La Centrale, the leading specialist automotive marketplace, with 8.2 million unique monthly visitors, 8,200 partners and professional resellers and 300,000 used vehicles available for sale, has just presented its rebranding carried out to modernize its image and support its growth.
A busy news story for La Centrale over the last 6 months! Indeed, the company has launched a new website, a new application, new innovative services with the first 100% automatic search assistant based on artificial intelligence to allow users to search for a vehicle according to their needs in natural language. Created in 1969, La Centrale has evolved from a traditional classifieds magazine to a specialized marketplace, adapting to the evolution of the automobile market and the needs of French motorists.
Today, it’s time for a new visual identity accompanied by an advertising campaign with new TV spots.. These investments strengthen La Centrale’s expert position and aim to capture a younger audience while consolidating the trust of its current users. The first results show that La Centrale is the most trusted site for the French, ahead of manufacturer sites and other ad sites. La Centrale is also in first position among sites consulted by individuals who intend to buy a vehicle in the next 12 months*.
Anaïs Harmant, Marketing Director of La Centrale, says, “ Founded over 50 years ago, La Centrale has grown from a newspaper of automobile classified ads to a marketplace leading the way in terms of visit intentions for buying and selling automobiles in France.. To honor this legacy and strengthen its status as an independent expert accessible to all, we have undertaken a strategy to reposition La Centrale’s brand image and have become the leading media investor among specialized auto sites over the last six months. This modernization and growth strategy is also accompanied by structuring innovations based on the real needs of the French to simplify the vehicle buying and selling experience, as illustrated by the launch of the first 100% auto search assistant based on artificial intelligence. »
A new, modern and accessible image to embody expertise and independence
In collaboration with the design agency Seenk, La Centrale has redesigned its visual identity with a new logo with a modern design that symbolizes reliability and innovation, and a new color palette dominated by red. to boost the brand image and through the use of contemporary typography to strengthen the accessibility of services. With the help of Sixième Son, La Centrale is also renewing its sound identity to express the trust and ease of use of its brand. This sound signature facilitates memorization to anchor the La Centrale “reflex”.
Briac de Fouchier, Managing Director of Seenk, comments, “ The brand’s ambitions are strong, the new identity had to be just as strong. We wanted to carry the group’s ambitions and translate the new positioning as an expert accessible to all. The work around the brand was based on respect for the La Centrale heritage, known to the French for over 50 years, while giving it a new lease of life. »
Laurent Cochini, Managing Director of Sixième Son adds, “ La Centrale is a brand that speaks to the French. The music speaks of this proximity, tells of this complicity, while adding seriousness and modernity to the brand’s personality. Simple and effective, like the rest of its brand platform, La Centrale’s sound identity has that little something extra that should make an impression and stay in people’s minds. »
An advertising campaign that goes against traditional codes: “You know someone who knows what they’re talking about”
Created with the WNP agency, New ad campaign focuses on customer needs rather than cars themselves by illustrating life moments such as going on holiday or retiring. Using humour and empathy, the campaign features four customer portraits at key life moments, with a new brand tagline “You know someone who knows.”
Benjamin Levy, Vice President and Managing Partner of WNP, explains: “ Most people buy a vehicle less than what they can do with it. This is the idea that underpinned our entire creative approach at WNP. Hence the initiative to focus less on the beautiful cars available on La Centrale than on the beautiful moments experienced by its customers. The idea was to show that La Centrale is a brand that is close to its customers, that knows them and understands them. »
*IFOP study carried out on a national sample of 886 individuals in December 2023.
Source: www.ecommercemag.fr
