The festive season creates opportunities for FMCG brands to become part of consumers’ everyday lives. Yet a gap remains between an advertisement people love and a product they choose. Brandformance connects brand appeal with experiences that support purchasing, moving consumers from interest to action at each touchpoint.

1. The Festive FMCG Landscape: Growth Opportunities and the Challenge of Winning Consumer Choice

According to NIQ, Tet accounts for approximately 20% of annual FMCG value, highlighting the importance of this seasonal occasion. Meanwhile, PwC’s 2025 Voice of the Consumer survey in Vietnam found that 47% of respondents consider price a key factor when choosing food. For these products, the emotions surrounding gifting and family gatherings need to be supported by compelling reasons to spend: who the product is for, which needs it meets, and how it delivers value for money.

Tet accounts for approximately 20% of annual FMCG value, creating a significant growth opportunity for brands.
Source: Novaon Digital

Timing also needs to be planned well in advance to influence consumer choice. The Unveiling Tet Consumer Trends 2025 report by Decision Lab in collaboration with Meta found that 68% of shoppers begin their Tet shopping at least 20 days before the holiday. Brands therefore need to engage consumers as they look for ideas and build their shopping lists, then adapt their content to peak purchasing demand and post-holiday replenishment.

Beyond timing, the purchase journey spans multiple channels. NIQ found that traditional retail remained the first choice for 84% of shoppers during Tet 2025. A consumer may discover a product through a creator but complete the purchase at a nearby store. If the content lacks information on where to buy, or the product is difficult to recognize on the shelf, interest may not translate into choice.

These changes present brands with three priorities: communicate value clearly, appear at the right time, and connect communications with purchase locations. Brandformance helps coordinate these priorities, allowing brand building to lay the groundwork for conversion while the purchase experience continues to strengthen trust.

2. Brandformance Strategy: Four Experience Groups Connecting Awareness with Action

Brandformance combines brand building and conversion within a shared experience. For FMCG during the festive season, every piece of content, interaction, or offer should both clarify why consumers should choose a product and support their next action. Guided by Novaon Digital’s Strategy – Creative – Technology approach, the four experience groups below are designed around shopper needs, developed through creativity, and connected through technology.

Four Brandformance solution groups connect brand experiences with purchasing action during the festive season.

Source: Novaon Digital.

Social Experience: Turning Festive Stories into Reasons to Choose

When selecting gifts or preparing for family gatherings, shoppers need to know whether a product suits the recipient, their budget, and the occasion. Brands can combine creators, communities, and real-life reviews in a content series such as “The Right Choice for Every Reunion,” covering everything from gift ideas to festive table preparation. Each piece of content should connect an occasion with the product’s benefits and distinctive identity, then direct consumers to further information or a place to buy. Social listening helps identify topics, while trackable links monitor actions. KPIs should combine brand consideration lift, product information visits, and sales attributable to content.

Interactive Experience: Bringing Products into Personalized Experiences

Consumers may be interested but unsure which product meets their needs. Brands can turn interaction into a tool that supports choice: a “Design Your Ideal Gift Basket” mini app can recommend products based on the recipient and budget; gamification can help consumers discover product benefits; and AR can help them visualize or personalize packaging where appropriate. Brand identity and product benefits should be embedded in the experience so users remember what they discover. Data shared with consent can support follow-up recommendations. KPIs include brand recall, the rate of progression to product views, and offer redemptions that result in purchases.

Commerce Experience: Delivering on the Brand Promise at the Moment of Purchase

When ready to buy, consumers need reassurance about quality, cost, and whether their orders will arrive in time for the holiday. A livestream themed “Gifts Within Your Budget” can combine advice on product sizes and formats, usage demonstrations, and relevant offers, helping viewers understand the value before checkout. Social commerce, retail media, and in-store content should maintain consistent messaging and product imagery. Direct purchase links, store locators, and delivery information help reduce friction. KPIs should prioritize conversion rate, new buyers, and net revenue, assessed alongside promotional costs and canceled orders to evaluate the quality of growth.

Post-purchase Experience: Turning Product Use into a Reason to Return

After purchase, usefulness and satisfaction lay the foundation for the next choice. Brands can stay connected through storage tips, recipes for using up food after Tet, or home care advice, while encouraging UGC about real experiences. QR codes on packaging connect users with content, loyalty points, and member benefits; CRM supports purchase reminders based on replenishment cycles where appropriate data and consent are available. This approach reinforces the brand’s value in everyday life. KPIs should focus on customer satisfaction, repeat purchase rate, and revenue from returning customers.

