Member Spotlight

If you’ve been around this business longer than it takes to microwave dealership coffee (so… about 30 seconds), you already know one thing: success rarely shows up by accident. It shows up because somebody decided failure wasn’t an option and then went to work while everyone else was still sitting in meetings about the meetings. 

That’s the story coming out of AET in Golden, Colorado. 

Before they ever set foot in the automotive world, Jeff and Andrew were building something different — a hospitality-based marketing platform designed to move fast and cut through the usual layers of fluff. And somewhere between watching traditional ad models bog dealers down and seeing agencies bill like they were printing money in the back room, they had their moment of clarity. 

The traditional advertising model? Too many layers. Too many gatekeepers. Too much waiting around while opportunities drove off the lot. 

So they did what smart operators do. 

They pivoted. 

Jeff and Andrew brought their platform into automotive with a simple but powerful idea: give the control back to the dealer. Not next week. Not after three rounds of creative review. Right now. 

What they built is essentially CANVA for Auto — a SaaS-based marketing engine that strips away the complexity and replaces the old agency model with something dealers can actually use without needing a creative degree and three cups of espresso. 

And here’s where it gets interesting. 

With nearly 1,000 geo-centric backgrounds, dealers can now build highly targeted marketing spots in minutes — not days, not weeks, and definitely not “we’ll circle back after the agency retainer clears.” The platform allows stores to localize messaging quickly, stay relevant in their markets, and move at the speed modern retail actually requires. 

In a world where consumers expect everything yesterday, AET’s creative approach is doing more than saving time — it’s reshaping the marketing landscape and restoring balance where dealers have historically been outgunned by bloated processes and slow-moving vendors. 

Leveling the playing field isn’t just a slogan. These guys built the tools to do it. 

Around V20.2, we appreciate operators who see a broken system and don’t write a white paper about it — they fix it. Jeff and Andrew did exactly that.

We’re proud to welcome AET to the V20.2 community and even more excited to see how far they push the industry from here. Because if their track record tells us anything, it’s this: 

When success is the only option… things tend to get done.