These days it’s not even necessary to walk into a showroom to buy a car – thus the push for current dealers to court existing clients more aggressively than new ones. Still, somehow dealers and auto makers must get individuals to walk through the door. How?

For starters, dealers are trying to court consumers in a more sophisticated manner, says Karl Brauer, CEO of Total Car Score, an upcoming car rating website that’s based in Camarillo, CA. The Internet, along with a more skeptical, demanding consumer, means dealers are having to beef up websites, in-store displays and interactive tools.

That’s showing up in promotional products as well, for the segment of dealers willing to spend a little extra to impress would-be car buyers. For example, one savvy promotional products distributor recently created a customizable, biodegradable tumbler for Tesla Motors, the American-based manufacturer of high-end electric sports cars and sedans. So customized was the tumbler that its interior color matched the Pantone color choice of Tesla, with the car maker’s information molded into the bottom of the mug, rather than the supplier’s. 

Not only was it an item with a high perceived value, but it “matched the look and feel of the car that consumers were buying, and the colors on the brochure, so it really enforced the brand they’re seeing at the dealership and out in the marketplace,” says the distributor.