Sonic to Spend Up to $7 Million in One Quarter to Fix Lagging Awareness

The budget is $5 million to $7 million for one quarter, spent to fix a recognition problem. That money backs the biggest brand-awareness campaign Sonic has ever run, and the reason is plain: EchoPark is nearly 12 years old and still not well known in many markets. On an Oct. 29 earnings call, the CFO named the piece that was missing.

Sonic Is Spending Up to $7 Million in One Quarter on a Name

Sonic is about to run the biggest brand-awareness campaign it has ever put behind EchoPark, its used-only channel. The push goes after lagging recognition for a brand that is nearly 12 years old. Executives say the bill for just the fourth quarter runs $5 million to $7 million.

According to David Smith, the chairman and CEO, those funds are slated for fourth-quarter spending to promote the EchoPark name. During prior earnings calls, Sonic executives indicated the entire initiative, planned to continue through 2027, would total $10 million to $20 million.

The ads will sell more than a name. The ads will also push EchoPark's e-commerce app and its below-market prices.

Here is the part that matters. Heath Byrd, the CFO, said on the third-quarter earnings call that Sonic is "objectively the lowest price of anyone in the market." He added: "The one missing part is awareness."

A company that thinks it already wins on price and on the customer experience is about to spend millions because many buyers still do not know the name.

The scale makes it stranger. An investor presentation puts EchoPark at 18 locations. Sonic's franchised dealership arm runs 108 locations nationwide. Sonic, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, plans to open a store in the Orlando area in December and another two to four spots during 2027.

So how does a 12-year-old brand end up invisible? My read: the answer starts with the cars, not the ads.

How a 12-Year-Old Brand Went Quiet

During and after the pandemic, EchoPark could not get enough used cars no more than 3 years old at prices its model could support.

That was not only an EchoPark problem. Late-model used cars got scarce across the whole industry, and prices shot up. New-vehicle production dropped when auto plants shut down, then again when computer-chip shortages hit once those shutdowns ended. Fewer new vehicles sold meant fewer trade-ins.

So Sonic hit pause. It cut EchoPark's hub-and-spoke network from 52 stores in 21 states at the close of 2022 to 18 stores in 10 states at the close of 2025. It kept the larger hubs that can recondition cars and closed the smaller spoke stores.

My read: years of pulling back made a quiet brand quieter.

Then the tide turned. New-car production recovered, and late-model used cars came back, 3-year-old off-lease vehicles included.

The money followed. In the third quarter, EchoPark revenue climbed 14% from a year earlier to $596.0 million, while total gross profit rose 8% to $58.9 million. Retail used-vehicle sales came to 19,923 units, a 22% jump.

Gross profit per unit was $2,972, down 12% from a year earlier, and F&I income per vehicle also fell, which the company tied to more battery-electric cars and more high-mileage vehicles in the mix.

More cars sold, less profit per car. That is the detail that should make you look at your own numbers.

What This Means If You Run an HVAC or Roofing Company (My Read)

The thing that quietly kills a good company is not price. It is silence — customers who would gladly pay you never think of you, because nobody put your name in front of them enough times for it to stick. Sonic is spending $5 million to $7 million in a single quarter on exactly that gap.

Picture an HVAC company that has been in the same town for 14 years with 18 trucks on the road. The owner assumes everyone knows the name. Then a homeowner's AC dies in July and she calls the first company she recognizes. That may be the company that has been advertising for two years, not the one that has been doing good work for 14. EchoPark is nearly 12 years old and still had to go buy awareness.

Picture a roofing contractor after a storm. Homeowners decide fast, usually from the first three names that come to mind. If you are not one of the three, your price never gets compared to anyone's. That is not a closing problem. That is a memory problem, and no closer on earth can fix it at the kitchen table. Sonic's CFO said the missing piece was awareness.

Here is the second lesson, and it is the one I would tape to the wall. Units up 22%, profit per unit down 12%. Volume is not the same thing as money. A busy month with a thinner margin on every job is not a win — and you cannot see the difference if the only number you watch is how many leads came in.

My read: most HVAC and roofing companies do not have a lead problem as much as a problem of not being remembered. Leads are the symptom. Being known is the cure.

How I Would Use This in Your Business This Week

None of this requires a Sonic-sized budget. It requires you to stop treating awareness as something you will get around to someday.

1. Write your one line. (10 minutes.) Open a note on your phone and write one sentence that names the moment a homeowner should call you. Sonic's CFO said the missing piece was awareness, after calling price and customer experience strengths. EchoPark is nearly 12 years old and still not well known in many markets. You cannot buy awareness of a blur.

2. Test whether your own backyard knows you. Ask the next 10 people you talk to — customers, neighbors, the guy at the supply house — to name two HVAC or roofing companies in town. Count how many say yours. That count is your real marketing report card, and it is free. It is also the gap EchoPark is paying millions to close.

3. Split awareness money from lead money. Sonic is spending $5 million to $7 million in one quarter to promote the brand. You do not need that number, but you do need a line in your budget that exists to be remembered, not only to produce a form fill today.

4. Build 5 to 8 ad variations, not one. One ad is a coin flip. Give the platform options and let the weak ones die. Two prompts you can copy and edit:

Write 5 Facebook ad variations for an HVAC company in [town]. Each one opens with a different homeowner problem: AC dies in July, furnace quits in January, system is 18 years old, energy bill jumped, no heat on a Sunday. Under 60 words each, name the town, and end with a clear reason to call today. No hype words.

Write 5 Facebook ad variations for a roofing contractor in [town]. Each one opens with a different trigger: storm damage, missing shingles, a leak in the ceiling, insurance paperwork, a 20-year-old roof. Under 60 words each, name the town, and end with a clear next step. Tone like a neighbor, not a brochure.

5. Make the phone match the ad. If the ad promises same-day service, the person answering has to say it in the first sentence. Write it down and rehearse it. Answer with the company name, your name, and one question about whether the caller needs a repair or a replacement. Then get the address and the best callback number before you say anything else.

6. Track to the booked job, not the click. Clicks and reach feel great and pay nothing. Sonic watched total gross profit per unit fall while units rose. What you need is a count of calls, leads and sold jobs that came from the ad, matched against what you spent.

7. Give it longer than two weeks. Sonic's campaign is planned to continue through 2027. Awareness is a slow build, not a weekend promotion.

Mistakes I See Owners Make

• Judging ads on likes and reach. Those numbers do not pay a crew on Friday.
• Running one ad and calling it a test. You need several versions before you learn anything worth knowing.
• Buying awareness while the phone rings out. Fix the answer before you spend the money.
• Assuming years in business equal being known. EchoPark is nearly 12 years old and still had to buy awareness.