Automotive Retail Struggles With Broken Content Pipeline
Automotive retail faces a broken content pipeline. Dealers have invested heavily in websites, marketplaces, and customer relationship management systems, yet the creative assets feeding these channels move through a fragmented chain involving original equipment manufacturers, agencies, national sales companies, dealer groups, and individual dealerships. Jens-Peter Sjöberg, chief innovation officer at Phyron, explains that when an OEM approves a new retail or finance offer, that marks only the beginning. The creative assets then require production, resizing, adaptation, approval, and distribution across different models, retailers, locations, and channels. In some cases, generating assets for a single offer can consume up to two weeks.
The commercial consequences of these delays are significant. Approximately one-third of automotive co-op funding remains unclaimed annually, amounting to roughly £7.5 billion globally. This waste primarily stems from retailers failing to produce compliant creative materials quickly enough to access available funds. The same content often gets recreated repeatedly across hundreds of dealerships, with each location rebuilding variations from the same original offer. While the industry has improved at adding digital channels, it has neglected to streamline the production pipeline supporting them.
A functional content pipeline would start with OEMs standardizing offers, vehicle information, and creative guidelines. Dealer groups and individual dealerships could then select the relevant vehicle, promotion, location, and channel. Required videos, imagery, banners, and messaging could be generated automatically within the OEM’s approved framework. Dealership staff could promote a Toyota, Kia, or Volvo offer and publish it without initiating a new creative request. This approach would strengthen brand consistency for OEMs while enabling retailers to act faster and incorporate local relevance. It would also eliminate a key production bottleneck where the commercial offer exists but cannot be converted into usable content in time.
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The problem extends beyond campaign production. Most automotive technology platforms focus on isolated stages of the buyer’s journey—such as advertising, vehicle listings, lead management, sales, servicing, or retention—rather than supporting the entire process. While these systems function well individually, few integrate seamlessly across all customer touchpoints. A potential buyer might click an advertisement for a used vehicle but ultimately purchase a new one due to a better deal. The retailer’s role should not be limited to selling the initial vehicle that attracted attention but instead to understanding customer demand and guiding them toward the right vehicle across the entire dealer network.
After a purchase, customers could receive personalized videos thanking them, introducing their new vehicle, and explaining next steps. Subsequent communications might cover servicing schedules, maintenance products, or relevant accessories. As finance agreements near their end, retailers could present tailored replacement vehicles and financing options based on existing customer data. Currently, this journey contains too many gaps. Buyers encounter polished advertising initially but later receive generic communications once they become known prospects or customers. The ideal approach reverses this: as retailers gather more customer insights, the content should become increasingly relevant.
