Consumer Portfolio Services

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc., (”CPS”) is a specialty finance company that provides indirect automobile financing to individual borrowers with past credit problems, low incomes, or limited credit histories. CPS was founded in 1991, and the company’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol “CPSS.”

CPS came to Rhythm Interactive in 2007 with a desire to begin a new facet of their business that would involve a direct lending approach to car loan financing. Their goal was to develop a strategically planned and designed website that would engage viewers to the extent they would feel comfortable completing an online application through which they would immediately receive their loan qualifying status.

The identity of the website was to be developed separately from the CPS brand as it was to be a stand alone subsidiary. The process to achieve the desired result was a multi-step one that involved a great deal of discovery. The first several weeks of the project were spent in face-to-face meetings with several executive level VPs from the CPS marketing department. During these meetings we learned how CPS functioned and the steps they followed during the automobile financing process. We also had detailed discussions about the intended brand for the new website and how we would position this new entity within the marketplace.

The next step was research. We spent several more weeks looking at the competitive landscape. This involved online studies of competitor websites and their online marketing practices, which stemmed across multiple channels. We also conducted customer interviews to understand their experiences when they initially contacted CPS for an auto loan.

At this point we developed a comprehensive strategic plan that described the brand and what marketing tactics would be employed to attract, engage and convert viewers. The strategic plan was then presented to CPS for approval. After a few rounds of discussions and minor revisions, we were off and running with the development of the new website brand.

The first step was selecting the name of the site. After reading through the brand strategy and spending some time brainstorming, we presented “New Roads Auto Loans” to CPS. It was approved on the spot. We then created a logo, an associated color scheme, a byline and a tagline. We also developed strategic messaging that was carefully written to resonate with the intended target audience. The website development process then began.

The development process involved the production of a detailed site map and a comprehensive set of wireframe diagrams that not only provided for the front-end layout but the back-end as well. The back-end was challenging, as we had to integrate with CPS’s internal accounting mainframe hardware to get instant results on loan applications. Once the front-end design was created, all secondary pages were built and deployed. Then our database department tied the site into the accounting system, and NewRoadsAutoLoans.com was born.

The final pre-launch step was beta testing with a small group of real customers. The results enabled us to fine tune the operation of the website, and it allowed CPS to spruce up their internal processes to support direct funding.

The entire development process took approximately seven months. The site officially went live on January 2, 2008.

For questions about this client or the project, please contact us at 949.215.1250.