Meet Ben Whitmore, CMO, East Coast Car Rentals.
Mediaweek: What’s the piece of work from the past 12 months that best captures how your brand wants to show up right now?
Ben Whitmore: Probably the work we’re putting together right now. East Coast is leaning into the nostalgia of our childhood family road trips and saluting the core memories that our customers make in the seats of our cars.
So, less about the iconic landmarks and more about the pit stops, fish and chip shops, and all the good stuff Australia has to offer that doesn’t normally have a spotlight shining on it.
MW: Where is your marketing budget working hardest today?
BW: Over the past 12 months, we’ve been investing more and more into the brand. The car rental industry is very much reliant on digital, and as an independent Australian operator, our budgets can’t compete with some of the global brands, so we really try to squeeze everything we can out of organic partnerships and authentic brand activity.
We’re excited to be investing in some above-the-line campaigns in the next 12 months and cement the East Coast brand in the Australian psyche.
MW: What’s changed most in how you balance brand and performance?
BW: The biggest change for us is simply investing in the brand, with the support of East Coast’s Managing Director and CEO.
We place great importance on channel diversification to safeguard our business, invest in brand, and support the growth and performance of all those channels, so it’s a no-brainer for us.
Whitmore is looking to cement the East Coast brand in the Australian psyche
MW: Which channel, platform or partnership is currently over-delivering for you?
BW: It’s an exciting time, and there are a few new players in this mix. AI chat platforms, in particular, are exciting as consumers increasingly use them to plan their travel. So, ensuring we’re optimising for this has been important, and we’re reaping the rewards of that work.
Affiliate networks have also been great for us, and working with genuine, respected content creators with a strong following. This has been important for us, and we want to ensure that if someone is out there spruiking our business, their audience has a fantastic experience with us.
MW: What role does creativity play in your commercial strategy right now?
BW: Quite a bit, really. Anyone who’s rented a car will know that our industry can be quite stale and transactional. That is not us. We don’t answer to a global headquarters; we are uniquely Australian and want this to shine through in the brand’s creative. We like to have fun with the brand, and we want that affinity to translate into customer experiences and interactions with our staff.
MW: How are you using data, tech or AI in a way that genuinely improves the work?
BW: We’ve developed web apps to request airport shuttles and are now evaluating how AI can improve the process. The shuttle is always the elephant in the room with off-airport car rental companies, but it’s also the gateway to consumers, saving a lot of money on their holidays, so if we can make that process smooth and friction-free, then it’s worth doing.
We’ve also been able to get a much better picture of who our customers are and what’s important to them; that data informs the brand strategy and ultimately how we message.
MW: What does a ‘good agency partner’ look like for you in 2026?
BW: Ultimately, what’s important to us, and me, is to have a trusted partner that isn’t waiting for me to instruct them and can come to me with ideas, improvements, recommendations outside of the business-as-usual that agency retainers can sometimes become. A true test of that is having partners you’ve worked with for a few years that still bring that kind of dynamic to the table.
MW: What’s the toughest call you’ve had to make as a CMO?
BW: There are plenty of tough calls, but for me, it’s probably when I’ve had to end commercial agreements with partners with whom we love to work, but are simply not the right fit with the brand or overall strategy of our business.
Even Jerry Seinfeld has trouble booking a rental car now and then
MW: What’s one misconception about your brand or category that your team is actively trying to unpick through marketing?
BW: Ask anyone who’s rented a car in the past 30-odd years, and they will have had a bad experience. If you’ve ever seen the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry books a car only to turn up, and the car is not available, you’ll see what I mean. It’s a hilarious spoof, but unfortunately, it’s accurate for many people.
This is what we’re trying to unpick, through marketing, through staff
training, through company culture and over-delivering on our promises.
Renting a cheaper car should not mean poor service, so we work hard to ensure that once a customer rents with us, they will continue to do so. Our reviews are a testament to that promise. And we’re proud to outrank huge global competitors in that arena.
MW: Looking ahead, where will your next big marketing bet come from?
BW: All eyes are on AI and the digital space right now. We’ve had a few predictable years and decades for performance marketing and search engine optimisation. AI’s arrival is similar to social media’s, so staying ahead of that and understanding how consumers engage with it is important.
The next immediate bet will be East Coast’s first large-scale above-the-line campaign.
Watch this space!