How Auto Trader is evolving its brand experience
This blog is a transcript of a chat between myself and George Burton about Auto Trader’s new strategic objective ‘Inside Out’.
Ryan: Today, we’re going to be discussing ‘Inside Out’. To kick things off, could you explain what Inside Out is?
George: Sure, Inside Out refers to the challenge of how we can show up consistently as the progressive, inclusive, diverse, driven, highly collaborative admired tech brand that we all know and love. Part of this includes how we design and build a consumer experience that accurately represents who we are.
Ryan: Can you give an example of how the current experience falls short?
George: Absolutely. The inclusivity and diversity of our business is key to our success, but we don’t currently offer a dark mode version (currently in development). Having dark mode is crucial for users with visual impairments. This is just one example that doesn’t reflect who we are as an organisation. I mean Auto Trader has become an enormously successful business without the level of investment into brand and consumer experience that you might expect from an organisation this size, which is a really exciting opportunity for any designer. Feels like I’ve managed to find a unicorn.
Ryan: In essence, Inside Out is about ensuring that our consumer experience aligns with the core values and identity of our organisation?
George: Exactly. Inside Out is all about making sure that our digital experiences reflect who we are as an organisation. It’s about bridging the gap between who Auto Trader is and the brand our consumers interact with.
Auto Trader’s brand journey
Ryan: Yeah. So I guess another question would be, what journey has Auto Trader been on as a brand so far?
George: Auto Trader has undergone significant transformations over the last 4 decades. Initially, starting as a Thames Valley Trader, a periodical magazine that focused on classified advertising. We then evolved into the Auto Trader magazine, and from there we made the leap into the digital. Today, we’re the most successful car marketplace in the UK.
From a branding and consumer experience perspective, we know that car buying and selling isn’t easy and I think it’s fair to say that we’ve prioritised solving the big complex problems and shipping successful products to offer the UK car buyers and sellers the best choice in ways to buy, sell and finance their vehicles successfully. And now is the right time to invest in how we approach consumer experience at scale.
Ryan: That’s quite a journey. How would you describe Auto Trader’s current identity as a brand?
George: Auto Trader is so much more than just a website or an app. We are a leading tech platform, an award-winning employer, one of the most successful FTSE 100s and we’re the place where millions of consumers and tens of thousands of retailers connect to buy and sell vehicles. Our current identity doesn’t convey this, so we have work to do in this area. The brand has transformed significantly over time, and we’re now the most trusted name in the UK automotive marketplace space. And that’s not something that can be bought; it’s been built.
Ryan: It sounds like Auto Trader has become a trusted and influential player in the automotive industry. How important is trust in the evolution of the brand?
George: Retaining and growing consumer trust is paramount. Auto Trader has built a reputation over the years, and to erode that would be the worse possible outcome. Being a trusted name in the industry and a thought leader is significant. It’s not just about the services we offer; it’s about the trust that consumers and customers place on our brand.
Ryan: It’s impressive to see how Auto Trader has evolved and gained such trust in the industry. What’s next for the brand?
George: Well, we’re continuously evolving. As a tech platform and as a brand, we’re focused on staying at the forefront of the automotive marketplace. We want to continue being the trusted brand in that space, so we need to evaluate our current brand and experience against a higher set of benchmarks to deliver a more seamless and authentic experience. And I for one am excited about what that journey.
The challenges of a rebrand
Ryan: OK. And what do you think the challenges are to landing on a new brand look and feel?
George: The challenges are significant. We’ve all observed rebrands for various organisations, some successful, others less so. There’s always a risk. And because Auto Trader is a brand that a millions of UK drivers use (a whopping 70% of them) we need to be both sensitive to who we are as a brand and the millions of consumers that trust us.
The challenge is not only making it feel familiar yet distinct to Auto Trader but also ensuring it’s adaptable to various digital platforms. It needs to work seamlessly, whether you’re hearing a radio advert, reserving a car on your phone, or seeing a post on your social media thread. So, yeah, that’s the challenge — balancing familiarity, distinctiveness, and flexibility.
Auto Trader’s culture
Ryan: And you kind of touched on this before, but I think I’m just going to prod a bit further. Can you articulate what the culture at Auto Trader is that we want to externalise?
George: Yeah. We have a set of company values that really speak to who we are as an organisation. Community is at the heart of everything we do. We thrive in being together in a room, prodding, poking, challenging, and deciding. Collective thought is key to achieving great outcomes, so we are deeply community-minded and connected with each other. We’re a highly skilled, driven, open-minded and diverse bunch and although we’re well over a thousand people it still feels intimate and connected like a small start-up. Everyone is welcome at Auto Trader, but it’s about how we work together is when Auto Trader is successful.
