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AI & Automation: Untapped Opportunities for Dealer Success

AI in Action: Practical Use Cases for Automotive Marketers

4 major automotive events in UK, Norway, Canada, and Portugal. Also featuring a Creativity Gym for Automotive Leaders.

November turns out to be an exceptionally busy month for Phyron this year. On top of our ongoing work with dealers and partners in 25+ countries, the company’s management team will be actively engaged in four major industry events.

UK’s leading event for modern automotive retailers takes place at NEC, Birmingham. The UK industry is well represented with a large number of senior managers as speakers. Phyron’s CEO Johan Sundstrand is invited to talk about How AI and automation is transforming automotive retail.

https://www.automotivemanagementlive.co.uk/

Norway 14–15 November: Bilbransjens dager in Gardemoen.

See you and some 750 other other automotive professionals at Norway’s #1 automotive event, featuring 51 exhibitors and 43 presentations. Phyron’s Mattias Kellquist (founder) and Graeme Dengate (Strategic partnerships) will be there, at our partner Carweb’s stand.

https://www.nbf.no/arrangementer/2023/bilbransjens-dager-2023/

Canada 16–18 November: Western Canadian Dealer Summit.

The event takes place at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise on November. The list of distinguished guest speakers includes two members of Phyron’s management team, Mattias Kellquist and Graeme Dengate.

https://www.mdaalberta.com/western-canadian-dealer-summit

Portugal 17 November: Casa das Historicas Paula Rego in Cascais.

“A creativity gym for automotive Leaders” (Love that one!) In conjunction with the event, Phyron’s CEO Johan Sundstrand will appear at @Ricardö Olivera’s popular talk show World shopper 2023. He will talk about AI and Automation, and how it is changing automotive retail sales forever.

https://www.eventbrite.pt/e/registo-um-ginasio-de-criatividade-para-lideres-do-setor-automovel-734831419557?aff=oddtdtcreator

So ... Wherever you are, get your bearings right and Go! We so look forward to seeing you there.
Rolf Andersson
Phyron Writer and Editor

Find your nearest dealer event in November

Four ways to AI Automation

It’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence (AI) is selling cars as effectively as a human salesperson, and could happen as soon as 2025, says Phyron CEO Johan Sundstrand. The speed at which self-learning software is developing and being embraced by retailers means that a fully competent AI-powered sales bot is as close as 18 months away.   

This prediction comes at a time when Phyron, Swedish video tech pioneers, has made a massive leap with its own AI-powered software, by adding bespoke, fully automated voiceover to its studio quality on-brand AI videos. The voiceover functionality is initially available in over 22 languages with options for four male and four female voices in each language. Every characteristic of the voiceover can be adjusted, including the pitch, tone, speed, voice equalizer and the music gain. 

Phyron CEO and co-founder Johan Sundstrand commented: “We know the automotive retail market is more competitive now than ever before. In this environment, anything that gives your business a competitive edge and increases efficiency should be welcomed.  AI-powered videos have proven to sell cars 3 to 5 days faster, and the addition of AI-powered voiceover will only increase impact and efficiency. 

“It’s only a matter of time before the technology advances to a point where the likes of ChatGPT can get very close to how a salesperson sells cars offline. We think this could be as soon as 2025 based on the current speed of AI development and adoption,” added Sundstrand. 

Dealers looking to sell more vehicles, faster can leverage the power of AI and take full control of the custom templates at a customer, campaign or product level. Every variable in the data feed can be utilized to make an engaging voiceover to accompany the video including the intro, outros, the “why us” and the crucial call-to-action sections. Generative AI utilizing Phyron’s own Large Language Model (similar to GPT-4 software) has been specially trained and fine-tuned for the automotive retail sector to produce bespoke manuscripts on a vehicle’s key attributes. The AI can produce the voiceover from existing car ads, marketplace, and technical data. It works with any input, from 5 to 5000 words and can write the manuscript from the OEM copy, the dealers’ website or predefined templates. 

