Dealer's drone shoots video to stand out

The Jeff Wyler Automotive Family near Cincinnati is going to new heights to wow vehicle buyers.

The 14-dealership group has purchased a drone -- a remote-controlled, unmanned aircraft -- to spice up promotions, social media campaigns and vehicle-delivery celebrations, said E-commerce Director Kevin Frye.

"In a highly competitive market, the need to differentiate yourself has never been more important," Frye said.

This summer, Jeff Wyler Automotive paid $1,200 for the drone with a high-definition, GoPro camera mounted underneath the aircraft.

The camera is gyro-stabilized to minimize bouncing and disorientation while producing high-quality aerial photos and video, Frye said.

Frye, a former U.S. Navy aviator, said the drone is fun to fly. But Jeff Wyler Automotive has serious plans for it.

Perhaps the coolest use will be to provide customers taking delivery of vehicles with a memorable video. The camera will record salespeople handing over keys, hover shots of the driver through the passenger window and the car leaving the dealership.

That's the kind of unique video that customers will want to post to their Facebook pages and other social networks, providing Jeff Wyler with indirect publicity, Frye said.

Frye envisions a multitude of other uses for the drone.

He said the Jeff Wyler Automotive video team has started experimenting with aerial shots of inventory lots to show shoppers the wide selection that each store offers.

The drone can safely fly up to 400 feet for the wide-angle shots needed to show inventory, he said.

Additionally, the video team has started shooting B-roll video and shots of dealership exteriors, logos and vehicles, Frye said.

Those will come in handy because the group sends vehicle videos and photos to shoppers whenever they inquire about a vehicle either electronically or by phone.

Frye said the customary way of getting aerial dealership footage, hiring a helicopter, can easily cost $800 or more for one go-around. Just having that ability with the drone nearly pays for the cost of it, he said. 

Other uses include shooting charitable and promotional events at the stores or highlighting Jeff Wyler's contributions to the community. For example, the drone is being used to shoot the construction site of a new elementary school for the City of Milford, where Jeff Wyler headquarters are located. It also could record parades and fun runs. 

Most of the videos and photos will be posted to store websites and social media channels, feeding those ever-hungry beasts for fresh content, Frye said. 

The Jeff Wyler group ranks No. 39 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S. with retail sales of 19,752 new vehicles in 2014. 

Frye is no stranger to drones. In 1990, during the buildup to the Gulf War against Iraq, Frye flew on low-altitude missions that required military planes to be wary of early U.S. drones circling battlefields and waterways. That said, Frye and staff still have a learning curve on how best to fly and deploy the drone, he said. 

The drone can be flown by watching a monitor on the ground, said Dan Dorsey, Jeff Wyler multimedia production manager. But the team has been using two-person teams with one watching the monitor to see what the camera is shooting and the other acting as a spotter to keep the drone from hitting trees and other obstacles, he said. 

Frye said the group is in a trial stage, and there's a chance the video produced eventually will lose the wow factor that makes it desirable today. 

That's a risk that the group is willing to take for a leg up on the competition. 

"Sure, it could come and go," Frye said. "But when you lead, you have to be willing to bleed."