The four experience groups should work together in line with changing consumer needs: build consideration early, support purchases during peak demand, and maintain connections after product use. Tracking both brand and business metrics helps companies assess whether attention translates into choice and whether transactions lay the foundation for lasting relationships.

3. Case Studies: Connecting Festive Emotions with Experiences and Action

Coca-Cola, China, Tet 2024: Turning the Can into a Connection for New Year Wishes

During Tet 2024, Coca-Cola tapped into young Chinese consumers’ desire to strengthen family bonds after periods of social distancing and work-related pressures. Although they valued their loved ones, many still found it difficult to express affection directly. For a brand associated with reunion meals, the challenge was to turn togetherness into a simple, shareable action. Coca-Cola chose the ritual of exchanging wishes, combining traditional paper-cutting art with AI to help users create content for their families.

Coca-Cola brings loved ones together during Tet celebrations in China.
Source: Novaon Digital

Users scanned Year of the Dragon cans to access a WeChat Mini Program, receive digital red envelopes, and create AI paper-cut portraits with personalized wishes. The portraits were combined into an online dragon. From a Brandformance perspective, packaging became a gateway to the experience: the product connected family emotions, interaction, and a CRM platform. According to EssenceMediacom, the campaign attracted 1,053,075 co-creators, with engagement up 62% and sales up 8% year on year. These are reported campaign results; AI’s individual contribution to sales was not isolated. [5]

OREO, China, Tet 2026: Turning the Cookie Twist into a Good-luck Ritual

During Tet 2026, OREO faced competition in the snack biscuit category as brands targeted gifting, stocking up, and family sharing. The brand recognized that relatives could sit together yet feel disconnected because of generational differences and personal interests. The challenge was to create a shared activity that fit Tet traditions while remaining distinctly OREO. “Twist for Luck” connected the cookie-twisting gesture with the wish for good fortune, making the product part of a ritual the whole family could enjoy.

OREO turns twisting a cookie into a ritual for welcoming good fortune during Tet 2026.

Source: Novaon Digital

OREO introduced golden-edition cookies, partnered with Alipay’s Five Blessings program, and used AI to recognize the cookie’s cream layer and generate personalized wishes. A festive film, music, and a Douyin challenge extended reach. From a Brandformance perspective, this mechanism connected content with the product experience, interaction, and purchase channels. According to VML China’s ROI Festival entry, the AI activation generated 98.9 million page views and 34.8 million unique visitors, while the Douyin challenge received more than 750 million views. These figures demonstrate the scale of engagement; the entry did not quantify sales growth.

Lay’s × Walmart, China, Tet 2024: Connecting Festive Gifting Inspiration with the Point of Purchase

During Tet 2024, demand for snacks for gifting and reunions rose, but Lay’s faced competition across products, flavors, and gift sets. The brand needed to reinforce its association with family joy while driving sales of retailer-exclusive editions. With Walmart, the challenge was to make gift sets stand out and provide a convenient path from discovery to purchase. The campaign combined creative packaging, creator content, and the retailer’s sales resources.

Lay’s festive gift packaging is creatively transformed into a dragon, connecting the product with seasonal decorations.

Source: Novaon Digital

Xiaohongshu creators turned packaging into Tet decorations, inspiring use and sharing. Walmart supported this through customer communities, coupons, a Mini Program, and supermarket displays. From a Brandformance perspective, creative appeal connected with purchase touchpoints, helping shoppers recognize products and buy. According to PepsiCo’s FBIF Wow Food Awards entry, the Walmart partnership mobilized more than 8,000 community group-buying leaders, generated over RMB 6.6 million in GMV, and achieved a 36% redemption rate for claimed coupons. This is reported GMV, rather than independently verified incremental revenue.

For Novaon Digital, Brandformance starts with understanding what drives consumer choice and designing experiences to support it. When strategy, creativity, and technology serve one journey, FMCG brands can build a stronger foundation for turning festive appeal into purchases and opportunities for repeat buying.

