Introducing, carsales’ AutoAds, a platform where anyone trying to sell a second-hand car got a one-of-a-kind, expensive-feeling car ad. For free.

carsales AutoAds is a cloud-based ad generating platform that uses car listing data to automatically create a car ad.

Sellers didn’t have to lift a finger. All they had to do was list their car as they normally would and the data (the information they enter about their beloved second-hand car) was seamlessly used to create a unique TV ad.

After listing their car, sellers received an email with five personalised car ads. Each was based on a clichéd car commercial genre. Tough, City, Adventure, Family and Luxury.

The AutoAds platform is capable of generating over 1.2 trillion possible combinations ensuring that no two ads will ever be the same.

We created big, expensive feeling, one-of-a-kind car ads for every Australian trying to sell their second-hand car.

Each ad played off a classic car ad theme: Adventure, Luxury, City, Tough and Family. And behind each of these one-of-a-kind ads was a series of bespoke algorithms that scraped the classified forms sellers were filling out. As they started tapping the keys, the algorithm started working in the background, automatically ingesting inputs into our video creation platform.

The data helped generate over 5,000 audio and video clips. Every photo, every possible odometer reading, every sellers’ name, every price variable was stored in a huge library, ready and waiting for our purpose-built tech to generate the next ad in real time.

The result was a library of elements that could be seamlessly stitched to create 1.2 trillion possible combinations of car ads.

A week into the campaign, over 435,215 AutoAds were generated.

Over 5,000 AutoAds are still being generated every day.

In a country where the population is just over 24 million, we managed to reach 16.8 million people via earned (PR) and paid media (TV).

And Carole Smith’s ad for her 2001 Toyota Corolla was beamed into a million lounge rooms across Australia. It must be the most far reaching second-hand car ad ever!

AutoAds is relevant for Direct because it’s a breakthrough example of video personalisation. We created a platform where anyone trying to sell a second-hand car got a one-of-a-kind, expensive-feeling car ad. For free.

After listing their car as they normally would, the data (the information they enter about their beloved second-hand car) was seamlessly used to create a unique TV ad.

Sellers received an email with five personalised car ads they could share with the world on social.

The process of selling a car is as laborious and frustrating as it is difficult. You create a listing, add in the details, take some amateur photos and then hope to be found within a sea of other used cars.

The only innovation in the category over the past 20 years was that you could now do it online – something carsales, Australia’s leading online car classified platform, did very well.

On top of that, new cars were becoming more appealing than ever with car manufacturer’s big budget ad campaigns and constant retail deals.

While second-hand sellers obviously couldn’t match their budgets, we could help them level the playing field by making things hugely more personal and entertaining.

Enter carsales’ AutoAds – a custom built tool that gave everyone selling their car their very own personalised, expensive-feeling car ad.

carsales.com.au is Australia’s largest online classifieds for second-hand cars.

Their challenge? New car sales in Australia are off the charts.

Record low interest-rates have made new cars even more accessible as Australians are using their hard-earned savings to upgrade to that ‘new car smell’.

In fact, every year for the last three years, new cars sales have hit record breaking heights, making Australia one of the biggest per capita car markets in the world.

Not surprisingly, the global car brands continue to spend big with big TV campaigns and even bigger media budgets.

Your everyday Joe trying to sell their second-hand car doesn’t stand a chance.

That was until carsales.com.au decided to take on those big brands with their big TV ads, by giving every second-hand car seller their very own expensive-feeling, personalised car ad.