Carsdirect.Com - Aimed To Be A Brand Leader

AIMED TO BE A BRAND LEADER

Five months after its national launch, CarsDirect.com began building its brand with a $20 million advertising campaign for the fourth quarter of 1999. The company hoped the campaign would help boost sales from more than 1,000 cars a month to more than 2,500 by the end of the year. According to Media Metrix, CarsDirect.com received 215,000 unique visitors in August 1999. Comparatively, referral site Autoweb.com received 731,000 visitors and Autobytel.com received 1.1 million. By November the company was selling more than 1,400 vehicles a month. As part of its brand-building efforts, CarsDirect.com announced a three-year deal to sponsor a NASCAR Winston Cup race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Also in the fourth quarter, CarsDirect.com named Robert Brisco as its new CEO, with former CEO and co-founder Scott Painter moving to vice chairman. Brisco was 36 years old when he joined CarsDirect.com. He formerly was president of the theme park and entertainment complex Universal Studios Hollywood and CityWalk. At one time, Brisco also worked as an advertising and marketing executive at the Los Angeles Times. He joined CarsDirect.com just after the company had raised $280 million in its mezzanine round of financing, an amount considered one of the largest private equity placements ever secured by an Internet company. Brisco planned to use the new investment capital to improve customer service and build the firm's brand. He told the Los Angeles Business Journal, "We want to make this the best retail experience consumers have ever had." Brisco also announced plans to expand the company's network of 1,700 dealer partners.