Ryan: So you’ve spoken there about collaboration and community. Are there other aspects you’d highlight?
George: Sure. There’s a curiosity to our approach alongside a willingness to disagree and commit in some cases. As we’re a business that will always value delivering great outcomes. For the past 10 years, we’ve integrated data science, used AI, employed microservices, and ensured our tech is at the forefront. We’re not afraid to adapt and change when needed. We also an empathetic to the needs of both retailers and consumers, constantly walking the balance between the two. Our culture encompasses all these aspects and more. It’s a dynamic blend of the above and more that help define who we are and how we successfully work together.
Ryan: Yeah, I feel like our culture is a blend of values, adaptability, and a commitment to innovation.
George: Absolutely. It’s a combination of various elements that make Auto Trader what it is today. We believe it’s the right mix for our ongoing journey.
The Vision
Ryan: So, now that we kind of understand the what and the why we’re doing it, how do you think we’ll get there?
George: How do I think we’ll get there? Good questions, first we need to define what Inside Out is, it currently means slightly different things to different people. Community is something that will be crucial, as the change we will need to make could potentially touch every service, journey, product at some point. We have a company purpose centred around “Driving change together, responsibly,” which is a unifying theme and articulates the ‘how’ really well because we are talking about a change to our brand and overall consumer experience.
So, it’s about collaboration, understanding where we’re headed, exploring options and sparking rich conversations about how we show up consistently. We want to be confident about the direction, considering the extensive changes we’ll need to make across the organisation. It’s a multi-year project with a significant level of investment so we’ll need to ensure we’re moving in the right direction.
How will this change how we work?
Ryan: What do you reckon this new project looks like for people in the business working on our digital products?
George: Well, we’re talking about how we design and build our digital product experience to authentically convey who we are. This will mean a review of our current design system and navigating how we integrate newly created brand assets.
It’s going to require over communicating the details as there are a lot of evolving and moving parts and close collaboration across department.
What’s the goal?
Ryan: Where do we want to get to with this? I know you said it will always be constantly evolving and there’s probably no finish line for this because there’ll always be changes that need to happen, but if you had to pinpoint one place that we’d want to get to, what do you think that would be?
George: I mean, it’s kind of what we said at the start. It’s like, what is Inside Out? We want the brand to reflect who we are, and I don’t think we believe the Auto Trader brand today reflects who we are. So, I think the identity needs to be realised in terms of the experience itself. It’s not just colours in a mark, which is kind of where we started. It has to bake through the experience. We have to think about how we approach that thinking in terms of the way we think and build our experiences. The expression of our culture and who we are as an organisation behind the designs needs to come through. So, to me, the success would be that everybody who designs experiences and works with our brand has a really clear understanding of how they express Auto Trader and the decisions they make to ensure that we stay true to who we are in building experiences that consumers resonate with.
The key for me is that, whatever a consumers’ journey is, whether they search and find a car in a short space of time or have a longer latency period before thinking about buying or selling a car, when they come out of that period, which may be around seven years on average, I want us to be memorable enough. I want the brand and the experience to ensure that they have such a great experience with us that they return. So, the brand needs to make sure it does that — create an experience that is so positive that they’re thinking about us before they even do a Google search.
Why rebrand at all?
Ryan: And I guess to play devil’s advocate, what do you think would happen if we didn’t do this?
George: Well, to me, brand experience is our insurance policy. It’s our safety net. We’re the biggest in the category due to the scale and choice we offer, having the most retailers and cars. However, if a competitor emerges and attracts retailers, cars, and consumers, it’s the brand and experience that would become the differentiator. And the brand experience is in our control. We can convey who we are, what we do, and how we present ourselves. It’s our insurance policy.
If we provide people with the best, most authentic experience that truly reflects who we are, that, to me, on a rainy day when things aren’t going great, will set us apart from any competitor. That’s one of the reasons. If you compare it to takeaway food, two places may offer the same sweet and sour chicken meal, but the nuances in flavours, ingredients, and combinations make them feel and taste different. That personality and love for the craft outweigh the functional similarity.
In the short term, if we don’t make this investment, not much will happen. We’ll still be trusted, with scale and choice intact. However, whilst there isn’t one big competitor directly challenging us, there are many micro-competitors focusing on different aspects of our offerings. They have concise and cohesive brands and propositions. Although they can’t match our built legacy yet, if the dip continues and their rise persists, there’s an inception point where we don’t want to find ourselves. This project is when our insurance policy will counteract that dip, level it out, and ensure our continued growth.
So, nothing drastic would happen in the short term, but in the long term, we cannot predict. I wouldn’t want uncertainties and potential challenges in the future, and that’s why we’re future-proofing now.