The year-end shopping season puts fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands under pressure on two fronts: competing for attention on social media while making the most of a short window to drive sales. When purchase decisions can be triggered by a product review video, a community discussion or a livestream, social outreach becomes more than an exercise in expanding reach. In this interview, Trần Lụa, Account Manager at Novaon Digital, shares her perspective on building a social outreach network, connecting influence with conversion goals and improving marketing effectiveness during the year-end peak season.

I. Social outreach for FMCG brands during the year-end sales push

The end of the year is always a fiercely competitive period for the FMCG sector. Shopping demand rises across many product categories, while brands roll out marketing campaigns, promotions and demand-generation activities to capture seasonal spending.

According to YouNet Media’s Winning Tết 2027 report, the Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) 2026 season saw 151 marketing campaigns from 150 brands, up 14.39% and 17.19% respectively from the previous year. However, total discussion volume reached only 9.36 million, down 8.9% from Tết 2025. These figures point to growing competition in the Tết marketing landscape. With more campaigns competing for a smaller pool of discussion, investing in reach alone may not deliver a corresponding competitive advantage.

Competition intensified during Tết 2026, making the quality of discussion a greater priority for brands.

Source: Novaon Digital

This pressure is particularly relevant to FMCG, a sector characterised by frequent purchases, relatively low transaction values and consideration cycles that can be shorter than those in many other categories. On highly interactive platforms, consumers can move quickly from watching content to asking about prices, researching products or placing an order. The purchase journey therefore does not always follow a linear path from awareness to research and consideration. Content that meets a real need, delivered by the right creator and paired with an attractive offer, can prompt a purchase at the moment of engagement.

Social outreach is an approach through which brands expand their reach and build influence via networks of content creators, key opinion leaders (KOLs), key opinion consumers (KOCs), online communities, social media pages and user-generated content (UGC). In the year-end FMCG landscape, it needs to be understood as more than booking KOLs and KOCs or distributing content in online communities. The challenge is to connect social influence with time-sensitive conversion opportunities, especially when a short peak selling season leaves little room for delays in adjusting strategy.

What opportunities and challenges do FMCG brands face when communicating on social media during the 2026 year-end season, particularly under pressure to grow sales?

Ms. Trần Lụa:

The year-end season is both a major growth opportunity and a period of intense competitive pressure for FMCG brands. Shopping demand is stimulated by a succession of holidays, promotional events and preparations for the new year. Given the category’s relatively short purchase cycles and high repeat-purchase frequency, brands have many opportunities to reach consumers with an immediate need. However, rising demand does not automatically make consumers more likely to choose a particular brand.

At the same time, challenges come from several directions: competition between brands, rapidly changing shopping behaviour, the cost of reaching customers and businesses’ own need to use resources efficiently. As we enter the final stretch of Q4 2026, revenue and conversion performance become key priorities. Brands have little time for prolonged experimentation or activities that generate reach without demonstrating their value to business objectives.

Key considerations for social outreach during the year-end peak season

Source: Novaon Digital

From an account management perspective, and based on my experience working with FMCG brands at Novaon Digital, I believe social outreach needs to focus on three principles: choose well, move fast and measure accurately.

Choose creators, communities and audiences with genuine purchase needs. Move fast when testing content and offers, and reallocate resources according to performance. Measure accurately by prioritising orders, revenue and conversion costs, while also tracking engagement quality and brand influence.

The goal of year-end social outreach is no longer simply to maximise reach or engagement. It is to turn conversations with the right audiences at the right time into opportunities for sales growth, which can also create a foundation for long-term brand value.

II. From creator strategy to conversion: Building social outreach around the right audiences and shopping moments

As KOLs and KOCs become a common feature of marketing campaigns, partnering with someone who has a large following is no guarantee that a message will resonate. The fit between the product, creator, community and usage context requires closer consideration. A product review, a conversation in a community group and a creative challenge can each play a different role in building awareness and consideration.

Social outreach should therefore begin with the structure of the network: who captures initial attention, who helps consumers understand the product, which communities are best suited to sustaining discussion, and what content themes connect these activities. Clear roles also help prevent multiple channels from repeating the same message without adding value.

Effective social outreach gives each channel a clear role, connects content across touchpoints and avoids repetitive messaging.

Source: Novaon Digital

With so many FMCG brands investing in KOLs, KOCs and online communities at year-end, how should brands structure and allocate their social outreach network to build a competitive advantage beyond reach?