Phyron’s innovative video and AI technology is the world’s first software solution for automated video production and distribution for the global automotive industry. The unique AI software and its algorithms enable Phyron to create videos for car advertisements which can be used on OEM brand or retailer websites, as well as classifieds, across social media channels and targeted email distribution. Not only do automated videos save retailers huge amounts of time and money on video production, especially as there is no need for a salesperson to video any cars on site or prepare a script of key features, they ensure premium quality films of every single car in a firm’s inventory has an engaging video ad attached to it in minutes. 

The innovative process works by Phyron using a data feed from a retailer or car brand, including at least three still images and key product details. The AI then identifies the key properties in the images, including various shot angles, interior elements and exterior highlights, and then strips out the backgrounds and replaces them with a neutral one. The unique software then adds special effects, shadows and overlays the desired product specifics and any customer offers on the relevant images, including price and retailer dealer branding. 

Thanks to state-of-the-art cloud computing, Phyron can process an unlimited number of videos concurrently, taking about 10 minutes to render them all, posting them live on a single retailer or classified online auction site, or scale them across an entire network if needed. If a detail changes, such as price, or promotion, the data feed updates and the video is re-rendered automatically as part of the small video fee.

The team has been working with car retailers and partners since 2019 and now counts over 1,500 customers across Europe equating to 100,000 cars currently carrying a Phyron video in the ads. Since January 2021, its customers’ car videos were viewed more than 250 million times and the firm has also expanded into the North American market.

VoiceOver_uk_female_v5.mp4

Who will sell you your next car? Or maybe the better question is 'what'...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be selling cars by 2025

As we cruised through May 2023, the auto industry played host to three exhilarating events in Lisbon, Verona, and Paris. The ever-energetic Per Laredius, Phyron’s Sales Director, recounts his experiences and observations.

Embracing Change: A Shift Towards Transactional Business

It seems the auto industry is shifting gears, moving more towards transactional business. Dealerships are now venturing into the world of financial services, even tapping into the potential of online marketplaces. Another exciting twist is the increased involvement of automakers and OEMs at events primarily targeted at dealerships. For instance, at Dealer Day in Verona, Volvo was all charged up, leading the way in promoting Electric Vehicles (EVs).

AI continues to be the talk of the town. There's a palpable enthusiasm around AI and automation; it's like everyone's on a collective mission to unlock the power of these promising technologies.

Phyron’s Strategic Partnerships Manager, Nick Miro, attended the world’s first-ever conference solely dedicated to innovations in auto classifieds. The conference was a hotbed of ideas and a great platform to engage with visionary founders and executives. Interesting dialogues unfolded, especially around the concept of 'video-first'. Even companies that initially seemed out of sync with our work ended up offering valuable insights. It just goes to show that there's always something new to learn!

The Dealer Day event in Verona drove home one clear message: it's high time dealerships embraced digital. Phyron’s Italian Country Manager, Luca Zampana, took center stage, speaking about the undeniable importance of going digital in his seminar, "The Missing Link in Auto Dealerships." Tina Sadeghi, head of Phyron’s Customer Success team, echoed this sentiment, reinforcing the need for automated video and the crucial role it plays in the auto industry.

A parisian power splash: AI and Automation at EMVO

Phyron’s CEO Johan Sundstrand, French Country Manager Gaël Moysan, and Paris-based Sanjith Baboolal, an ABM and Creative specialist, made a splash at the EMVO conference in Paris. Moysan took the lead in an informative workshop, diving deep into how AI and automation can revolutionize car dealerships. The lively Q&A session that followed reaffirmed the fact that dealerships are on the front lines of a rapidly transforming industry. We're excited to see where this journey takes us!

The auto industry is shifting gears. Dealers tapping into the potential of marketplaces … going all-in on digital … video first … AI and automation in everybody’s focus.

Key Takeaways from May's Exciting Auto Industry Events

Spring is here. And there is no better place to meet it than in southern Europe: The climate. The people. The food. The dealer events ...
Here are three major events where you can learn more about the latest in automotive sales and marketing. And, not least, AI automation.

