Cars.com Infographic: Big Game Advertisers Driving Social Buzz

Download image

Driving Social Buzz: Which Big Game Auto Advertiser Drove Away As the MVP of Social Media? (PRNewsFoto/Cars.com)

CHICAGO, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- During Sunday's Big Game, automakers accounted for nearly 20 percent of all commercials. Cars.com listened to online chatter to make the call: Which auto advertiser drove away as MVP of social media? In addition to tracking social buzz, Cars.com also looked at which auto ads prompted car shoppers to search for more information on the site.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130206/CG55600-INFO)

"Over the years, automakers have flocked to the Big Game to show off their newest models and entertain viewers," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com's editor-in-chief. "We examined which auto-related commercials in the Big Game not only created buzz, but also drove the greatest activity on our site, by looking at searches for each manufacturer on Cars.com."

Findings as displayed on the infographic show that auto advertisers saw the following social buzz and search activity on Cars.com during the Big Game (in alphabetical order):

Automotive advertiser	Total social media mentions	Share of search on Cars.com
Audi	9,996	14.3%
Hyundai	3,734	17.2%
Jeep	2,547	9.2%
Kia	3,901	6.4%
Lincoln	1,514	6.9%
Mercedes-Benz	3,086	15.8%
Ram	14,468	2.5%
Toyota	2,157	19.7%
Volkswagen	8,063	8.1%

Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota all saw the largest growth in search on Cars.com as a result of their Big Game ads. Social media mentions were dominated by Audi, Ram and Volkswagen. However, overall, Audi showed the best balance between social buzz and search.

There were 10 auto brand advertisers, 13 total minutes of automotive ad time and 47% of auto related ads were released before the game. Additionally, according to Cars.com data, the first quarter of the game drove the most social buzz, and there were a total of 273,062 Big Game mentions on social media. Auto companies represented 19% of Big Game national advertisers with 13 minutes of ad time. Despite a blackout that spurred more than 200,000 social media posts, the buzz still belonged to brands.

For Cars.com's editors' rankings and reviews of all auto related Big Game commercials, visit blogs.cars.com.

ABOUT CARS.COM

Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).