Ms. Trần Lụa:

To create a competitive advantage through social outreach, FMCG brands need to segment influencers by their role and potential contribution to business objectives, rather than focusing solely on reach.

High-profile KOLs can attract attention and build awareness; experts provide specialist perspectives, explain products and strengthen trust; while macro and micro creators, KOCs and UGC bring first-hand experiences and social proof, and can support conversion through affiliate marketing.

More importantly, influencer selection must be based on audience fit, engagement quality and demonstrated conversion ability. For creators who actively drive sales, often referred to as “key sellers”, brands should review gross merchandise value (GMV), add-to-cart (ATC) activity and completed orders. They should also break down the data, for example by distinguishing GMV generated through livestreams from GMV generated through shoppable videos. This helps identify the right partnership format and make the most of each creator’s strengths, rather than relying only on follower counts or views.

Each influencer group also needs its own content direction and KPIs, presenting the product from different angles to stimulate demand and encourage purchases. Budgets should reflect each group’s role and performance, avoiding excessive investment in famous names whose ability to convert may be unproven. What matters is not how many influencers a brand works with, but whether it selects the right people, assigns the right roles and allocates resources to generate business value.

Beyond selecting the right creator network, timing can determine the effectiveness of a social outreach strategy. In Q4, consumer needs and readiness to buy can shift quickly around promotional events, payday, online shopping campaigns and year-end holidays. Content that performs well early in a campaign may become less effective when consumers start looking for deals or are ready to make a purchase.

Social outreach plans therefore need to adapt across campaign stages, rather than keeping the same audiences, messages and execution throughout. Brands need to establish clear objectives, core messages and execution principles, while maintaining close, ongoing coordination with their creator network to capture short-lived shopping opportunities.

Early on, creator content can introduce usage occasions and stimulate demand. As the peak approaches, product reviews, deal-focused communities and content directing shoppers to relevant outlets can make purchase consideration more concrete. Immediately before the holiday, information on product availability, delivery times and suitable points of sale may become more important than content designed purely to attract attention. The exact approach should be adapted to the product category and distribution network.

FMCG products typically have short purchase cycles, and shoppers may decide to buy while interacting with content. During the year-end peak season, how should brands choose creators and purchase triggers at each stage to avoid missing conversion opportunities?

Ms. Trần Lụa:

FMCG is characterised by frequent purchases, short consideration cycles and purchase decisions that can happen at the point of engagement. In Q4 in particular, consumer behaviour changes constantly around sales events, stock-up needs, gifting and preparations for the festive season. Brands therefore need to adapt their choice of creators, platforms and conversion triggers to each moment, rather than following a fixed plan.

At the launch stage, high-profile KOLs and macro creators can quickly attract attention and stimulate demand. Facebook is suited to expanding community discussion, while TikTok is well placed to spread short-form videos and generate interest through entertainment and product experiences.

As the campaign gains momentum, brands should increase the involvement of micro creators, KOCs and creators who offer first-hand reviews to reach audiences with specific needs. Content should explore customer value, product experience and year-end usage occasions in greater depth. Execution also needs to suit each platform: visual, fast-paced videos on TikTok; reviews and community conversations on Facebook; and product information and shopping offers on e-commerce platforms.

During the final sales push, prioritise creators who have demonstrated conversion ability through shoppable videos, affiliate marketing or livestreams. During livestreams in particular, creators need to respond continuously to viewers: spend more time on demonstrations when shoppers are interested in product benefits, answer questions as they arise, and adjust bundles, vouchers or time-limited offers to encourage purchases. For FMCG, bundle value, gifts with purchase and savings on multi-buy offers can be important purchase triggers.

Trần Lụa’s perspective on choosing creators and purchase triggers during the peak sales push

Source: Novaon Digital

However, creators and platforms should not be assigned rigidly to specific stages. Brands need to monitor engagement, product clicks, conversion rates and GMV by creator, content asset and livestream, so they can adjust audiences, messaging and budgets promptly.

During the peak sales push, competitive advantage comes not only from choosing the right creators, but also from adapting quickly to shopper behaviour, using each platform’s strengths and activating conversion opportunities as they emerge.

III. Measuring social outreach from discussion quality to business performance

When social outreach is expected to support sales, performance assessment cannot stop at reach, views or total discussion volume.

