Black Press launches auto vertical in 29 markets on Wehaa platform

October 15, 2019 - Wehaa announced that Black Press has signed up to launch the AutoDeals platform in the first 29 markets. TodaysDrive.com launched in early October. 

Black Press, a Canadian company headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia, owns over 100 newspapers in North America, including some of the oldest and most established newspapers in B.C. and Alberta. 

The initiative began when Black Press executives went in search of an automotive solution that delivered qualified local auto buyers to their local dealers.

Requirements included that the solution could be used by both metro and community newspapers, was affordable, made it easy to import auto inventory and to create dynamic ad banners serving local content germane to each region. It also had to be fast loading and responsive across all devices. 

While attending the 2018 Mega Conference in San Diego, Black Press VP of Digital Operations, Andrew Franklin, saw an on-stage representation of an automotive platform Virtual Sales Event by Wehaa’s CEO, Cesar Montes and VP of Sales Kevin Collins. 

“I think Mr. Franklin was impressed with Wehaa’s feed-less integration, direct click-through technology and our focus on the local dealer,” Collins said.

High-level conversations and WebEx seminars ensued over the next several months as Black Press scoped out a new auto brand, one that could extend across their markets, offer localized content and the ability for each market to offer competitive packages. 

As Black Press realized the capabilities and flexibility of the platform, the concept gained in scope.

“The project has evolved into one of the most amazing solutions we have ever built,” Montes said. 

Todaysdrive.com showcases the inventory of participating local dealerships in a searchable combined vertical and allows for numerous monetization opportunities. All of the dealer’s inventory is imported using Wehaa’s feed-less technology. Wehaa brings over enough data on each vehicle to “tease” the end-user. When the user sees something they like and clicks on it, they are redirected to the dealer’s vehicle detail page [VDP]. This is the Wehaa direct c-t-r technology and it applies to the dynamic widget banners as well. 

“Local dealers are looking for direct click throughs,” says Mr. Collins.

Numerous upsell options include interactive display ads, featured media positions and social media integration. Any new car specials and other special offers are copied over to the site. 

The platform also allows for reverse publish to print, automating the process of creating camera-ready PDFs of dealer ads with current inventory. 

Additional benefits include an advanced SEO package that leverages the newspaper’s page rank and authority.  Wehaa uses AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), a web-based framework that loads incredibly fast and is loved by Google. Another deciding factor was the advanced reporting via Google Analytic APIs to report basic metrics, plus the VDP clicks, estimated sales and sales revenue, images of the inventory banners and details of the vehicles sold and clicked.

The reports also include local call tracking data (optional).

Since most of the newspapers owned by Black Press are in micropolitan markets too small to launch an automotive vertical, they combined some newspapers in the same area to share the AutoDeals platform. 

“Our goal is to help newspapers, big and small win back their lost auto revenue,'' said Montes. “And make the process painless and hands-free for busy newspapers.”

Wehaa is a leader in automated platforms including Virtual Tent Sales for the automotive, RV, power sports, furniture, appliances and other categories. They also have cutting-edge solutions in real estate promotional platforms, jobs/employment and other verticals. 

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