Campaign Imminent: TrueCar taps PR AOR (Score 56)

TrueCar recently appointed ICF Next as its PR AOR after an RFP process. The agency will focus on corporate and consumer initiatives centered around building excitement and engagement for TrueCar's expanding offering. Initially, ICF Next is developing campaigns such as DrivenToDrive, TrueCar's philanthropic program, and it's working to launch TrueCar+ in FL. The company plans to expand TrueCar+ to additional states this year. Additional recent regional launches include Sell Your Car and home-delivery features.

According to TrueCar corporate communications VP Noreen Pratscher, this hire comes at a "pivotal juncture" for the company "as it continues to build a modern-day marketplace that makes car shopping easy."

TrueCar's team is also growing; in September, it hired brand marketing VP Allison Mac and growth and customer marketing VP Brian Kindle. Mac previously served as GasBuddy's marketing director and communications head, while Kindle previously served as Groupon's global head of customer, owned and managed channel marketing.

According to iSpot, TrueCar hasn't utilized national TV since spending around $722.6k on commercials in 2021, mostly in Q1. The company's estimated full-year 2021 spend reached $5.3m. TrueCar's 2021 commercials targeted millennials watching shows such as The Ingraham Angle, CNN Tonight With Don Lemon, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CNN Newsroom With Brianna Keilar and American Dad.

So far this year, Pathmatics reports the company has allocated roughly $522.8k toward digital ads, less than half of the roughly $1.2m it had allocated by this point last year. TrueCar ended up allocating roughly $1.9m toward this channel in 2021, down 46% from the roughly $3.5m it allocated in 2020. The company has earned ~66.6m digital impressions YTD via Instagram (97%), desktop display (2%) and Facebook (1%) ads.

Hopefully, upcoming work from TrueCar's new PR AOR will mean higher spend; in the meantime, the company may need additional assistance increasing ROI. As far as consumers are concerned, TrueCar typically targets millennials and Gen-X. It also targets companies in need of auto-buying programs. These 250+ brands include AARP, Sam's Club, Navy Federal Credit Union and American Express. Per Kantar data, TrueCar also invests in print (B2B magazines) and local broadcast.

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