YouNet Media’s Winning Tết 2027 report adds a perspective on engagement quality through its Qualified Users and Content From Qualified Users (CFQU) metrics. Of the 9.36 million discussions about Tết 2026 campaigns, approximately 1.32 million came from qualified users, corresponding to a ROCFQU of 14.14%.

These metrics help brands look beyond discussion volume to assess the quality of user participation. However, they still measure social media activity and do not directly represent orders or revenue.

To track social outreach’s contribution during the selling season, brands need a measurement framework with several layers. Alongside reach and engagement quality, this can incorporate signals closer to purchase behaviour, such as product clicks, store visits, promotional code redemptions and trackable transactions.

Social outreach measurement should connect reach, discussion quality, shopping behaviour and actual conversions.

Source: Novaon Digital

When sales become a core objective of a year-end FMCG campaign, which metrics should brands use to assess and optimise social outreach, and demonstrate its contribution to business results?

Ms. Trần Lụa:

When sales are a core objective, social outreach should be measured by campaign stage and influencer group, rather than against a single set of KPIs. The priority is to define primary metrics, supporting metrics and expected performance levels at the planning stage.

During the awareness stage, reach, views, engagement and brand mentions help assess audience exposure and influence. As the campaign moves into a stronger sales push, the focus should shift to product clicks, add-to-cart activity, orders, GMV and conversion costs. Influencers should be assessed according to their campaign role and proven strengths. For awareness objectives, brands should prioritise reach and influence. For sales objectives, the focus should be on the ability to generate orders and revenue, whether the partner is a high-profile KOL with a proven sales record, a KOC or an affiliate creator.

Alongside KPIs, brands need to set acceptable cost thresholds for each creator group and campaign stage. Examples include a maximum cost per order, a target return on ad spend (ROAS), or a target ratio of GMV to creator fees. These thresholds should reflect profit margins, order values and business objectives, rather than simply comparing revenue with the cost of a KOL partnership.

During the Q4 peak in particular, data needs to be integrated and updated in near real time so brands can assess performance by creator, content, platform and individual livestream. This allows them to adjust budgets, messages and offers, or choose more suitable creators for subsequent stages, instead of waiting until the end of the campaign to review results.

Finally, brands need to distinguish revenue attributed to promotional codes or shopping links from the incremental revenue actually generated by the campaign. The effectiveness of social outreach lies not just in reported numbers, but in how data is used to make timely decisions, control costs and improve conversion opportunities during the selling season.

The year-end festive season creates growth opportunities while putting FMCG brands under pressure to make faster decisions in a constantly changing media environment. From targeting the right audiences and defining the roles of creators and communities to adapting content around shopping moments, social outreach requires a combination of strategy, agile execution and appropriate measurement. When outreach activities are closely connected to shopping signals and performance data, brands have a stronger basis for allocating resources, capturing conversion opportunities and pursuing sales growth during the peak season.

Thank you for sharing your insights.

Every car buyer has their own priorities and selection criteria. This means automotive brands must go beyond providing comprehensive product information to understand what customers care about, what kind of guidance they need, and which factors influence their purchase decisions. With its ability to analyze data, identify customer needs, and personalize interactions, AI is creating new opportunities for brands to support customers more effectively at every touchpoint.

1. As the Car-Buying Journey Becomes Increasingly Personalized

Purchasing a car is a high-value decision that typically involves multiple stages of research, comparison, and consideration. From searching for information and reading vehicle reviews to comparing prices and visiting showrooms, every touchpoint can influence the final purchase decision. However, as customer needs become increasingly diverse, generic messages and mass-market content are becoming less effective at addressing individual preferences and concerns.

Against this backdrop, AI enables brands to personalize the car-buying journey by analyzing data, identifying customer needs, and adapting interactions based on individual behaviors. Instead of simply presenting product information, brands can proactively recommend suitable vehicles, deliver relevant content, and provide guidance at different stages of consideration.

This shift not only helps customers access more relevant information but also creates opportunities for automotive brands to improve customer experiences, connect touchpoints, and support conversion more effectively.

_{AI is reshaping how consumers discover, evaluate, and choose the right vehicle.}

_{Source: Novaon Digital}

2. Four AI Applications Transforming the Car-Buying Experience

AI Recommendation: Helping Customers Find the Right Vehicle

One of the most common challenges in the car-buying journey is choosing among numerous vehicle models, variants, and configurations. Even after establishing a budget, customers must still consider a wide range of factors, including intended use, seating capacity, safety features, driving performance, and total cost of ownership.

