2024 is in the rearview and the first quarter of the twenty-first century is certainly finishing with a bang. To say 2024 was eventful is an understatement. Here’s a look back at the biggest stories in digital marketing and automotive for 2024.
A.I. Trends:
A.I. went full mainstream this year with people relying on generative models to do everything from writing essays, to generating written and visual content for marketing. While some businesses are handing over the keys entirely, I’d caution against that. “Written” material tends to be soulless, and A.I. can struggle to understand your brand. And as far as visual content, A.I. loves to misspell text, add 6 fingers, and find a way to add something weird and awful to an otherwise brilliant image. Use in moderation, and double-check everything!
STRIKE!:
The big 3 U.S. automakers had some labor challenges this year, which put pressure on supply chains. Insert flashbacks here… Thankfully, disputes were resolved without too much disruption.
Too Big to Fail:
The CDK disaster was a headache for a lot of dealers, especially for those fully integrating CDK into all their departments. Estimated losses from parts and service sales is estimated at over a billion dollars. Dealers have been consolidating vendors into fewer and fewer baskets in the past several years. This was a wakeup call that a bit of diversity is a good thing.
Elections Have Consequences:
With Donald Trump re-elected to the White House, it signals only one certainty, change. At this point no one really knows what will happen, but many suspect the $7500 federal incentive on electric will be removed. That could tank electric sales, and automaker’s investments in electric manufacturing. Possibly even more impactful is the threat of 25% tariffs with Mexico and Canada, which could result in all types or retaliation tariffs, exploding costs on a very integrated cross border manufacturing process. With China overproducing automobiles and dumping them on markets, one would hope we do everything that can be done to keep North American auto manufacturing strong.
Getting Hitched:
Honda and Nissan announcing their intended merger is kind-of a big deal. Nissan has struggled to compete in a tight market with Korean giants Hyundai/Kia continuing to grow their market share. Pressure from China within Asia and Europe doesn’t help. However this shakes out, it certainly means even more disruption in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Next day shipping – Hyundai?:
Amazon announced it is selling Hyundai cars online. Frankly, it’s surprising it took this long for the online giant to get in the game, it’s been suspected and rumored for years. How big will the buy-in be from shoppers? And what will that mean for brick-and-mortar dealerships? Disruption is again on the menu for 2025.
Google’s Cookie Monster:
2024 was earmarked for the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome, but that seems to be on pause, opting instead for a “Privacy Sandbox” approach. With privacy regulators, U.S. based suits, and advertiser concerns in the mix, Google is taking the time to carefully consider what the future looks like.
Video Reigns Supreme:
With more ad formats accepting video, and popular video-based platforms like TikTok monopolizing viewers screen time, video marketing has become an increasingly effective marketing strategy. With AI options available (like sMedia’s very cost-effective option as an example), the barrier to integrate good video into dealership marketing has been significantly lowered.
TikTok Drama:
TikTok has been under attack in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., the supreme court is set to rule on the law that demands that parent company Bytedance divest itself of Chinese ownership. Trump has asked the court to pause the law from taking effect in hopes he can work to negotiate a path forward. If the law takes affect, the app would be banned from U.S. app stores and from being hosted by American internet providers.
On the Canadian side, the government ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business, but the app will continue to be available to Canadians, which for users it seems, would likely mean no change.
2024 was a doozy, and 2025 is shaping up to be very interesting. We’ll do our best to keep you informed.
Terry Bell
sMedia Team
