Video has come into its own in 2018 with retailers utilising the platform in all manner of creative ways, here we look at some of 2018’s highlights.
That was the year that was
We celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2018 and the fact that we continue to lead the field as innovators in automotive video communications. 2018 has possibly been our most exciting year yet with global expansion growing at an incredible rate, new branding for our company and our platform hosting millions of videos. Here, we look back over the past 12-months.
January
After a decade since we introduced video communications to the automotive sector, we decided it was time for a new look and undertook a rebranding exercise encompassed by our revamped website.
February
By the end of 2016, we hosted our 10 millionth video, by the end of 2017 this figure had leapt to 17 million videos but within the first two months of 2018 we had reached over 18 million uploads.
March
We introduced Interior 360 as part of our Web Video and Smart Image app product offering. The update allows retailers to record and upload a full 360-degree view of any vehicle’s interior, to accompany the images and videos created in the same application.
April
As our global expansion continued, we were delighted to announce the appointment of Kristian Krapper as general director for the Nordic and Baltic markets coinciding with recent investment from private equity firm Tenzing enabling us to pursue our major European growth plan.
May
We celebrated our 10th anniversary.
June
We undertake a raft of research exploring consumer attitudes to video communications and personal video messaging in automotive retail for both sales and aftersales leading to the publication of our ‘Year of the Used Car’ report.
July
We host our fourth annual CitNOW Video Awards announcing the winners at a special ceremony at the home of BAFTA in Piccadilly, London after a record 948 entries. The winner of the Best Overall CitNOW Video was Alicia Kuhn from Arnold Clark Milton Keynes Delivery Centre.
We also added to our own trophy collection after we were announced ‘Video Provider of the Year at Car Dealer Power 2018. Voted for by retailers, we secured the most votes for the third consecutive year.
August
CitNOW achieved ISO 27001 certification for its information security management system (ISMS). To achieve the demanding certification, businesses must undergo a rigorous independent review and audit of its ISMS and conduct thorough risk assessments throughout the business.
September
CitNOW was named one of the most successful British SMEs in The Telegraph Trade Awards 2018.
We are also listed in the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 for the third year running. The Tech Track 100 lists the nation’s fastest growing tech companies using three-year growth patterns to measure sustained growth.
For the first time ever our platform hosted more than one million videos in just a single month as retailers worked tirelessly to deliver ‘68’ plate cars and turnaround part-exchange vehicles as quickly as possible.
October
We announce our new partnership with learning management software providers Eloomi to take the CitNOW Academy to the next level. Eloomi is helping us evolve our online eLearning offering making it sleeker, more accessible, and more interactive.
We also switched to quarterly releases to improve the way we build a better video toolkit. In our first release we launched Comms Builder, new Android devices and enhancements to the Web app.
We begin to roll-out our Amber Follow-Up add-on to enable retailers to maximise workshop opportunities identified during the eVHC at a later date following a huge success from one of our clients.
November
We attended Automotive Management Live for the third year running where we hosted an insightful best practice session on video communications, met up with some of our customers and introduced CitNOW to retailers not familiar with our products.
December
We are rounding off 2018, our tenth anniversary year, with some celebratory festive cheer and would like to thank all our customers for their continued support and to wish you all a prosperous New Year. Merry Christmas!
