Credits Roll On First Ever Automotive Industry Video Awards

• CitNOW Video Awards - first of their kind for the UK automotive industry – held today at the home of BAFTA in central London
• Use of video technology in the automotive industry trebled in 2014 and is expected to treble again in 2015
• Awards recognise pioneers using transparency of video but there's fun too with more 'creative' uses including selling a 'Herbie' Volkswagen Beetle

The UK's first ever video awards for the car industry have been held today at the home of BAFTA in London.

The CitNOW Video Awards were set up to celebrate the car dealers and workshop technicians who have embraced the rapidly-increasing use of video in the automotive industry.

Using video to sell cars, increase work to garage workshops and bring in more business for body repairers trebled in 2014 and is expected to grow by the same amount again this year. In the last 12 months, CitNOW's market-leading video technology has delivered more than a million personalised videos to customers.

While Sytner Audi Nottingham scooped the top award for Best Overall video (http://youtu.be/MUKuPVwP9aw), the judging panel of industry experts found plenty of innovative talent among the entries, with some of the more creative uses of the technology including selling 'Herbie' - the Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own: https://youtu.be/MDto8ias43A.

CitNOW Chairman and founder, Andrew Howells, said: "We're at a tipping point in the UK car industry where video is concerned. A lot of businesses are reaping the benefits of using it and we've showcased in our Awards the ones who are using it the best.

"But we're now at that stage where people buying new or used cars are demanding the video treatment so that they can see a car for themselves without having to visit the dealership in person, at least in the first instance. Once that demand takes hold, dealers will have to use it and the importance of video in the car industry will only increase at an accelerated rate."

The panel of judges for the inaugural CitNOW Video Awards scored several hundred entries on a number of criteria including attention to detail, their overall approach and how helpful their video would have been to the viewer.

Dealers across the UK vied for honours in seven categories, including best sales video, best workshop video and most creative use of video.

Howells said: "I was very proud to see so many entries for the first CitNOW Video Awards. The standard of entries was fantastic, especially considering that these are personal responses created using a simple video application. No lights, no make-up and few, if any, retakes; personal presentations to help customers make the right decision."

CitNOW's personal video services are currently being used by over 1,500 dealers in the UK, and also in other markets including Europe, South Africa, North America and Japan, helping customers make easier decisions when buying their next car.

CitNOW videos are also sent every day by garage technicians, who use video to provide detailed condition reports, pointing out what work is needed on your car as well as what does not require attention.

ENDS

Editors notes:

Finalists and winners of the CitNOW Video Awards 2015

For further information please contact:

Maria de Juana or Andy Bothwell at Performance Communications on 0208 541 3434maria@performancecomms.com or andyb@performancecomms.com

About CitNOW

CitNOW is an innovative, enterprise-level business software product that allows dealers across Europe, Asia and the USA to sell more cars and parts more profitably. CitNOW is a personal video presentation service, a series of easy-to-use apps. Using the CitNOW suite of products can result in sales executives converting 50% or better in new car sales and aftersales red work increasing by 20% in just eight weeks.

We believe we can enable any sales exec, technician, assessor or manager, in any dealer, anywhere in the world, with a super power called 'trust'. Trust automatically releases customer joy, which has a direct and substantial benefit for every dealer.