In this episode of I’m a Car Chick, Shasta sits down with Gayle Rogers, founder of The Atomic Agency, to talk about what real marketing looks like for dealerships in 2025 and beyond.
Gayle has worn all the hats — agency, OEM, and in-dealership marketing — and he breaks down how those experiences shaped his approach to helping stores stop “doing ads” and start actually showing up in their communities.

In Part 1, we talk about:
● How Gayle got his start in automotive at J. Walter Thompson in Detroit
● What he learned moving between OEM, agency, and dealership roles
● Why you’ll never outspend the big players, but you can out-local them
● A real estate case study that led to his philosophy on local content and interviews
● How dealers can become the local experts instead of just the place that sells cars
● Using community-focused content (not “look at us” charity posts) to build trust
● Where AI fits in — and why it still needs a human face in front of it

This episode is packed with practical ideas for dealers, marketers, and vendors who want to move beyond generic ads and build real relationships with the people they serve.