Kia, Nissan and Infiniti are targeting audiences based on the vehicles they own to develop bespoke online campaigns tailored to their consumption habits.

Kia is using DVLA vehicle registration data to serve targeted ads to households across the UK.

The carmakers are employing a Specific Media-developed 'garage access' tool, says Marketing Week, to pull their campaigns away from concentrating solely on direct acquisitions to being more engagement led.

Metrics such as awareness and purchase intent are being used to steer the efforts, which will promote brand loyalty and targeted post-sales messaging.

It combines anonymised DVLA vehicle registration data from Experian with data about channel usage across all devices in more than 19 million UK homes. Car brands are already able to access vehicle registration data, but upcoming initiatives mark the first time behavioral data is being added to deliver content at a far more detailed level.

It means Kia and Nissan are able to tailor their efforts to snare customers from rivals through targeted content, while also focus solely on engaging their existing customers.

Nissan is using the tool to push its Leaf electric vehicle range to people it identifies as most likely to want to own a secondary vehicle that is electric.

Meanwhile, Kia is targeting homeowners who have just bought one of its cars with post-sales messages shaped around how those households are consuming media.

Previous efforts would have pushed the content based on the number of devices in a home, increasing the risk of duplicated ads.

However, upcoming campaigns are built around media consumption patterns using data gleaned from every households’ wi-fi connection. For example, upcoming ads for Infiniti’s online videos will run across smartphones, tablets, laptops and connected TVs based on each house’s specific consumption habits. 

The move is the latest example of how auto manufactures are evolving their strategies to adapt to a more complex and shorter consumer decision-making process. Ford is extending its real-time marketing strategy to other divisions to try and develop a more integrated customer journey, while Nissan is investing in Instagram to boost its status among future car owners.