South Africa Edition 2

mix - use state-of-the-art test equipment overseen
by the team’s qualified mechanical engineer.
CAR is a powerful and influential brand; this
is true as much for its brand extensions as for
the printed magazine. Consumers are offered a
multimedia experience through CARtoday.com,
SA’s leading motoring magazine website, and
CAR’s mobizine.
CARtoday.com achieves almost a million
page impressions a month. Its content goes
beyond reflecting the best of the magazine
to include among its offering the latest news,
interactive forums and blogs, an online vehicle
search service, video streaming and a weekly
e-newsletter.
Through the mobizine - which has the
distinction of being only the second mobizine
launched in South Africa - motor enthusiasts
receive news of product launches, the latest
Grand Prix results, driving impressions and
advance notification of what’s in the latest issue.
An important part of CAR’s offering is the
publication of added-value supplements, ranging
from the F1 Guide to the Buying a Car Guide
and the annual offroad issue. CAR magazine’s
performance issue in January and the Top 12
Best Buys in March add to an exciting line-up of
themed issues.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In line with world trends, CAR is developing a
multi-channel motoring media campaign that
encompasses print, the web, mobile, radio,
television and events; avenues that not only allow
CAR to reach its consumers, but also deliver
audiences to its advertising clients, in a variety
of ways.
Having pioneered the way with content to
mobile, CAR will shortly extend its offering to
new digital platforms, including linear TV and
soon IPTV and mobile TV. No longer confined to
hard copy, the magazine’s editorial is to be rolled
out into ‘bite-size’ AV material for consumers to
access when, how and where they want.
The expansion of editorial to electronic media
provides an opportunity for electronic Special
Reports to be produced in video format for clients
as further positive exposure and association with
the industry’s renowned authority.
PROMOTION
With the changing demographics of CAR’s
readership and the aggressive entrance of additional
competitors into the market, CAR has looked at
innovative and tactical ways to communicate and
to interact with its different readers. Over the past
few years, the brand has implemented exciting
initiatives to enrich the readers’ experience and
draw them closer to clients through consumer
action.
A large portion of CAR’s consumer marketing
budget is spent on television and radio, with
monthly 30-second adverts on DStv’s SuperSport
and SABC3’s CarTorque. The two are strategic
media partners and cross-promote content each
month. Regional radio advertising on seven
radio stations promotes the current issue, while
CAR also sponsors both Metro FM and SAfm’s
Motoring Moments, offering informative bitesize
motoring information. Online, CAR is
promoted on a few focused websites, while
the brand is advertised regularly at key tertiary
campuses throughout SA.
One of CAR’s most notable achievements
is its crucial role as a strategic media partner to
Auto Africa, Africa’s internationally accredited
motor show. CAR hosts the CAR Conference at
Auto Africa, the definitive forum for the industry
that draws on key international and local figures
to share their insights on developments in the
industry. In addition, CAR publishes the official
souvenir programme and builds and manages the
official Auto Africa website.
CAR’s involvement of consumers extends to
its partnership with most of the regional motor
shows in South Africa. The brand has a highly
visible presence at the Getaway Show and all
relevant motor shows, where it provides advanced
driving experiences for visitors. CAR is also
actively involved with local motorsport where
the brand sponsors the “Rookie of the Year” in
the National Production Car Championships as
well as Classic Car racing in the Western Cape.
BRAND VALUES
CAR’s mission is to produce a dynamic, worldclass
consumer motoring magazine, with related
products and services, to extend the brand and
continue to dominate the market. Its goal is to place
readers’ interests first in all editorial decisions.
The CAR brand has been driven steadily and
successfully for 50 years and has all the torque
needed to undertake the next 50 with the eager
support of motor enthusiasts around the country.
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
CAR
60 percent of all motoring magazine
readers read CAR - and 489, 000 read no
other motoring title
93 percent of CAR readers acknowledge
that their vehicle purchase decision is
influenced by articles in the magazine
78 percent are influenced by advertising
in the magazine
82 percent claim that Buyers Guide
influences their accessory purchases
According to the Generation Next Survey,
CAR is the most powerful magazine
brand among young males
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