AI Recommendation refers to product recommendation systems that use data and criteria related to individual customer needs. Rather than requiring customers to explore an entire vehicle portfolio independently, these systems can ask questions about budget, driving habits, family size, and preferred features before suggesting suitable options for further comparison.

For example, a customer looking for a family vehicle within a specific budget could receive recommendations for suitable SUVs, accompanied by information about interior space, safety features, and operating costs. Meanwhile, a customer who primarily drives in urban areas might be presented with different options based on vehicle dimensions, energy consumption, and everyday convenience.

This capability can be integrated into brand websites, online vehicle configurators, or virtual showrooms, making the product discovery process more intuitive and better guided.

For automotive brands, AI Recommendation offers two notable benefits. First, it reduces the amount of information customers need to process independently, improving the overall product research experience. Second, the preferences and criteria customers provide can serve as valuable indicators of demand, helping brands better understand interest in specific vehicle models.

However, the quality of recommendations depends on product data, evaluation criteria, and system design. AI should provide explainable suggestions rather than assuming that one vehicle will suit every customer with similar characteristics.

Personalized Content: From Generic Messaging to Content Tailored to Individual Needs

While AI Recommendation helps customers narrow down their vehicle options, Personalized Content focuses on how brands communicate information that is relevant to different customer needs and stages of consideration.

In automotive marketing, a single vehicle may offer multiple competitive advantages, ranging from design and technology to driving performance, comfort, and safety. However, not every benefit carries the same persuasive value for every customer.

Someone looking for a family car may prioritize interior space and safety assistance systems, while technology enthusiasts may be more interested in infotainment displays, connectivity, or driver-assistance features. When brands use identical content for all audiences, the benefits most relevant to each customer may not be communicated clearly enough.

With AI, brands can analyze signals such as previously viewed content, vehicles of interest, engagement behavior, and the customer’s stage in the buying journey to select or adapt marketing messages.

For example, customers in the discovery stage may encounter introductory videos and lifestyle-oriented content. As they move into consideration, communications can focus more on variant comparisons, technical specifications, driving reviews, and ownership costs. For customers demonstrating stronger purchase intent, information about test drives, sales policies, or relevant dealerships becomes more practical.

Personalization can be applied across multiple touchpoints, including digital advertising, email marketing, websites, landing pages, and customer service channels. AI can also support content classification, message recommendations, and the optimization of creative variations based on performance data.

For brands, the value of Personalized Content lies not simply in producing more content variations but in communicating the right product benefits to the right audiences at the right moments. This provides a foundation for improving marketing relevance, supporting customer consideration, and using content resources more efficiently.

Nevertheless, personalization does not mean completely changing a brand’s message for every individual. Communications must maintain consistent positioning, brand identity, and core values while complying with personal data protection and privacy requirements.

Conversational AI: When Customer Consultation Begins with a Conversation

A distinctive characteristic of the car-buying journey is that customers often have numerous questions before they feel ready to visit a showroom. These questions may concern technical specifications, differences between variants, ownership costs, warranty policies, or test-drive registration procedures.

At the same time, customers do not necessarily seek information during business hours or when sales consultants are immediately available.

Conversational AI, particularly AI-powered conversational systems capable of natural language processing, allows customers to ask questions in everyday language and receive responses based on the product information made available to the system.

Unlike traditional chatbots that primarily operate through predefined scripts, Conversational AI can support more flexible interactions. Customers do not need to select a specific menu option; instead, they can ask questions such as: “Which SUV would be suitable for a family of five?”, “What are the key differences between these two variants?”, or “Can I schedule a test drive this weekend?”

When integrated with product data and relevant operational systems, AI can help compare information, explain features, collect initial customer requirements, and forward inquiries to sales consultants.

What makes Conversational AI particularly valuable is its ability to turn a simple information-seeking interaction into an opportunity for deeper customer engagement. Rather than merely reading website content, users can ask follow-up questions, clarify concerns, and gradually identify the options that best suit their needs.

For automotive brands, this application has the potential to improve responsiveness, support initial lead qualification, and reduce the burden of repetitive inquiries on sales teams. As a result, sales consultants can focus more on interactions requiring specialist knowledge, hands-on experiences, and direct consultation.

