Jaguar Cars created a Web site for Jaguar Select Edition, the luxury automaker's certified pre-owned vehicle program in the United States.
The microsite at www.jaguarusa.com/selectedition is yet another online location for Jaguar to connect its target audience with car models, an action intended as a prelude to a dealer visit.
“We're speaking to people who first and foremost want to own a Jaguar,” said Patricia Griffin Morisette, pre-owned brand manager for Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover in Irvine, CA. “Our target is a little more price-conscious than the new-car target. Select Edition offers them an affordable and reliable option.”
The site was designed by Global Beach, a London-based independent business application service provider with an office in Irvine. Visitors can research each Jaguar Select Edition model, options available and the benefits of buying a used vehicle.
Another feature on the site is a personality indicator that lets users define their driving priorities. Based on these preferences, the site suggests the pertinent Select Edition vehicle to fit their lifestyle. Specifications are included for further detail.
Users click on the “Match Your Style” tab to the right of the site. Once in, they are asked to move the slider on five bars listed to find their ideal Jaguar. Visitors move the slider between weekend and weekday, family and friends, laid back and fast living, metro and suburban, and sun and snow.
Once the choices are made and matched, the site pulls up recommendations on the next page: details about the car suggested, an extra tip for another Jaguar from the portfolio and comparisons between the two cars. Users also can download a PDF spec sheet or return to the slider page.
“Later this year, plans call for a used-vehicle locator that will allow users to find the exact vehicle they're looking for in their area,” said Bryan MacGillivray, account director at Global Beach. “Right now most folks go to a dealer locator where they find a retailer in their area. Then they'll start working with the dealer to find the car they're looking for.”
The site also links to Jaguar Select Edition Racing. This program has entered its second season with two 400-horsepower vintage Jaguar E-Types participating in historical racing events nationwide.
The “Match Your Style” feature serves to monitor user preferences and filter traffic to the automaker's site. It is also gaining popularity, albeit in different variations.
For example, General Motors Corp. debuted the site at www.findyourstyle.com to boost sales in California, the nation's largest car market, where it leads Toyota and Ford by only a whisker. That site, created by McCann-Erickson San Francisco and sibling Zentropy Partners, Los Angeles, matches the personality of prospects with the 65 models in GM's car roster.
GM rival Ford Motor Co. owns Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover.
“Jaguar challenged us to create a microsite that would increase the focus and awareness of the Select Edition brand as well as build and maintain its customer base,” MacGillivray said. “This site is achieving its initial goals in trying to support the Jaguar sales team.”
The Jaguar Select Edition site is supported with online marketing on various pre-owned car Web sites like Autobytel, Yahoo Autos, Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds. More traditional media support also is planned.
Jaguar has not had focus groups to gain feedback on the personality indicator. But it is measuring traffic to all parts of the site. Since the site's debut in October, it has recorded 227,512 unique visitors, 307,729 visitor sessions, 667,075 page impressions and 26,410 PDF downloads.
“We're taking an integrated approach,” Morisette said. “Through consistent look and feel, we'll reassure consumers that every pre-owned vehicle we sell is and always will be a Jaguar.
“In terms of consumer reaction, the best measurement is always sales,” she said, “but it's important for us to track movement between other areas of our new car sites to leverage all of our communications.”
