Automotive Event Ideas: From Trade Shows to Model Reveals
Here at Sleek we recognise the fiercely competitive landscape that marketers need to navigate within the automotive industry.
To make an impact, it is important to help your target market foster an emotional connection with your vehicles, which could then lead to a purchasing decision and evolve into brand loyalty.
So, if you’re an industry professional looking to engage with your target audience, you may consider incorporating immersive experiences and automotive shows to engage with potential buyers.
But, what’s right for you and your target market?
Here we recommend some car event ideas to help you determine what aligns best with your brand and helps achieve your aims and objectives.
5 Exciting Automotive Event Ideas
Model Reveal Events
Automotive model reveal events are stylised showcases where new vehicle models are revealed to the public.
These events provide the opportunity for vehicle brands to present a new model with all the drama it deserves, placing it in a perfectly-designed environment and upping the anticipation before the reveal.
Through attentive design and technical production, brands can deliver a spectacle that not only makes the event memorable, but presents the vehicle as a have-to-have commodity.
Benefits:
PR: By inviting media, influencers, fans, and industry professionals, it is possible to create an online buzz around the event that greatly increases its reach. And, by adapting the event to the modern age through elements like live-streaming or AR and VR, you can bring a global audience to the reveal.
Expert Guidance: The availability of sales professionals and industry experts allows potential buyers to gain important insight into the vehicle that could fast-track their purchasing decision.
Potential for On-the-Spot Conversion: If attendees enjoy the experience, love the vehicle, and feel they want to take the next step, it’s possible to begin the sales journey immediately.
2. Automotive trade shows
Automotive trade shows give attendees the chance to come and view a selection of vehicles, appreciating their design in a space that’s set up especially to highlight their features.
They can’t necessarily test drive the cars, but can certainly interact with them.
These experiences are excellent for capturing the imagination of car enthusiasts, casual motorists, and potential buyers.
Benefits:
Variety: Car shows tend to attract both automotive brands and collectors, adding to the diversity of the displays. At a car show, you could see concept cars from big brands, classic cars owned by collectors, and high performance cars rarely spotted on the road.
Engagement: Car shows present fantastic opportunities to promote audience engagement. By running competitions and giveaways, it’s possible to gain a lot of leads for future marketing efforts.
Organic Reach: By their nature, these shows offer plenty of opportunities for shareable content. From wide shots capturing the overall event design to selfies with the models, attendees will naturally share the event on social media, using their followings to promote it organically.
3. Showcase Events
Showcases give manufacturers and dealers the opportunity to present an array of vehicles to industry representatives, media, and auto enthusiasts.
Unlike a launch or reveal, these events don’t necessarily need to showcase brand new models. They can be used to bring attention to existing vehicle ranges as well as classic models.
These events allow for creative design that embodies the brand and offer many opportunities for experiential marketing, from presentations by executives or experts to interactive displays.
Benefits:
Brand-Specific Marketing: By showcasing an array of vehicles, it is possible to offer a more holistic view of the quality and lifestyle associated with the brand. This is a valuable step in building the emotional connection that can lead to brand loyalty.
Full Creative Control: A dedicated showcase allows a brand to tailor the space and feel of the event to suit its ethos. Instead of having to share the space with other manufacturers or retailers, the brand can transform the location into an environment that inspires the passion that is specific to its own DNA.
Opportunity to Convert New Customers: Through a showcase, a brand can introduce itself to casual attendees in more detail. By creatively bringing in elements that detail the history and ideals of the brand, a showcase can immerse attendees in the lifestyle that is possible through the brand’s vehicles.
4. AUTOMOTIVE SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES
These are events that allow brands, thought leaders, and professionals in the automotive industry to come together to share ideas that promote progress in the market as a whole.
Through presentations and keynote speeches, masterclasses, think tanks, and networking opportunities, automotive summits are excellent ways of perpetuating knowledge.
But, with excellent design and production, they also have the opportunity to inspire attendees, leaving them with a memorable experience that they associate with the brand that made it possible.
Benefits:
Establishing Thought Leadership: Hosting a conference is an excellent way of establishing a position of thought leadership in the industry. Even if the speeches and presentations are delivered by experts from other brands or elsewhere in the industry, the conference host is always associated with the new thinking brought to light.
Brand Visibility: Conferences attract professionals from all over the globe. Through the buzz generated by a well-delivered event, it is possible to increase a brand’s visibility through media coverage, social sharing, and word-of-mouth.
Relationship Building: Summits and conferences are extremely useful in attracting talent. Through the networking opportunities made available, a brand can connect with new thinkers to bring into its fold as well as foster potential collaborations with other brands.
5. DRIVING AND LIFESTYLE EXPERIENCES
If automotive brands want to really immerse their target audience in the feeling and lifestyle of their vehicles, driving and lifestyle experiences are an excellent choice.
These events can include anything from testing the limits of a vehicle around a race track, enjoying a longer drive on stretches of public road, or experiencing world-class hospitality at famous motoring events.
Benefits:
Creating Tangibility: Certain manufacturers have an air of exclusivity about them, which can be a useful asset when it comes to brand image. But, it might also serve to dissuade potential customers. Running experiences can make a brand seem more accessible to achievable audiences who may have previously seen its vehicles as out-of-reach.
McLaren Experiences, for example, use this to their advantage. These experiences have the ability to turn their cars from a pipe dream into a possibility for some potential customers.
Versatility: There is no set formula for experiences, meaning these can be created and scaled to suit any brand’s requirements. Sport brands may prefer high-octane track experiences while luxury brands, on the other hand, may focus on hospitality events.
Memorability: Being able to interact with a vehicle is one thing, but being able to experience the lifestyle it brings is something entirely more engaging. Automotive experiences are highly memorable events that can lay the foundation not just for customer acquisition but for long-term loyalty.
Find the Right Automotive Event for Your Business
Whether it’s a vehicle model launch or an all-encompassing experience, there is an event for every type of vehicle enthusiast. And, similarly, there’s one for every type of automotive business.
Whether you are looking to sell cars, increase community engagement, or up the thrill factor associated with your brand, automotive events can be extremely effective if properly planned and delivered.
If you are inspired by these car event ideas and need help in bringing them to life, speak to Sleek! Our team has all the skills and experience necessary to have your next event firing on all cylinders.
