Subaru of America, the automaker, is working with a diverse range of digital partners – from Amazon to Edmunds and Cars.com – as it seeks to reach online consumers in impactful ways.

Robert Font, director/digital communications at Subaru of America, discussed this subject at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2018 Data and Analytics Conference.

He said: "We sell a lot of different products. We have family sedans and we have business sedans. These cars appeal to very different audiences.” (For more details, read WARC’s in-depth report: For Subaru, great storytelling comes before good data.)

“For us, it’s important to really first identify: what’s the objective? Then we look for the information that we need to carry that message.”

A case in point involved the launch of the automaker’s Crosstrek compact sport utility vehicle last year. “We used some unique data centers,” said Font.

And, he revealed, some of the media placements landed the vehicle in places where cars traditionally have not travelled. “Amazon’s a really good partner of ours,” Font explained.

“Its consumer poll really gave us an idea of how we can execute a campaign that gets in front of audiences who are doing searches on Amazon for things like outdoor gear or extreme sports – items that tie into the Crosstrek.”

And people who followed the banner ads on Amazon that paired Subaru up with items relevant to their search were led to an “environment that was very Amazon-like”. In that digital manner, Font said, “we created a shopping experience”.

The results of the Amazon adventure? “We saw about a 25% lift in Crosstrek brand awareness,” Font told delegates at the ANA assembly.

People shopping for a vehicle also frequently look to third-party resources about new and used cars – and they often ignore auto brands’ owned websites.

For people seeking third-party validation, Font said “we also work with partners like Edmunds and Cars.com to insert ourselves in a way that’s different. We try to co-create in the voice of those publishers."

Why is that important? “Because we want consumers to take away the same message that they hear about Subaru, no matter what touchpoint it is.”

Sourced from WARC