kbb.com Traffic Surges for Hyundai Sonata Immediately Following Super Bowl Ads

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new and used car information, today reports a huge surge in new-car Web traffic for the heavily advertised Hyundai Sonata during Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, February 7.  In addition, kbb.com saw a significant lift in new-car traffic for the Honda Accord Crosstour and Kia Sorento following the airing of their respective new-vehicle ads during Super Bowl Sunday.

For the second year in a row, the new-car model most advertised by Hyundai during the Super Bowl garnered the largest increase in Web traffic to kbb.com that day (among models advertised during the Super Bowl).  This year, Hyundai advertised the all-new Sonata multiple times on Super Bowl Sunday and subsequently experienced a massive 91 percent increase in traffic to the new Sonata on kbb.com.  Last year during Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009, Hyundai premiered spots for the Genesis and saw an 82 percent increase in traffic to the model that day.

Other big auto-related Super Bowl XLIV ad traffic winners for this year were the Honda Accord Crosstour with a 66 percent increase in traffic on kbb.com, and the all-new Kia Sorento with a 47 percent increase.

In addition, a kbb.com homepage quick poll asked car shoppers to vote for their favorite Super Bowl car ad, and consumers chose the Dodge Charger "Man's Last Stand" spot as their favorite at 24 percent, closely followed by the Audi A3 TDI "Green Police" ad at 21 percent.  Rounding out the top five choices were the Hyundai "10 Years/Favre" ad at 17 percent, the Volkswagen "Punch Dub" spot at 16 percent and the Kia Sorento "Joyride" ad at 10 percent.

"The latest kbb.com traffic data shows that big-budget ad buys really can pay off when you have engaging product and a creative, eye-catching spot to capture football fans' attention during the big game," said James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com.  "The Saints may have taken home the Vince Lombardi trophy, but Hyundai captured the big win this year in terms of new-car interest increasing from their ads.  It's impressive when a car commercial can compel someone to take their eyes away from the big game to research a new-car online, and we know informed car shoppers come to Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com to get the most timely and trustworthy vehicle values and information."

For the purposes of this data, traffic increase is defined as the percent change when comparing Sunday, February 7, 2010 (Super Bowl XLIV Sunday) with the previous Sunday, January 31, 2010.  The quick poll asking car shoppers to vote for their favorite Super Bowl car ad was featured on the homepage of Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com from February 7-9, 2010, and had 201 respondents.

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Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Gold Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car Blue Book Values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.

SOURCE Kelley Blue Book