A car is chosen
Car retail advertising is driven by the stock for sale, local and model-level demand, and whether advertising leads to enquiries, test drives and sales. Consideration can start long before anyone visits a dealership, so visibility early on can influence which brands and dealers make the shortlist.
01
Stock and local demand
A dealership sells what it has in stock. Where advertising puts its weight depends on which models are for sale, where there is demand for them and what the location wants to sell next. So areas, budgets and measures are agreed location by location.
The brand and the model range bring people into consideration, and the dealership and its stock bring them in for a test drive. We plan the media for both jobs.
02
The consideration timeline
24.6 %* of Finns consider buying a car for themselves or their family likely within the next year. The figure describes intentions, not sales that will happen. It still shows how wide a group may be considering a purchase during the year.
The effect of reaching new buyers can show later in searches, test drives and sales, so it is judged over an agreed timeframe. A decision to buy can take months to form, so the cost of an enquiry tells only part of the result.
03
Stock in the ads
Used car advertising runs on the stock. In NØRR3 Marketing Engine, model-level versions are created from an approved template using the stock feed, when the feed is connected and maintained. The ads then show cars that are actually for sale. We check the feed quality, because automation copies mistakes too.
We decide whether to run dynamic advertising continuously based on stock, goals and results.
04
Local and national work
A location can run advertising for its own area in NØRR3 Marketing Engine while NØRR3 manages the national campaign. The two can run side by side, and the division of work is agreed with the chain. NØRR3 builds the templates for the model-level versions.
05
Enquiries, test drives and sales
Business Dashboard in NØRR3 Marketing Engine reports results by location. We measure enquiries, test drives and sales wherever they can be tracked. Connecting data from the sales system is agreed separately during setup.
We also run brand and competitor research when the starting point needs establishing first.
* NØRR3 Media Insights, Norstat panel, wave 9, 08/2026, n = 2 022, aged 18 to 74. Question Q27: likelihood of larger purchases for yourself or your family in the coming year, car, very or fairly likely. Margin of error ±1.9 percentage points.
Sources & further reading
The reference sources and tools this page's work rests on.
Examples of what we do
- Insight and media strategy
- Media planning and buying
- Location and area-level targeting
- Model-level versions from the stock feed
- Local and national division of work
- Tracking enquiries, test drives and sales
- Brand and competitor research
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