AM MAGAZINE SHELL - Australian Automotive Aftermarket Magazine

RETAILDRIVERS STAR IN RARE SPARES ADSTwo of Australia’s most highly honoured motorsport identities of 2009 will appear in a new range of TV commercialsbeing shot by Australian restoration parts company, Rare Spares.V8 Supercar driver and 2009 Barry Sheene Medal winner, WillDavison, and 2009 V8 Supercar Hall of Fame inductee, John Bowe,are both brand ambassadors for Rare Spares and have put the finaltouches together on three TV commercials that went to air early in thenew year.“Firstly can I say that Rare Spares are extremely proud to havesuch credentialed sportsman as our brand ambassadors,” DavidRayner from Rare Spares said.“Both of them are very worth winners of their awards and wecongratulate them on their achievements.“With the support of our national distributors, we decided todramatically increase on presence on television in 2010 and wewanted our new commercials to be something special.“By using John and Will, we are using two standout performersboth on the track and now in our TV commercials.”While Mr Rayner wouldn’t give much away on the concept of theRare Spares new commercials, he did note that Bowe and Davisonwon the Bathurst 1000 exactly 20 years apart - John in 1989 andDavison in 2009.“One in a Ford and one in a Holden,” Mr Rayner said. “I thinkyou’ll find these sorts of facts may creep into the new commercials.”The TV commercials are the brainchild of automotive marketingspecialists, DBC and will feature on the ONE HD network, starting inmid January.Both drivers also made guest appearances on behalf of Rare Sparesat the Summernats Car Festival in Canberra.ABS FORMULA WORKS IN REGIONAL AREASNick Macklan has every reason to look confident about the future. His ABS auto servicecentre in Wodonga has just opened for business after he upgraded his workshop premises.Previously known as Wodonga PowerSteering, he built up the business during nineyears.But wanting to take the next step up, hehas now introduced the first ABS auto servicecentre to the Wodonga regional area.“Nick has researched his options anddone the best thing to build a real long termbusiness,” Rob Higgs from ABS said.“He has chosen to take advantage of aformula which is proven to work in a regionalcity.“That way he hits the ground running withworkshop development plus the ABS modelis geared towards the supply of a vat range oftrade parts which will fast-track success forthe future.”Mr Higgs said ABS has established aformula that makes this type of businessreally perform.“In this case, it took over an existingbuilding and workshop, gave it a new lookwith strong image, and then applied apractical structure for the business owner tobecome the franchisee quickly andprofitably,” he said.“We have a realistic ability to work withany new person in the trade as our networkextends nationally across Australia.“This means from introduction andtraining right through to daily operations.“It really does enable a tradesman to getinto business for themselves at a decentlevel.”Mr Higgs ABS has a well-developedsystem, which is straightforward to apply andhas the advantage of being very flexible.“This means we can put together aregional business in either parts or service ora mixture of parts and service to suit localopportunities,” he said.“ABS has successfully launched partsbasedbusinesses in Taree and Bundabergplus service and parts franchises in Milduraand Warnambool.“Among the many areas where we enablethe franchisee to punch above his weight is inmarketing.Nick Macklan“Here we put strategies in place todelivery new customers that can includeaffordable television advertising.“We do what they do in the cities but at afraction of the price.“It all adds up to a win-win as a businessopportunity.”ABS Wodonga is at 133 Chapple Streetand is open six days a week: Monday to Friday8am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 12noon.38 AU T O M O T I V E A F T E R M A R K E T M AG A Z I N E F E B R UA RY 2 010 www.aaaa.com.au