On May 9-10 we recommend beautiful Cascais in the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal. AutosBuzz is the world’s first conference entirely dedicated to innovations in automotive classifieds. If that’s your game, make sure to get in touch with the Phyron representatives Mattias Kellquist Chief Business Development Officer, Co-Founder, Graeme Dengate UK & Strategic Partnerships, Per Laredius Sales Director and Nick Miro on site and ask about the most recent innovations.
https://autosbuzzconference.com/

On May 16th-18th we invite you to visit us at Dealer Day 2023 in Verona, Italy. A beautiful place, but also the perfect meeting point for Italian and international car dealers and carmakers. See you there, at stand #49 with Per Laredius Sales Director , Tina Sadeghi Team leader of Customer Success and Luca Zampana Italian Country Manager. If you’re attending, make sure to attend our seminar on the 17th: ”The missing link in auto dealerships”.

On May 24th we highly recommend Paris and the EMVO conference for an inspiring and educational spring date. Our Johan Sundstrand CEO , Gael Moysan Country Manager for France  and Sanjith Baboolal ABM Creative Specialist will be there to make a presentation and to answer any questions you still might have regarding AI Automated car Video and Stills. And about the next big thing: applying the same mind-boggling technology to regular online ads.


 
Three destinations. One game-changing innovation. Simply pick a time and location, don’t be a stranger, we look forward to seeing you there.

 Until then, enjoy the springtime, wherever you are.

Lisbon...Verona…Paris...Find your perfect car date in May here!

Your Perfect Spring Date

Analyzing the result from 10,000 car dealer ads published in Q1 2022, a major publisher of classified ads found that Phyron’s video ads resulted in 50% more views than regular ads. Cars with video ads were also sold 3–5 days faster. Mattias Kellquist, co-founder in charge of business development at Phyron, knows why:

"Car dealers around Europe and in North America have very similar experiences. Video is simply the most effective tool to attract attention and engage buyers online. It is more life-like and more entertaining, and you can get all vital information across before the buyer gets bored. Let’s be honest, most used car ads are not that exciting, are they?”

The very first company in the automotive world to introduce a fully automated video solution was Din Bil, a leading Swedish Volkswagen dealership. Shortly thereafter, late in 2019 Peter Borelius, Head of Business Development said: “By generating and publishing unique videos for every single used car we took a giant leap to be even more visible online, and at the same time making the customer experience more attractive and vibrant.”

In Germany, in 2020, Tiemeyer was one of the first car dealerships to introduce the new solution. “And with overwhelming results”, says Carsten Ziemek, Head of Sales: “By showing videos for all cars, we definitely made a huge leap into the future. And it did not cost us a single extra man-hour!”

In the UK, several major dealers, media, and software partners were fast to adopt the new technology. Scottish dealer John Clark operates car dealerships coast-to-coast. Steven Watters, Head of Digital says: “At the end of October 2021, we had a total of 9860 videos created since we went live. Due to the fact that our Phyron videos are also shared on Auto Trader, the number of unique visitors who played these videos rose by 33% since we went live.”

In the Netherlands, Leon van Davenhorst is Chief Digital Officer at Wensink with more than 40 outlets around the country: “Video is an extremely efficient way to sell a car, and with a fully automated process, every car in our catalog is presented in the same effective way.“

In Norway 2020, Carweb, a major provider of automotive software and marketing owned by the largest media company in the Nordics, Finn.no & Schibsted, successfully introduced the solution to hundreds of dealers. Wiggo E. Ryhjell, CMO at Carweb says: “Video brings the entire buyer experience closer to a deal and has shown to speed up sales and thus cutting capital cost.”

In Finland, Susa Niemela, Chief Digital Officer at Rinta Juopin Autoliike says: We immediately recognized the opportunity to present all cars to all potential buyers in a more effective way. Especially when buyers cannot proceed to a local showroom to see the actual car. A good visual impression was always important to catch the buyers’ attention.” 

Adam Holm, Area Manager of Used Cars at Volvo Cars agrees: “This is the Future. This is what it should look like!”

In Italy, Hungary, USA, Canada, and other countries dealers and partners have similar enlightening stories to tell about Phyron’s automated car videos. To date, they have been viewed online more than 230,000,000 times. It is rapidly becoming The Greatest Car Show on Earth.

Analyzing the result from 10,000 car dealer ads published in Q1 2022, a major publisher of classified ads found that Phyron’s video ads resulted in 50% more views than regular ads.