FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2011
Contact: Erin Mays
312.601.5547
emays@cars.com
Cars.com Brings ESPN College Football to the
Showroom With “In It To Win It”
Dealers can get in the game at WinIt2011.com.
CHICAGO — Cars.com, one of the nation‟s leading resources for buying and selling a car, announced
today that it will be a presenting sponsor of Saturday Afternoon College Football on ESPN for the sixth
consecutive year, reaching more than 100 million viewers. To maximize the value of this sponsorship to
dealerships, Cars.com has launched “In It To Win It,” an all-new initiative featuring exclusive resources
and advice to drive traffic, capture more leads and increase sales. Throughout the college football
season, dealers can be part of the action at www.WinIt2011.com.
“Sponsoring Saturday Afternoon College Football on ESPN is an integral part of our ongoing strategy to
successfully capture serious, in-market car shoppers and deliver that audience to our advertising
partners,” said Mitch Golub, president, Cars.com. “This year, we‟re capitalizing on the fun of the football
season with „In It To Win It,‟ using it as an engaging way to help dealers maximize every opportunity to
turn more shopper interest into sales and grow their businesses.”
In addition to broadcast and digital advertising on the ESPN family of networks and ESPN.com, Cars.com
will be the category-exclusive sponsor for at least 17 Saturday Afternoon College Football games
between Sept. 1 and Dec. 10.
Features of “In It To Win It” include:
A video series starring Cars.com Dealer Training Manager Jack Simmons providing insight and
tips to drive more business and higher customer engagement using video, mobile and customer
reviews.
Winning Plays, a comment-driven “playbook” where dealers can get engaged and join the
conversation
A sweepstakes to win one of 12 iPad 2 tablets
Game of the Week poll, college football trivia and links to other opportunities to get swept up in
the fun of the NCAA football season through the DealerADvantage blog, Facebook and Twitter
pages
“Our value lies in our ability to attract consumers throughout the entire car-shopping process, from
researching vehicles and searching inventories to reading reviews and choosing their dealer,” said
Carolyn Crafts, chief marketing officer. “In addition to bringing dealers the right audience, we strive to
partner with our dealer customers to build and differentiate their stores and convert that audience into
more business. Our sponsorship of Saturday Afternoon Football on ESPN and our efforts to support
dealers through our „In It To Win It‟ initiative both deliver that value.”
The sponsorship of Saturday Afternoon College Football on ESPN is the centerpiece of Cars.com‟s fall
advertising campaign, combining an integrated broadcast, print and online media buy with the
promotional efforts of the company‟s partners, including more than 200 local media partners, Yahoo!
Autos, USA Today, About.com and other leading channels.
-more-
“The impact of investing in our audience can only be fully realized when we make an equally strong
commitment to innovating advertising products,” said Golub. “We‟re constantly enhancing our site to
simplify the car-buying process for consumers, provide our advertisers with powerful and targeted digital
advertising platforms and offer dealers the best tools in the industry to merchandise their inventory, build
confidence with car shoppers and ultimately sell more vehicles.”
ABOUT CARS.COM
Cars.com was recently named the “Best Overall Customer Experience” by Keynote Systems, the world‟s
leading Internet usage research company. Cars.com is an online destination for car shoppers that offers
information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy
and how much to pay for a car. With price listings, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos,
unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of
car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying
decisions.
Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading
media companies, including Belo (N.Y.SE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (N.Y.SE: GCI), The McClatchy
Company (N.Y.SE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (N.Y.SE: WPO).
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