DriveTime: “The Genius Way to Buy a Car”

DriveTime, announced the launch of its “The Genius Way to Buy a Car” campaign this week.

The national spots showcase two fictional brainiacs, mathematician Gunter Zoolof and marine biologist Dakota Isaacs, who claim remarkable academic and scientific achievements, yet fail to be true geniuses because they didn’t bypass the notoriously unpleasant car buying process by using DriveTime. “The Genius Way to Buy a Car” began airing this week on national cable networks, including A&E, ESPN, History, Discovery and USA, among others, while also broadcasting in 68 local markets nationwide.

See The Genius Way to Buy a Car commercials here!

The “Genius Way to Buy a Car” challenges the used vehicle industry’s outdated advertising model that primarily focuses on unrealistic sales, limited discounts and loss leaders that benefit the dealership and not the consumer.

Consumers want a dealership experience, but they are demanding a fundamental change in the way the industry visualizes and delivers that experience.  With the “The Genius Way to Buy a Car,” DriveTime delivers that paradigm shift for consumers. This campaign’s imagination, creativity and humor highlights the enormous divide between the “industry way” and the “Genius Way.”

DriveTime’s “Genius Way” focuses on delighting customers and begins with listening to what they say they want and includes:

  • National presence with 15,000+ vehicles
    • 2nd largest used vehicle retailer focused solely on used vehicles
    • 145 dealerships in 27 states
    • Over 1 million cars sold
    • $2 billion+ every month in consumer requested credit
  • Intelligent online tools
    • Online financing including down payment and credit score
    • Superior mobile customer experience
  • Quality vehicles
    • 5-day free return
    • Free Autocheck available on every vehicle
  • Dealership experience
    • 90,000+ 5 star reviews
    • “Click” and “brick” connected retail
    • Proprietary point of sales systems allowing for speed of purchase
    • Salaried sales advisors delivering an experience, not a sale
  • Market based pricing
    • No haggle pricing
    • Live market based pricing

Anne Elisco-Lemme, Executive Creative Director, Duncan Channon:

“Why is it that we’ve all somehow agreed that buying a car will be a complete drag? No matter how much we demand smarter, more convenient ways of purchasing other items in our lives, we reluctantly go through the old-school drudgery at the dealership when it comes to one of the biggest purchases we make,” said Anne Elisco-Lemme, executive creative director, Duncan Channon. “But the smart people at DriveTime have developed an incredible set of online tools that give their equally smart consumers everything they need to make an intelligent and pain-free purchase – lightning fast. It might not be Carmichael’s totient function conjecture, but it’s pretty genius.”

Scott Worthington:  Vice President/Retail and Marketing:

“Our strategic pivot is grounded in listening to what we know car buyers want — to make the car buying process easy by setting a transparent expectation about the price of car and down payment online, and then over-delivering on that promise at one of our 145 dealerships,” said Scott Worthington, Vice President, Retail and Marketing, DriveTime.

Duncan Channon, DriveTime’s agency of record since 2012, created the spots with visual effects partner Freefolk and director Pelorian Brothers.

For more information on DriveTime, please visit drivetime.com.

About DriveTime
With “The Genius Way to Buy a Car”, DriveTime is transforming the buying and financing of a used vehicle. Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, DriveTime is the nation’s second-largest vehicle retailer focused solely on used vehicles. DriveTime operates over 140 dealerships nationwide with annual sales exceeding 150,000 used vehicles, 1.2 million+ monthly visitors to its website, drivetime.com, and over $2 billion in consumer credit requests each month. DriveTime now provides used vehicles and used vehicle financing to the full range of customers in the market today, including competitively priced, lower mileage used cars. DriveTime offerings include used car features on its online inventory; speed of financing including a credit score and the starting down payment in less than two minutes; prices on every used vehicle online and at its dealerships; no haggle pricing; salaried associates trained to help our customers find the right used vehicle for them; and a five day, no questions asked used vehicle return program.

  4 Comments

  1. Rhonda Davis   •  

    I went on the web site for drive time and put in what I was looking for. Just kept taking me to all the newest models nothing I wanted. I won’t recommend drive time. The site takes you every where bit what your looking for.

    • Customer Relations   •  

      Hello Rhonda,

      Thank you for your feedback! I’m sorry to hear that you had some issues navigating our website. If you need assistance in locating a particular vehicle at one of our dealerships, please feel free to reach out to our sales team (800) 965-8042.

      Thank you,

      Jacob – Customer Relations

  2. Maxine Cornette   •  

    Best experience I have had buying a car. All the staff were helpful and happy!! Not your usual car sales! Brandon helped me into a Toyota corolla and I couldn’t be happier. The entire process was simple and stress free. Highly recommended.

    • Customer Relations   •  

      Hello Maxine,

      I am really thrilled to hear you had a great buying experience and that our sales team was helpful. I am glad Brandon was able to get you taken care of and made the buying process stress free. I will be happy to share this with our sales team!

      Best wishes,

      Eva-Customer Relations

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