If you’ve browsed the new car displays at Pebble Beach or the New York Auto Show and thought that those lovely women and men standing by to answer your questions also look at home in a first class cabin or a five-start restaurant, you’re not wrong. Nattily dressed product specialists are part of the process of connecting car brands with consumers in a personal, approachable and authentic way.
Gone are the days of salespeople dressed in polos and khakis, a look designed to convey the concept that they are experts, capable of training you in the purchase of your car. The era of booth girls is also over (for the most part): scantily clad women pose to draw attention to the cars on display.
Turns out, neither tactic works as well as a highly-trained group of product specialists who make consumers feel comfortable and who shoppers can identify with. The right wardrobe draws show guests to aspire to the brand, makes them comfortable to engage in conversation and allows their questions to flow. To start the process, each brand casts their product specialists in a certain image: elegant and elevated, sporty and fun, techy and modern.
“The consumer can connect with a Product Specialist because they can see themselves in that ambassador,” said Hedy Popson, CEO of Productions Plus, a company that was founded on the idea that knowledgeable, approachable people would do a better job of converting tire-kickers into customers than booth babes or commissioned salesmen. “If I can “relate” to what the person” at an auto brand’s exhibit is wearing, saying, doing, “then that brand match and connection just happens faster. Wardrobe is a great tool in communicating the essence of the brand.”
Erik Thomas, Hyundai’s director of experiential marketing, wants to set an express tone “and the wardrobe is part of that. Product specialists interact with the customer and shape the sentiment of the logo. The trendy logos Hyundai uses to tell its story come with the playful designs of Ted Baker, the sublime and immortal pieces of Theory, and, for men, the complicated luxury of John Varvatos and the vintage looks adapted from Canali.
The strategy can also be very specific. Hyundai is working “closely with Trina Turk” on experiential logo systems aimed at LGBTQ audiences, Thomas said. The vibrancy of Trina Turk’s colors and designs is recognizable. “We knew this logo would resonate with audiences. “
To express Lexus’ values of perfection through design and engineering, Productions Plus partnered with AS’s Denise Focil through DF. The Focil company is known for its recycled leather pieces with “design elements imbued with the pursuit of perfection, much like the Lexus logo. “For the car logo depicted through Popson, they take a similar approach, creating a vision and implementing it with a variety of wardrobe essentials: jackets, dresses, jeans, shoes, accessories.
“We are looking at designers who can help convey the symbol that brands are looking to convey in a very short time to a huge number of people,” he said.
The style also strives to express non-unusual lifestyle values, such as the luxury of comfort and agility. “You’ll see luxury car brands with sneaker product specialists, communicating a brand’s ‘new elegant luxury,'” Popson said. And of course, jeans are a must-have for high-volume brands like Toyota, Nissan, and VW.
Product at Ford in Rag Curly Blazers
“Every logo seeks to tell a story with the symbol conveyed by the product specialist,” Popson told us. And this doesn’t happen by chance. The selection process is documented, verified and time-consuming,” he said. “At Productions Plus, we work with a stylist and our own in-house wardrobe team to create a look that achieves the desired goal of each logo. “
At this year’s New York Auto Show, an informal product specialist survey of this year’s outfits found that fashion pieces sold at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom made up the bulk of the wardrobe selections.
Veronica Beard among the most important brands present, setting the tone at Infiniti, Kia and VW. The brand’s vintage designs with a modern touch, an ambitious price point and modern colors and fabrics provide an avant-garde touch even in the most casual moments. : A stylish blazer that can be paired with jeans and shoes or a silk dress.
Rag
Representing Hyundai’s sporty N Line models, the products wear traditional Commando jackets and tights. The products available to make up SUVs, electric cars and sedans wear traditional Rubin Singer costumes.
With more than 40 auto shows across the country each year, as well as shows and events, and groups of a dozen or more specialists in clothing products according to the car brand, wardrobe orders can be important. Clothing suppliers will also have to do this in other sizes. and wishes of product specialists, both women and men. Choosing a wardrobe can be a big job, requiring a lot of work and planning.
“This may involve trips to New York City showrooms and visits to branches to see pattern orders on genuine models or product specialists,” Popson told us. And they have to buy about a year in advance, not only to find out what’s going to be available to many other people who want to dress up, but also wait for seasonal trends almost a year before those garments are shown at the show.
“We paint year-round to notice emerging designers and expand relationships with designers,” Popson said, “and ongoing relationships with our preferred designers. ” But it’s imperative to get to the core of what will resonate with consumers. “We work a lot with a stylist through Neiman Marcus, Betsy Bender, who we’ve been working with for years,” Popson said.
A direct appointment with a designer is also a solution to wardrobe needs. Thomas hired designer Rubin Singer a few years ago to create traditional looks for the brand.
Singer, who designed for Beyoncé, brought a collaborative approach, incorporating the aesthetics of the Hyundai and Genesis brands, the brand’s palette of colors and textures, as well as its lifestyle and aspirational values. Being interested in women’s fashion, Singer was able to add personalized tastes to the brand’s display and attract female customers. “It’s a blessing from heaven,” Thomas said.
Singer first joined the Hyundai Group in 2015, when Genesis had become an independent brand. Thomas was looking for something special and high-end that reflected the coppery and black hue of Genesis. At Singer, she discovered “a dress that caused a sensation and it’s incredible. [The singer] is friendly. He’s new to automatic visualization of experiential events, but he’s all for it,” Thomas told us at each presentation, comparing what to do next and how it can be done better. Fast forward to 2024 and Singer’s creations remain a staple of Hyundai’s display.
Armani is one of the sets on display through Toyota’s product specialists
The wide diversity of taste options possible in the automotive market can be intimidating. From adventurers drawn to the Ford Bronco, to adventurers who desire the comforts of the Explorer, to those who find solace in the quiet luxury of a Genesis sedan or the indestructible appeal of Toyota SUVs, “the car is literally an extension of someone’s private label,” Popson said.
The way a customer sees themselves in that lopass through the product specialist can be a key component in conveying the message of the lopass and converting a passerby into a potential customer. Of course, a smile and a friendly tone are important; But a wardrobe that looks familiar or ambitious can take a long time to entice a customer to a verbal exchange about a brand or style of car, a verbal exchange that can turn into a sale.
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