However, Conversational AI should not be viewed as a complete replacement for human consultants. Information relating to vehicle prices, inventory, promotions, financing conditions, and dealership policies must be regularly updated and verified. For complex questions or high-value purchase decisions, systems need clear mechanisms for transferring conversations to human representatives.

CRM Personalization: Extending Personalization Beyond the First Interaction

A prospective car buyer may interact with a brand multiple times before making a purchase decision. They might see an advertisement, visit a website, explore a particular model, request a consultation, book a test drive, and continue considering their options over several weeks or months.

If data from these interactions is not connected, each return visit may feel like starting the journey all over again. This not only affects the customer experience but also makes it difficult for brands to recognize individual interest levels and actual needs.

CRM Personalization focuses on using customer data to tailor engagement and relationship management throughout the customer lifecycle. When combined with AI, CRM systems can help analyze behavior, segment customers, predict areas of interest, and recommend appropriate follow-up activities.

For example, a customer who has repeatedly viewed information about a particular model and requested a consultation could be prioritized for variant comparison content or a test-drive invitation. A customer who has already completed a test drive could receive follow-up information about the vehicle they experienced, rather than continuing to receive generic introductory content.

After purchase, CRM Personalization can also help maintain customer relationships through service reminders, after-sales information, customer care programs, and content relevant to vehicle ownership.

For automotive brands, the value of CRM Personalization lies in its ability to connect marketing, sales, and after-sales service. Data is not used solely for lead generation; it also helps brands understand where customers are in their journeys and which interactions would be most meaningful next.

However, the effectiveness of this application depends heavily on data quality, system integration, and collaboration across departments. AI cannot deliver accurate personalization when customer data is fragmented, duplicated, or outdated.

_{From smart recommendations to personalized engagement, AI is redefining the car-buying experience.}

_{Source: Novaon Digital}

3. Connecting AI to Create a Seamless Customer Experience: From Discovery to Purchase Decision

The four AI applications can address different needs throughout the car-buying journey, but their greater value lies in connecting them to create a seamless experience. From recommending suitable vehicles and personalizing content to providing consultation and customer care, data gathered at each touchpoint can inform subsequent interactions, enabling brands to better understand customer needs and maintain consistent engagement throughout the consideration process.

_{Connected AI solutions bridge online and offline touchpoints, creating a seamless journey from discovery to purchase.}

_{Source: Novaon Digital}

For instance, when customers use an AI Recommendation tool to identify suitable vehicles, information about their budgets, intended uses, and preferred features can form the basis for subsequent content personalization. If they require more detailed advice or wish to book a test drive, Conversational AI can help receive and process their requests, while the CRM system enables sales teams to continue engaging with them based on previously identified needs. This makes it possible to create a more connected journey from online research to the showroom experience.

According to Cox Automotive’s 2025 Car Buyer Journey Study, published in January 2026, 25% of new-vehicle buyers in the United States used AI tools during their car-buying process. The study also found that 63% of respondents considered a combination of online and in-person interactions to be the ideal car-buying experience. These findings suggest that AI is becoming part of the automotive purchase journey, while the integration of digital touchpoints and physical experiences remains important to consumers.

For automotive brands, integrating AI with customer data, marketing activities, and sales systems creates opportunities to improve consultation quality, nurture potential customers, and support conversion. Rather than optimizing each tool independently, brands should work toward a consistent journey in which every interaction contributes to a deeper understanding of customer needs, delivers relevant value, and strengthens customer relationships.

4. Conclusion

AI is gradually transforming the car-buying journey, from how customers discover vehicles and engage with content to how they seek information, receive consultation, and experience customer care. Through AI Recommendation, Personalized Content, Conversational AI, and CRM Personalization, automotive brands have greater opportunities to understand customer needs, personalize interactions, and connect different stages of the purchase journey more effectively.

However, the value of AI does not come from technology adoption alone. It also depends on the ability to integrate data, maintain consistent customer experiences, and connect digital interactions with real-world sales activities.

In this context, Novaon Digital approaches automotive customer experience through its Strategy – Creative – Technology (SCT) framework, bringing together strategic thinking, creative content, and technology solutions throughout the customer journey. Building on this foundation, AI applications, content personalization, and data management can be considered for integration across relevant touchpoints, with the aim of improving engagement quality, supporting conversion, and building lasting relationships between automotive brands and their customers.