Consumer Recall, Actions Diverge in Response to Super Bowl Auto Ads

March 23, 2012

compete-super-bowl-auto-ad-response-march2012.jpgBrand recollection does not necessarily correlate with immediate consumer shopping behavior, finds Compete in a March 2012 analysis of automotive manufacturers’ Super Bowl advertising. Asking online consumers who watched the Super Bowl which brand first came to mind when thinking about the game, Compete found that Chevrolet had the highest share of recollection, at 20.4%, followed by Chrysler, at 17.6%. Yet, both scored among the lowest brands in terms of month-over-month change in share of market interest (SMI), a Compete metric representing the share of all in-market shoppers market-wide that shopped a brand online.

Compete insight suggests that this discrepancy may be related to segmentation in markets among consumers watching the Super Bowl. Brands that targeted immediate behavior from buyers would have enjoyed the higher share of SMI, while those targeting broader brand association among consumers would be satisfied with the higher share of recollection, which could lead to purchases further down the line.

Ford Doesn’t Advertise, Gets High Recall

Although Ford did not advertise during the Super Bowl, the manufacturer enjoyed 10.7% share of consumers’ brand recollection, up from 8.5% in 2011, and taking the 3rd spot. Despite not advertising during the game, Ford’s high share of brand recall may be related in part to its being referenced in Chevrolet’s Apocalypse spot.

Meanwhile, rounding out the top 5 in terms of brand recall were Volkswagen, at 7.7%, and Hyundai, at 6.9%. Hyundai (11.6%) and Honda (11.4%) saw the largest increases in month-over-month SMI, while Audi (-21.2%), Chrysler (-11%), and Chevrolet (-9.8%) experienced the largest decreases. Ford remained relatively flat at -0.9%.

Brands’ Ads Boost Online Traffic

Data from Jumpstart Automotive Group released in March shows that Super Bowl automotive advertisers received a boost in online traffic immediately following their spots. Looking at traffic across its network of automotive websites, and measuring the advertisers’ share of brand and vehicle model page traffic for manufacturers that purchased in-game spots, Jumpstart found that the Acura NSX gained the most ground with online car shoppers, up 78% on Super Bowl Sunday when compared to the prior Sunday, and up 690% on Super Bowl Monday when compared to a week earlier. Other makes faring well were the Fiat 500 (up 384% on Super Bowl Monday), Chevrolet Sonic (up 273%), Hyundai Veloster (up 23%), and VW Beetle (up 6%).

Extending the ROI analysis, Jumpstart then calculated the estimated price each manufacturer paid for every percent in share gained. Establishing a benchmark from the 3 weeks prior to the Super Bowl, and then measuring three weeks post-game, Jumpstart found that Lexus GS spent approximately $42,000 per percentage of share gained, the lowest among those studied, while Honda CR-V spent $16.9 million, the highest.

About the Data: The Compete recollection data is based on a survey of 644 online consumers; the Compete behavioral data is based on unique in-market shoppers across 50 different automotive websites. Jumpstart’s ROI analysis was based on average assumed total ad dollars spent by each advertiser during the Super Bowl.

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