CHICAGO, June 1, 2023 – Cars.com™ (NYSE: CARS), a leading online car marketplace, has announced a significant brand upgrade to mark its 25th anniversary. This refresh includes a modern brand identity and a new advertising campaign centered around the theme “Where to next?”, signaling the company’s forward-looking vision for the future of car buying and selling. For the first time in its history, Cars.com is introducing a redesigned logo, honoring its legacy of innovation and establishing itself as the premier destination with advanced Cars.com Selling Tools for both buyers and sellers in the automotive industry.
Elevating User Experience with New Brand Attributes and Selling Tools
Understanding the shared objective of consumers and dealers – a seamless car selling and buying experience – Cars.com’s rebranding emphasizes ease of use and efficiency, particularly within its suite of cars.com selling tools. The new brand attributes are designed to enhance every user interaction, ensuring a smoother path from listing to sale.
- Refreshed Brand Campaign: “Possibilities”: This campaign captures the excitement of car buying and selling, driven by life’s changing needs. Cars.com positions itself as the facilitator for the next chapter in every driver’s life, providing the platform and selling tools to make transitions effortless.
- New Tagline: “Where to next?”: This tagline speaks directly to consumers and sellers, highlighting the opportunities unlocked by Cars.com. For sellers, this means reaching a broader audience and utilizing advanced cars.com selling tools to navigate the selling process and move forward.
- Updated Logo: The dynamic logo represents Cars.com’s central role in connecting consumers and retailers, emphasizing its function in driving the automotive industry forward. Its transparency reflects the company’s commitment to trust and confidence, crucial elements for both buyers and sellers utilizing the platform and its cars.com selling tools.
A 25-Year Evolution of Car Selling and Buying Solutions
Throughout its 25-year history, Cars.com has consistently adapted to market changes, from economic shifts to technological advancements, always focusing on simplifying car buying and selling. This evolution has solidified Cars.com’s position as a leader, particularly in providing effective cars.com selling tools and reaching a vast audience:
- Over 28 million unique monthly shoppers¹
- Ranked as the No. 1 brand in its category²
- Top-ranked automotive app with the most downloads³
- Largest repository of user-generated dealership reviews⁴
- Cutting-edge technology designed to streamline the often complex process of buying or selling a vehicle, offering comprehensive cars.com selling tools to simplify each step.
Jennifer Vianello, chief marketing officer at Cars.com, stated, “Celebrating our 25th anniversary with a new brand positioning and logo marks a pivotal moment for Cars.com. We’ve grown from a pioneering dot-com company into a comprehensive platform, offering a wealth of possibilities for car buyers and, importantly, for sellers with our robust cars.com selling tools.” She emphasized the platform’s versatility, “Whether you’re aiming to buy or sell, manage the process online, or engage with a physical retailer, Cars.com is engineered to empower user choice and provide the necessary cars.com selling tools for a successful transaction.”
Modernizing the Selling Experience with Advanced Cars.com Selling Tools
The “Possibilities” campaign underscores how both shoppers and sellers can leverage Cars.com’s extensive inventory access and its newly enhanced cars.com selling tools to achieve their goals in the automotive marketplace. Developed in collaboration with Leo Burnett Worldwide, the campaign features three 30-second commercials that illustrate consumers at different life stages needing a vehicle. These commercials, along with other creative content, will be featured across various media channels, aiming to reach 90% of the target audience between June and August.
Each commercial concludes with a shopper driving away from a dealership, highlighting Cars.com’s dedication to supporting local automotive retail and the critical role dealerships play in the final stages of a sale. This support extends to providing dealerships with advanced cars.com selling tools to better connect with and serve these customers.
Vianello further explained, “While much of the car buying and selling journey has moved online, most consumers still value test driving and completing their purchase at a local dealership. Cars.com is uniquely positioned to bridge the online and offline experience, equipping both consumers and dealers with tools to streamline every aspect of this journey, including offering comprehensive cars.com selling tools that enhance the entire selling process.”
Cars.com’s “Possibilities” campaign, featuring the new logo and a focus on improved cars.com selling tools, is now live. The new TV commercials are available on the company’s YouTube page.
¹ Cars.com, Earnings Report, Q1 2023 ² Cars.com Brand Tracker Survey, Q1 2023 ³ Data.ai, Total App downloads, April 2023 ⁴ Cars.com Active Reviews, Sept. 2022 – May 2023
About CARS.COM INC.
Cars.com Inc. (CARS) is a leading automotive marketplace platform, delivering a suite of digital solutions that link car shoppers and sellers. Founded in 1998, Cars.com, headquartered in Chicago, provides shoppers with essential data, resources, and digital tools to make well-informed purchasing decisions and seamlessly connect with car retailers. In today’s dynamic market, CARS empowers dealerships and OEMs with innovative tech solutions and data-driven insights to effectively engage ready-to-buy shoppers, boost inventory turnover, and expand market share, utilizing advanced cars.com selling tools.
Alongside Cars.com, CARS brands include Dealer Inspire, which offers technology solutions for dealership efficiency and enhanced digital experiences; FUEL, leveraging Cars.com’s engaged audience to amplify digital video effectiveness for dealers and OEMs; DealerRater, a premier platform for dealer reviews and reputation management; CreditIQ, specializing in automotive fintech; and Accu-Trade, a leader in vehicle acquisition technology and valuation data. For more information, please visit www.cars.com.
SOURCE Cars.com Inc.
