Starting point
KK-Automyynti is a car dealership in Porvoo founded in 2016 that specializes in serving people with credit reports across Finland.
Entrepreneur Pasi Helenius got the idea for the company after losing his own credit report. He noticed that people with delinquent accounts have difficulty getting service unless they pay in cash. This is exactly the situation in the car trade. This market segment has not been exploited by other car dealerships.
The challenge for KK Automyynn was low awareness. Customers were not aware of the service's existence.
Solution
First, the company hired Digisome, a digital marketing specialist, to improve the company's search engine and social media visibility.
Once KK Automyynti was available online, it was time for the second part of the project: media communications. The aim was to raise awareness of the company among those who had defaulted on payments.
Promoted, together with Helenius, created a plan for what he and KK Automyynn could offer journalists.
The plan identified three perspectives that might be of interest to the media: Helenius' own story, the company's unique operating idea, and Helenius' experience with people with payment problems and their situations. The media was not approached with KK Automyynn's marketing messages.
The plan required courage from Helenius, as he opened his own life to the public to read.
Promoted contacted the media with jointly created perspectives. If journalists took up the topic, they naturally modified the perspective and narrative according to their own interests to suit themselves and their readers. In addition, the project made use of STT Info's press release distribution.
Helenius describes the collaboration with Promoted as “seamless,” where the parties understand each other well.
Result
The media has published 14 articles about KK Automyynn in just over six months. The articles have appeared in tabloids, business media, as well as regional and local newspapers.
Media visibility has had a positive impact on the company's turnover, Helenius says. More than half of the car dealership's new customers have read about the dealership through the media.
“Because of the stories that have been made about me, people find me and KK Automyynn to be approachable. They contact me directly and often start by telling their story. The risk of opening up about my own life has been worth taking,” he says.
Helenius says that although KK Automyynti has benefited from the publicity, the collaboration has emphasized the journalists' genuine service.
“I have tried to be open and honest with journalists, to help them in their work. I have recognized that journalists have felt that they are getting the juicy story they want from us. And that is fine.”
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Customer comment
“If there's a story coming out in the media, I better be at work. Customers start contacting me right away.”
-Pasi Helenius
