Increasing the Traction

One could say Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. is looking for better mileage with its newest model – a revamped Web site slated to debut this spring.

The goal of the redesign is give customers more ways to interact with the carmaker online, so they’ll stay at the site longer and strengthen the brand relationship.

“We need to increase the `stickiness,'” says Kris Narayanan, database marketing manager of the Rockleigh, NJ-based company. “There were a lot of cursory visits to the site. People were going there one time but not coming back.”

Last year, Volvo partnered with San Francisco-based Personify Inc. to study clickstream data to determine what the patterns of its visitors were. This data helped decide what direction the revamp of the manufacturer’s core site (www.volvocars.com) would take.

“In 1998, we didn’t have a viable system for determining which customer segments were visiting the Web site,” notes Narayanan.

Working with Personify enabled Volvo to get a better picture of how their customer base would like to interact online. For example, only a small percentage of visitors to the site turned off cookies, meaning they’re not adverse to the automaker keeping track of their movements throughout the domain.

Neither the main site nor niche sites created for specific promotions (such as SwedenRules.com, where visitors could track the progress of fictional Swedish Volvo driver Lars across the U.S.) are currently personalized, but that feature is under consideration.

“The debate is what level of personalization is relevant to the audience,” says Narayanan, noting he doesn’t see the point in personalizing if there’s no useful benefit to the consumer, or the consumer doesn’t want that type of contact.

Volvo, which has been online since 1994, is well aware of who that core Volvo consumer is: someone in their mid-40s who is “very married” (85% to 90% of its owners have spouses), and has an income in the low-$100,000 range.

The mission of its car owner site (www.owners.volvocars.com) is to “manage the ownership experience efficiently.” Narayanan notes that much like Saturn owners feel they’re in their own personal car club, so do Volvo drivers. While he doesn’t feel a strong need to create community online, there is a void to build forums to foster that spirit on the Web, which will be addressed during the redesign.

Little in the way of consumer information is currently being captured online by Volvo. E-mail addresses have been collected in some promotions – 100,000 people registered to get e-mail updates on Lars’ trek across the country, for example – but other than soliciting requests for car brochures, visitors have been asked to provide few details about themselves.

Narayanan notes that with the redesign, Volvo may request more data to help enhance visitors’ time online. Owners who provide their vehicle identification numbers, for instance, could receive updates on when they need maintenance or notices about recall information.

The Web sites received a total of 5 million unique visitors in 1999, more than double the 2 million visitors who clicked through in 1998.

OFF THE E-ROAD

Of course, Volvo also communicates with its owners offline. One key medium is a custom publication, Volvo Magazine, which is sent free to 250,000 subscribers who have purchased a Volvo vehicle within the past four years. The subscription is sent automatically to new car buyers, who are free to opt-out at any time.

The automotive company’s complete database includes information on 1.5 million purchased vehicles that are on the road, each of which may have had multiple owners. The database – which is currently not completely integrated with information such as e-mail addresses collected online – is enhanced with public information.

Volvo uses this database for customized direct mail communications, timed to events such as recognizing when an owner might be ready for a new vehicle (typically 36 to 40 months after initial purchase).

The ROI of targeted direct mail like this is admittedly easier to track than the success of online branding efforts like the SwedenRules promotion. But Narayanan sees the benefit of these efforts, for they help sell the active and fun “lifestyle” of a Volvo owner.

Another such campaign – in a more serious-driver vein – is currently under way. Car aficionados interested in the nuts and bolts of the design process can register to receive updates on the production of the new V70, scheduled to debut in April.