Cars.com Launches "ALL DRIVE. No drama." with Ad on Sunday's Big Game

CHICAGO, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In front of an audience of 108 million viewers, Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, debuted the first ad of its new campaign during Sunday's Big Game. Cars.com, which has been asking fans the question, "why drama?" answered the question with a brand-new campaign entitled "ALL DRIVE. No drama."

"After testing the concept with actual car buyers earlier this year, we were confident that the new commercial and overall theme of drama-free car shopping would resonate with all car shoppers," said Linda Bartman, Cars.com's Chief Marketing Officer. "With over 86% of YouTube ratings being positive, it is clear that the new spot was a hit and has a very relatable message."

As a result of the commercial, the site's homepage, which was sponsored by Hyundai, saw a significant spike in traffic. Most notable was a 118 percent increase in combined mobile traffic, including Cars.com's apps, mobile site and visits to the Cars.com wired site from mobile devices.[1]

"With so many people using their mobile devices while watching TV, it is not surprising that our biggest spike in traffic came from mobile," said Bartman. "However, a traffic boost isn't the only reason we advertise during the Big Game. With a new fully-integrated campaign we wanted to kick it off in front of a large, captive audience, encouraging consumers to continue to interact with our brand beyond Sunday's game and when they're next in the market for a new car."

With Cars.com's Big Game ad kicking off the site's "ALL DRIVE. No drama." campaign, new creative will continue to go live throughout the early part of 2013. With the integrated campaign in full swing, car shoppers will see a range of creative come to life like digital "dramatizer" ads which allow users to add drama with the click of a button to an otherwise non-dramatic situation, and an interactive social "dramatizer" on Cars.com's Facebook page that allows fans to add some drama to their own photos. Beyond digital and social, Cars.com will also be releasing five new TV spots and various new radio and print ads.

"With the full campaign now live, shoppers will see a variety of executions demonstrating that although drama is fun in certain places, car shopping isn't one of them," said Bartman. "With tools like consumer and expert reviews, millions of car listings and easy access to dealer information, Cars.com connects car shoppers with dealers to make buying a car a great experience."

To view Cars.com's Big Game ad as well as other new ads from the site, visit www.cars.com/nodrama.  

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).

[1] Cars.com internal data (Omniture)

SOURCE Cars.com