Advertising expense

[sallen1]

We're a GM dealer in Southern California and were quite active in the (old) dealer marketing association, the DMA. The old system didn't require us to submit for ad rebates (except for SPO stuff): the money was credited to our open account when we were invoiced for a car.

Today, as you all know, the system is much different. While I'm not asking for comments on GM's advertising strategy, I am wondering if you find that your advertising expense has increased, even net of co-op rebates.

Did you change your strategy when the program changed? Did the old DMA do a good job for you?

The DMA's filled alot of gaps for us that we are finding hard to re-fill on our own. Also, our expense has increased a bunch.

scott