Chapman Automotive Group operates 25 dealer locations across Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma, but for most of them, traditional TV spots offered neither the efficiency nor the hyperlocal targeting needed to justify the cost.
“For a single dealer with a focused budget, traditional TV never made financial sense,” according to Chapman’s SEM Manager Brad Axmear. “The CPMs were too high and the audience too broad. You’d be paying for reach that had nothing to do with your market or your buyer.”
Streaming has changed that equation entirely. By leveraging Roku Ads Manager, Chapman’s individual dealers discovered a path to qualified, hyperlocal TV audiences for the first time.
Key takeaways:
- Chapman Auto Group used Roku Ads Manager to drive efficient, targeted reach across Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma.
- Using a two-tiered creative strategy, Chapman balanced brand building with dealer-specific sales priorities.
- Roku Ads Manager delivered 45.5M+ impressions at $7.36 eCPM, reaching 1.7M+ unique households at $0.19 cost per unique reach.
The challenge: Reach car shoppers at the DMA level
An Arizona institution since 1966, Chapman has a large, loyal base of repeat customers, as well as a steady stream of potential new buyers moving to the Southwest region each year.
To reach these prospects, Chapman’s individual dealer brands have long used search, social and online video — channels that delivered qualified reach but lacked the presence and brand visibility of TV. While linear TV offered the prestige of "TV glass," — the feeling of appearing on a real television screen — it lacked the precision needed to justify the cost for a single location.
“For years we were only running video ads on Meta and YouTube, and while those platforms have their place, nobody ever mentioned seeing us. Since we started running on Roku, that completely changed.”
CTV was different. By adopting Roku Ads Manager, Chapman transitioned to a self-serve, programmatic approach that uses granular audience data to reach local audiences at scale.
“Beyond its cost-effectiveness, the biggest value of CTV is that it actually works. For years, we were only running video ads on Meta and YouTube, and while those platforms have their place, nobody ever mentioned seeing us.”
- Brad Axmear, SEM Manager, Chapman Automotive
The key to that visibility was Roku’s data-driven targeting. Using a mix of first-party and third-party data, Chapman segments prospective buyers based on whether they are researching new, pre-owned, or general vehicle categories.
Importantly, Roku Ads Manager’s competitive pricing allowed Chapman to shift from narrower (and often restrictive) ZIP code targeting to broader DMA targeting. This allowed it to get in front of a regional audience without hyper-targeting a small audience into annoyance.
Axmear says that ZIP code targeting makes sense when costs are high, but when CPMs are as efficient as they are on Roku, there's no reason to over-constrain your audience.
“Our philosophy is reach over repetition,” he explains. “Casting a wider net means more unique impressions at the same or lower cost, without creating ad fatigue."
Making ads more responsive to dealer inventory
Chapman runs a two-tiered 'always-on' CTV strategy — one campaign building the corporate brand, another responding to dealer inventory in real time. The company’s “Tier 2” regional campaign is a corporate-level initiative that builds the Chapman name through trust and familiarity. These upper-funnel branding spots align with cultural moments like the football season or holidays, with creative that changes only a few times a year.
Meanwhile, Chapman’s local “Tier 3” campaign features hyper-local ads that turn over monthly and reflect the vehicle inventory that’s actually available on the lot. These ads are linked to manufacturer priorities and co-op requirements.
According to Axmear, Roku Ads Manager makes it easy for Chapman’s team to orchestrate ad creatives across both Tier 2 and Tier 3 ads without the use of an agency.
“Out of every advertising platform we use across the group, Roku is hands-down the easiest to work with. Campaign setup is straightforward, reporting is clear, and it takes the guesswork out of justifying the spend internally.”
- Brad Axmear, SEM Manager, Chapman Automotive
Results: Roku Ads Manager delivers efficient reach
Chapman’s CTV campaign helped the company reach a large and qualified local audience without breaking the bank.
Roku Ads Manager delivered 45.5 million-plus impressions at an effective CPM of just $7.36. These ads reached more than 1.7 million unique households at an efficient $0.19 per unique reach.
Plus, Axmear says the shift to CTV has resulted in a level of real-world brand recognition that social media feeds and YouTube pre-rolls couldn’t match.
"Since we started running on Roku, people tell us they see us everywhere,” Axmear claims. “There's something different about being on the TV screen in someone’s living room. It carries a weight that a social media feed or a YouTube pre-roll just doesn’t. That kind of recognition is something you can’t fake, and it tells us the ads are reaching real people who are actually paying attention.”
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