Post-Super Bowl, Lexus and Kia Hold Biggest Gains in Shopper Consideration, Reports Edmunds.com

SEE ALSO: New Car Buyers Guide

SANTA MONICA, Calif February 15, 2012; The Lexus GS 350 and the Kia Optima finished last week with bigger increases in consumer interest than any other vehicles advertised in this year's Super Bowl, according to an analysis of web traffic behavior on Edmunds.com. The GS 350, which was promoted in Lexus' first-ever Super Bowl ad, experienced a 190 percent lift in shopper consideration on Edmunds.com, while the Kia Optima posted a 153 percent lift.

"Lexus has a number of efforts under way - including the Super Bowl ad and its provocative marketing partnership with the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, to let consumers know this is not a boring luxury company, but a sexy, high-performance brand," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs. "As for the Optima, its success came by using the Super Bowl ad as a launching pad for a larger marketing campaign that included heavy ad placement on Edmunds.com's homepage. This sort of smart marketing strategy shows how Super Bowl advertisers can take full advantage of the buzz and further distinguish themselves from their competitors."

The Chevy Sonic placed third among Super Bowl advertisers, with a 107 percent lift. The Fiat 500 Abarth had the biggest immediate lift (+3,354 percent) on Edmunds.com immediately after its game ad aired, but consumer interest declined by the end of the week to a still-respectable increase of 79 percent compared to the weeks before the Super Bowl.

Chrysler, meanwhile, generated both positive and negative buzz for its "Halftime in America" ad, but consideration for the brand had grown just 15 percent by the end of last week. By comparison, Chrysler's breakthrough "Born of Fire" ad featuring Eminem boosted the brand's consideration 87 percent in the week after it aired during last year's Super Bowl.

Edmunds.com's Super Bowl advertiser analysis compared site consideration lifts from the week following the Super Bowl with the average consideration levels during the previous four weeks. "Consideration" is the percentage of visitors to Edmunds.com who viewed vehicle content (pricing, reviews, specs, photos, etc.) about a specific new vehicle or brand, as a share of visitors who viewed similar content about any new vehicle. When tracked over time, "consideration" is a metric for measuring marketing effectiveness. While consideration is the first step toward purchase intent, not every visitor who views new vehicle content is currently in the market to buy a new vehicle.