What’s happening at WhichCar this month?

We’re still coming down from staging the Australian Motoring Awards, which was a wonderful industry showcase for our brands, highlighted by Australia’s most prestigious automotive awards including the WhichCar Style Award, 4×4 of the Year, Motor Performance Car of the Year and of course Wheels Car of the Year.

This was a rare occasional for motoring industry heavyweights and the marketing and communications people we work closely with to get together, and based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback, it’s clear a great night was had by all.

There’s been no time to rest though. We’re continuing to grow our digital audience with the most diverse content of any Australian motoring website, including our new WhichCar Weekly podcast; creating more great segments for WhichCar TV which airs on Network Ten every week; and of course producing content for Australia’s favourite motoring brands: Wheels, Motor, 4×4, Street Machine and Unique Cars.

What can WhichCar fans look forward to in 2019?

The fantastic thing about our multi-media offering is that our experienced journalists are also the ones fronting the TV show and podcast. The majority of our video production and photography is done in-house too. This allows us to use our compelling content across many platforms, meaning we’re agile and able to go where the audience is. So, whether you enjoy our magazines, digital offerings and/or WhichCar TV, expect things to get even bigger, better and more entertaining as 2019 progresses.

What are some of the new activities and initiatives launching in 2019?

We’ve already hit the ground running this year, with WhichCar TV starting on Channel 10 in Australia and Prime TV in New Zealand. Our new WhichCar Weekly podcast also debuted earlier this year, and the first edition of the re-designed Wheels magazine that’s been incredibly well received.

There’s also plenty of behind the scenes work going into WhichCar.com.au to further enhance the user experience and set up consumer platforms, such as WhichTyre.com.au that helps people choose the right rubber for their car and arrange for it be fitted at their convenience.

We’re also expanding our relationship with other Bauer brands including our ‘Industry’ titles, with our video team working on another TV show about trucks and heavy machinery. Then there’s our collaboration with Bauer lifestyle titles that’s already seeing us provide content to Money Magazine, Elle and Woman’s Day.

As content providers we’re also exploring collaborations with brands outside the Bauer family. One of these is with leading men’s lifestyle website D’Marge, with whom we share content, bringing WhichCar to their audience, and D’Marge to ours.

Tell us about the WhichCar consumer?

In our industry it’s so tempting to find a certain demographic and pitch everything at them, but the Australian new car buyer is way too diverse for that. Not everyone is a car enthusiast, yet most agree that cars are an important part of their lifestyle.

WhichCar.com.au talks to Intenders, Influencers and Enthusiasts. We tailor our approach to talk the language each section of our audience desires and understands. We have everything car buyers need and that car enthusiasts want.

So while most motoring publications have a particular niche, we appeal across the spectrum from the biggest car geek, weekend tinkerer, dreamer and industry follower to the all-important intenders ready to consume as much information as they can about their next purchase. We’re even there for people who don’t like cars – “what does that check engine light mean?” We have a story for that.

What does the future hold across multiple platforms in terms of opportunities for advertisers?

Our magazines have long provided prestige for advertisers, and to that we’ve added a compelling and engaging digital platform that reaches more than 1 million UBs every month. Since unifying all our enthusiast titles under the WhichCar banner last year, and building a dedicated Consumer Editorial Team, we’ve created an ecosystem that reaches a broad demographic and addresses their different need states. Add to the fact that WhichCar is now the fastest growing motoring website in Australia and with our programmatic offering due to come online any time now you can see why more advertisers are taking notice.

WhichCar TV offers another dimension. Car manufacturers and associated brands spend a lot of money producing television commercials so there are great opportunities to combine them into a package that encompasses our print, digital and social channels with a massive reach.

We’re also working on sponsorship deals, like the one we have for WhichCar TV with Continental Tyres. We would never have been able to secure a deal like that even six months ago.

What is WhichCar like from an employee perspective?

There really is a buzz about the place, and expanding our multi-platform presence means our team has become as diverse as the content we provide.

We have journalists who never dreamed they’d be on TV enthusiastically pitching new segments, while the people filming them have seen their work spread from our websites and YouTube to hundreds of thousands of living rooms across Australia and New Zealand.

We’re one of the few media companies that is hiring additional full-time staff across departments and reducing our reliance on contributors. That and the fact we’re a short stroll from the best souvlakis outside of Greece is fast making us an employer of choice.