IGNITION – The first-ever retail automotive research company that covers all aspects of a dealer's business. Media/awareness/vehicle consumption/consumer preference – All are offered under Ignition's umbrella of services

 

 

 

 


TUNDRA TERRITORY – Syndicated truck campaign adopted by Toyota dealers in the Southeast and Gulf States regions.

 

 

 


MARKET SCIENCE® – A research program that isolates intender-based media buying for the individual dealer, giving a dealer the same information that the factory uses, but condensed down to his area of opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 


THE HISPANIC EDGE™ – Hispanic customer research that determines proper media placement and creative executions for Hispanic buyers, giving the dealer and factory a better understanding of Hispanic customers in relation to automotive advertising.

 

 

 


GREENLIGHT USED CARS™ – The most effective used car advertising campaign in years. Greenlight Used Cars establishes a brand for dealers who are trying to increase traffic in used cars.

 

 

 


DOCUMENTED SAVINGS™ – Created by implementing a procedure in the F&I process in which customers give in writing their actual savings amount on their purchase, creating the truest sense of a testimonial ever available to a dealership's advertising message.

 

 

 

Thirty Years of Automotive Advertising Innovation

 

The Strong family has a longstanding reputation of excellence and innovation in the automotive advertising, marketing and merchandising community. In 1978, Mike Strong established Strong Automotive Merchandising, one of the first automotive advertising agencies in the U.S.

 		 Early on, Mike Strong coined the term "automotive merchandising" as he built his first agency dedicated to individual dealer advertising. Strong Automotive Merchandising later became Intermark Group, Inc., one of nation’s top 150 advertising agencies.

In the early 1980s, Strong Automotive Merchandising guided Chevrolet in the creation of Dealer Marketing Groups, starting with the Jacksonville Big 5 in Florida. Mike further assisted Chevrolet through the creation of his signature vehicles program, starting with the introduction of "Thunder Trucks" for Chevrolet associations. Mike Strong developed "Step-Selling" and other innovative merchandising programs during his work with Chevrolet DMAs in the early 1980s.  The "Step-Selling" concept was adopted nationwide.

Building on the success of the Dealer Marketing Group model, Strong Automotive Merchandising assisted in developing import dealer groups, beginning with Nissan.

Strong Automotive Merchandising became the premier automotive agency by offering a complete menu of advertising services in-house, including broadcast production and direct mail.

  • Mike Strong helped to pioneer syndicated automotive programs. These programs have been a big part of his career with SmartCars having aired in more than 200 markets.
  • In-house automotive production studios were unheard of when Mike Strong opened a full-service facility in 1982 that later became Vazda Studios in Birmingham, AL.
  • Strong Automotive Merchandising then introduced automotive direct mail, offering the service in-house under the name Impact Direct Mail.

In 2004 Mike Strong once again transformed the automotive advertising scene by founding a new automotive advertising agency in partnership with his son, John Paul Strong. As a result of this partnership, Strong,LLC, an automotive intelligence company, was born.

 


 		 John Paul Strong has been the driver for many automotive advertising innovations, including "Market Research," "Minority Market Research" and "The Hispanic Edge."
  • John Paul has taken automotive market research to a new level with "Market Science," which focuses on market preferences, traits and buying habits of automotive customers.
  • Minority Market Research is the new direction of "Ignition," the research arm of Strong, LLC.  With the “The Hispanic Edge” program, new insight to the habits and preferences of this growing community are now available.
  • "The Hispanic Edge" is the newest buyer-based research program of "Market Science" developed by John Paul Strong.  The program has been implemented in South Florida, and has proven very beneficial to both import and domestic dealers.

John Paul has followed in his father’s footsteps through innovation of automotive advertising in the information age. Dealership web address promotion was one of the many innovations he brought to individual dealer advertising, with the URL appearing as an icon.  He furthered the impact of this concept by buying specific media schedules to promote a dealership’s URL as a destination point.

John Paul Strong created the phrase “Tundra Territory” for use in advertising by individual Toyota dealers.  He also developed the "Tundra Thunder" signature truck.

He also pioneered the use of Finance and Insurance (F&I) as an automotive advertising tool.  John Paul Strong created a “Documented Savings” program that tracks total buyer savings, with information certified by F&I during closing.

Strong, LLC focuses on new cars as well as certified pre-owned cars. With the development of "Greenlight Used Cars," Strong clients have an exclusive used-car presence in their markets.

Celebrating more than thirty years of excellence, innovation and success in automotive advertising, Strong, LLC is a leader in creative, market-focused and award-winning television and radio production, and Internet lead management and sales.