Ben Farlow

PEUGEOT Citroen Australia (PCA) is counting on its renewed focus on customer experience, which forms part of a broader marketing strategy that includes a new corporate identity for its dealerships, to increase owner engagement for its struggling Peugeot and Citroen brands.

Speaking last week at the PCA dealer conference in Sydney, PCA managing director Ben Farlow said the company is aiming to “deliver unique and boutique experiences” in its 32 dealerships, most of which carry both Peugeot and Citroen franchises.

“We must together re-evaluate the customer experience we offer,” he said.

“We don’t need to do things at a great scale or spend loads executing it, we only need a balanced blend of experimentation and customer insight.”

Mr Farlow pointed to leading retail brands Apple and Burberry as examples where the customer experience is prime.

He said the average PCA customer spends three hours in a dealership organising their purchase but keeps their vehicles for six to seven years.

To make this relationship even stronger, PCA will focus on creating in-dealership and external experiences for its customers, according to Mr Farlow.

“We must invest in innovative offline and online experiences, connecting social media in a meaningful way, and expanding our PR efforts going forward in place of traditional advertising,” he said. “And we can even take it to all sorts of locations if we want.

“A lot of our competitors have started pushing into shopping centres, but why shopping centres? Because it’s got foot traffic? What type of experience? Awareness of what message?

“Everything should be a conversation market where we stop marketing and selling at people and start marketing and selling for people.

“With this wonderful product and this wonderful story, together we can be the standard for agile, nimble, flexible customer-led experiences.

“That’s what we want to be known for, because we’re a thinking person’s brand, so let’s think beyond what other dealers, manufacturers and distributors do or are prepared to do.

“To be successful in the future, this must be our standard.”

Mr Farlow added that PCA’s innovative marketing efforts will concentrate on its new models’ class-leading features, five-year warranty and retail offers.

“We’ve got to shift the tone and deliver those same messages in different ways, brought to life in online engagement, in-store retail experiences and ownership experiences, particularly like servicing,” he said.

“We will introduce stories at every touchpoint, engaging people’s hearts first then substantiating their decision with support for their heads.

“Great stories told in new ways. Disruptive, courageous, we’ll give people a unique feeling when they consider purchasing and owning a unique vehicle in the Australian market.

“We will be famous to those who choose style into function, embracing the confident ones who know who they are.”

Mr Farlow said the Citroen brand in particular represents a marketing opportunity in the face of its dwindling market share, with its 494 sales in 2018 representing a 32.8 per cent decrease over 2017.

“We will continue to operate on the edge of what is possible and will begin to do that in the way that we retail and market this brand going forward, becoming an underground movement,” he said.

“Supporting the emphasis on aesthetic values more than anything, our focus will be on being beautiful and the richness that it provokes, like boldness, comfort and practicality.

“Our contemporary offer will be seen as the decadent choice for those seeking independent, artistic style and effortless, class-leading features.”

One way in which PCA is hoping to do this is by launching CitroenOrigins.com.au, a website that Mr Farlow says allows owners to upload their individual vehicle and share its story.

“Origins will be the place where automotive enthusiasts can engage with our history, the vehicles that make this magnificent brand what it is today,” he said. “It’s time to celebrate our distinctive beauty.

“We are placing a call-out to all Citroen fans: tell us your story.”

Mr Farlow also unveiled a new corporate identity (CI) that will be rolled out this year to select Citroen dealerships, dubbed LaMaison or ‘little home’, which will be “a permanent home where we can grow the brand from organically and sustainably”.

He said the CI was a global first and that the corporate identity had been designed specifically for the Australian market in consultation with PSA Group in France.

LaMaison will be incorporated into existing Peugeot dealerships with an all-new combined facade, the first example of which is now open at Trivett Parramatta Citroen in Sydney’s west.

Mr Farlow said the bespoke showrooms will include vehicle displays, point-of-sale support, sales desks, furniture and flooring built into existing sites.

“It’s not (about) building big blue boxes and just well-painted service lanes, it’s about giving a personalised experience to people,” he said.

“When you buy a unique vehicle, like a Peugeot or Citroen, you deserve a unique experience, rather than the same experience that everyone else offers.

“It doesn’t have to be better – it has to be unique and by being unique, it will be better. That’s the big difference.”

By Neil Dowling

Citroen La Maison