Football advertising for cars, yesterday appears to have been a big hit for car buyers seeking information on Cars.com and Edmunds.com.
Cars.com Users Love Alfa Romeos, Audis, Mercedes-Benz & Lexus
Nominee for a Tech CARS Award, Cars.com analyzed the data for website visiting during the big game, aka Super Bowl. Edmunds.com analysts also tracked traffic to brand and model pages on both its desktop and mobile sites during the game to see which automotive ads were most successful in driving immediate shopper interest.
Cars.com reported that in the eight minutes following their commercial, visits to Alfa Romeo pages on Cars.com saw a staggering 1,179 percent increase in comparison to the same time period prior to the airing of their spot, a sign that their Big Game ad was highly impactful.
When compared to Cars.com traffic over the four prior Sundays, automotive brands who advertised during the Big Game saw the following lifts to their advertised model pages:
- Alfa Romeo Giulia – 7,320 percent.
- Audi S5 – 1,391 percent.
- Buick Cascada – 424 percent.
- Buick Encore – 59 percent.
- Honda CR-V – 35 percent.
- Kia Niro – 497 percent.
- Lexus LC 500 – 861 percent.
- Lexus LS 460 – 888 percent.
- Mercedes-Benz AMG GT – 910 percent.
“During the game, nearly 60 percent of visits to Cars.com came from mobile devices,” said David Greene, Cars.com data strategy manager.
“Because of the sheer audience size, the Big Game continues to be an effective advertising method, however, when paired with online digital support, the impact is even greater. On mobile alone, there was a 1,074 percent increase to brand model pages advertised during the game.”
Edmunds.com Users Like Lexus, Alfa Romeo & Kia Nitro
Edmunds.com reported that the ad for the Lexus LC proved most successful on the model side, with traffic up 1,710 percent to its pages on Edmunds during the game. Traffic to the Kia Niro went up 869 percent during the game, and traffic to the Alfa Romeo Giulia was up 802 percent. On the brand side, Alfa Romeo piqued the most curiosity with traffic up 785 percent during the course of the game. Kia was second at 63 percent, and Mercedes-Benz was third with a nine percent traffic lift.
While not all brands and models who advertised saw a lift in traffic when looking at the data cumulatively for the entire game, many did see immediate spikes during the quarter their ad aired. Traffic to the Honda CR-V rose 6 percent when their ad aired in the second quarter of the game, and traffic to Honda overall rose 14 percent on Edmunds.com.
Edmunds.com stats found:
| Make | Model(s) | Full Game Lifts in Traffic on Edmunds |
|---|---|---|
| Lexus | LC 500 | 1,710% |
| Kia | Niro | 869% |
| Alfa Romeo | Giulia | 802% |
| Buick | Cascada | 459% |
| Audi | S5 | 431% |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG GT | 91% |
| Toyota | Mirai | 42% |
| Land Rover | Range Rover | 11% |
| Chevrolet | Silverado 1500 | 5% |
| Acura | RDX | 4% |
| Make | Full Game Lifts in Traffic on Edmunds |
|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo | 784% |
| Kia | 63% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 9% |
| Lexus | 8% |
| Audi | 3% |
| Land Rover | 2% |
If we really wanted to have fun with data, the spikes on the different car shopping sites gives insight to the kinds of football watchers who use their apps. Since Alfa Romeo saw a big spike on Cars.com maybe their users like sports cars more. While Edmunds.com may cater to luxury auto buyer because of the greater Lexus traffic. No matter how you put it, car buyers watch the Super Bowl and ads are a hit with viewers.