Motorwerks Marketing
The Wrong Agency Can Wreck Your Collector/Specialty Car Business written by David M. Brown them, are unlike average businesses and are also very different from most car dealers and their clients. Some new Motorwerks clients, for instance, have hired agencies that specialize in dentist offices, restaurants and law firms. “This has hurt them badly and paves a much more difficult, often much more expensive, path to success moving forward,” Roberge says.
Darin Roberge
Don’t make this potentially expensive mistake: Small and medium-sized specialty/classic car businesses have been hiring one-size-fits-all advertising and marketing agencies. Off the rack, though, doesn’t fit everyone, and, if you make that selection, you can lose your pants — or even your business. “This is absolutely burning up their money, hurting them in the marketplace, and then we have to come in, usually at a fraction of the budget, and pull them out of the hole the other agency put them in,” says Darin Roberge, founder and principal of Gilbert, Arizona-based Motorwerks Marketing, a full-service national advertising agency specializing in the classic and collector cars. “It is not only difficult for the clients but also for us and the outgoing agency, which now has a big loss on its record,” he says. It would have been far better if the client had called us first.” Motorwerks has experienced a large rush recently of incoming clients who have been damaged by agencies who have no understanding of the classic, collector and specialty car industry, adds Roberge, an industry expert who founded the company in 2017 after he served as an auction company executive. That damage can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars or complete loss. He explains that the classic, collector, specialty and exotic car markets, and the clients that populate
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But Motorwerks is tuned in to the specialty/collector market, and, because of the company’s buying power and access to products and services not available anywhere else, Roberge’s staff works with a variety of clients; these include dealers, auction houses, museums, restoration and custom shops, car clubs, specialty manufacturers, industry publications and more. “When you work with us, you have a stable, longterm partner that you can build with,” he says. “We offer the skill set and quality work of a major national agency at a price point rivaling a mediumsized local firm, with the accessibility and passion of a freelance professional and none of the headaches of hiring an unqualified nonprofessional,” adds Roberge. In the same spirit of specialized know-how, Motorwerks does not work with the passenger car market. “If XYZ Mitsubishi calls us, we make it clear that we can’t help, and that there is certainly a more experienced option readily available for them elsewhere,” he says. “The classic, specialty and collector car market is all we do, and we know how it works better than anyone.” His advice to specialty car companies seeking marketing help: Intensely vet potential agencies not just for collector car experience but success — or “just call us first.” Connect with Darin Roberge and the Motorwerks Team at motorwerksmarketing.com or 480.228.1881 or info@motorwerksmarketing.com.
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