Automotive Brands Stay Ahead of The Super Bowl Advertising Game
The cost of a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl is a cool $5 million this year. This begs the question: Do brands that pay for this prime TV real estate see a positive return on their advertising investment? To provide a response, Experian examined five automotive brands that had a social media component tied to their Super Bowl 50 campaigns. According to the analysis, these brands not only gained more social media followers, but these people also were more influential and socially active than the average social media user.
In fact, the percentage of high influencer followers (consumers with more than 1,000 followers) for these brands increased 14.8 percent during the month after the Big Game, while the number of consumers talking about these auto brands increased by 17.2 percent. Additionally, the average number of posts for each follower increased by 35.4 percent during the same time period.
“Because this is one of the most sought after advertising slots, brands need to make sure they take full advantage of the connection they can make with audiences during the Super Bowl. That means developing a creative strategy that works across channels and encourages people to engage with the brand,” said Brienna Pinnow, Experian’s director of product marketing for Targeting. “If a brand is going to invest in high dollar ad space like the Super Bowl, they need to take a multichannel approach. This means extending the TV ad’s story into a social media conversation. Through our data and analytical capabilities, we’re able to help brands identify and connect with audiences who will spread their message to fans, followers and potential new customers. As our analysis shows, when Super Bowl advertisers understand the data and link their strategy across channels, they have the power to motivate action.”
Leveraging their consumer marketing database, the analysis also looked at the core demographics of those who engaged with each of these automotive brands on social media within a month of their Super Bowl campaigns. Findings revealed that men were approximately 30 percent more likely to engage with these brands than the general population. Nearly 60 percent of users who engaged fell between the ages of 26 and 50, with the average user age approximately three years older than the typical social media user. Furthermore, more than 37 percent of the audience had an average income between $50,000 and $99,999.
The analysis also showed consumers who engaged with these brands were 1.72 times more likely to fall within the life stage Experian refers to as “Couples with Clout” based on the company’s lifestyle segmentation system. People in this segment often are middle aged couples with teenage children. They have an active and energetic lifestyle and live in more affluent neighborhoods. Additionally, Couples with Clout find joy in consumption. Most are in the market for a vehicle, new or used, and they like to buy CUVs and imported sedans with the latest high tech options.
“We live in an era where consumers freely express their opinions and preferences through a variety of channels,” continued Pinnow. “Social media data offers brand marketers unique insight into the behaviors, beliefs and preferences of both their current and potential brand fans. We enable marketers to make sense of and transform the wealth of social media data available to them and turn it into actionable and meaningful insight. This helps marketers optimize and deliver content that is relevant to their audiences, particularly for those brands planning campaigns for this year’s game.”
Interestingly, in another recent analysis, four of the five automotive brands analyzed also ranked in the top 20 for brand loyalty. Toyota was sixth (66 percent), Hyundai was 11th (63.2 percent), Audi was 15th (56.9 percent), and Jeep was 18th (55 percent).
“The primary goal of each marketing campaign is to deliver a message that resonates with the audience on a personal level and encourages them to take action,” continued Pinnow. “Marketers who accomplish this can create a better experience for their customers, which hopefully can evolve into a loyal brand relationship.”
