call an 'enthusiast' car dealer here in Adelaide with a city of over a million people. Companies put up the shingle and sell fancy cars. I for one would be keen to promote the brand here - for one it helps my resale value when the supercharged version comes along

Actually, Lotus, want to sponsor me to enter the Classic Adelaide Rally with my new Evora later in the year? If it is delivered by then, late November. This is a motorsport event that people come to from all over the world to drive through our wonderful Adelaide hills. If Lotus Australia were part of this forum, I'd offer them my services to promote the car at the event and the public exhibition days.

[BC007]

Maybe Lotus should have an open day at the factory. The idea is to encourage prestige car owners who are considering a new model to drive the current line up around the test track. Give them a few laps with the factory driver then swap over. Combine this with a tour of the factory and let them experience the passion and friendliness of the Lotus family. This might just win them over.

[SimonR]

A deal with Best of the Best to get cars seen at the right airport locations.

[alan]

Some good points here. With the devlopment of the car Lotus have (as usual) done an amazing job with a limited budget, they need to do the same with the marketing - smart and inventive without spending big bucks.

The web site badly needs updating - some of the Lotus dealers have done a better job with car configurators etc than Lotus themselves. Move on from the faceless people campaign - it was clever but its now in the past.

Every Evora that Lotus own should be out and about at events to be seen by as many people as possible. Dealers can help here as can enthusiastic owners once they get their cars. Jaguar once lent me one of the XKRs from the James Bond film for a show I was organising. Lotus need to do the same sort of thing, an Evora at a smaller local show can often have a huge impact as it has less "competition" from other exotica.

Finally a suggestion that would be easy and cheap to do - how about a screensaver featuring lots of nice photos of the cars (perhaps also a few of the other cars / classic F1 cars etc). There are 100s if not 1000s of enthusiasts and potential customers that would download this onto their work PCs where it will be seen by 1000s more people.

Alan

[mail@stefan-boehm.de]

Maybe Lotus should have an open day at the factory.

Sep 22nd please

[SimonR]

How do you get the Evora for GT5 on the playstation?

[TomE]

GT5 Prologue covered here.

[Beady]

I think a careful bit of product placement would do wonders and as already mentioned by somebody, a Bond movie would be a great place to start if possible.

The website really needs sorting too - no price info, no decent pictures or colour combos.

Then the car just needs to be seen, everywhere, particularly at car events.

It also needs to get into the press more - unfortunately paparazzi pics seem to work.

Perhaps jay kay taking delivery...

However, as long as lotus can sell their (low) target numbers then better to keep it exclusive for residual values.

[x6gas]

These days product placement in something like a Bond movie costs gazillions and with Lotus' small volume it just wouldn't pay I'm afraid; it's a different world to when the Esprit featured in The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only.

Must admit that it drove me crazy that when Aston Martin was still owned by Ford every bloody car in the Bond movies was a Ford or made by a Ford-owned company - even to the point of Daniel Craig driving a Ford Focus in Casino Royale...

Still I think the Ford deal is up so perhaps Proton will step in and we'll see Bond driving a Savvy chasing the bad guy in an Evora!

With limited resources Lotus should be using the web and social networking to do some viral marketing. Ducati do a stunning job in that regard and the proposition isn't that different. As others have mentioned, the website should be the first port of call; it just doesn't contain enough information and I'd also vote for as many photos of the Evora and not just the staid initial press pics.

Other than that, I'd love to see an Evora campaigned in one of the British motorsport championships...

[alan]

Is there any interest in the Evora / classic lotus screensaver idea? If so perhaps we could do this ourselves rather than rely on Lotus? As they say on Top Gear - how hard could it be?

Alan

[Bibs]

I think it's a good idea all the same, for the Evora or not! The problem may be if we do it that there will be copyright issues on pics etc, we'd need permission from the owners to use them.

[x6gas]

Not beyond the wit of man though... and it's a great idea.

Perhaps if it could be put together we could then seek formal endorsement from Lotus?

[Bibs]

Do we need formal endorsement? They have a big legal dept but it's not impossible.

[x6gas]

Better to have the official Lotus imprimatur if possible, I'd have thought, and to have it distributed via their website but neither is essential...

I know nothing about making screensavers so not sure if some of the programs that add your own photos are viable but I might be able to help with paperwork / release forms for the photographs.

[Bibs]

Cool, I'll look into the software

[TomE]

Here's an offer for anyone at the factory or any dealer who wants to take it up

I got my paperwork today for my space at Wings & Wheels at Dunsfold on 30 August. If someone wants to get an Evora there, it can park in my place amongst the Elises, Esprits, 2-11s, Excels, Elans etc from SELOC and LEF. If logistics are an issue, I "could" pick up and return a car from wherever! I'd even do some (commission free) chatting to people about the car

I'm near Glasgow the day before, so could pick a car up from almost anywhere in the country

About 20,000 people turn up for this celebration of cars and planes, with lots of car clubs in attendance. The only airworthy Vulcan bomber will be flying, as well as a Spitfire, Eurofighter Typhoon, Chinook and various plane and chopper display teams. A great family day out!