Carlender.com, Coral Gables, FL, plans to launch an aggressive ad campaign in the late second quarter designed to lure customers to its Web site by offering low-cost auto-loan refinancing. The company, a subsidiary of Auto Finance of America, also in Coral Gables, is planning to incorporate postal direct mail, radio and online advertising, according to Nick Molina, CEO of Carlender. He said specific details about the campaign have not yet been finalized.
The company launched a marketing partnership yesterday with financial services Web site Gomez.com that makes it Gomez’s first auto-financing partner. The Gomez agreement links the two sites and offers Gomez consumers a $50 rebate if they refinance their auto loan through Carlender.
The direct mail campaign will target consumers who have recently purchased a car from a dealer or obtained a loan. The company also will seek to market its service as a method of financing private, consumer-to-consumer transactions, although Molina said such customers are more difficult to target through direct mail than those who have purchased from a dealer.
“The direct mail will focus on the refinancing message,” he said. “We’ll focus on people who already have a loan and offer them a chance to lower their payments.”
Meanwhile, Molina said Carlender was seeking a new advertising agency to handle the campaign. He declined to identify the agencies involved in the review. A decision is expected within a month, he said.
