Super Bowl 50 Commercial Impact For Car Brand Advertisers

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 8, 2016 -- The Audi R8 increased 7,780 percent in new-car searches on KBB.com following its commercial, the most of any advertised model during Super Bowl 50, according to Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry.

Rounding out the top three advertised models, the Kia Optima's creative use of Christopher Walken and socks, and the Hyundai Genesis spiked in consumer traffic, gaining 496 percent and 400 percent, respectively.  The Toyota Prius was up 313 percent and was the third most visited model on KBB.com, in terms of volume among all Big Game advertisers.

"The fact that online behavior for advertised vehicles jumped so dramatically demonstrates that investing in high visibility events remains highly effective," said Rick Wainschel, vice president of client analytics and insights for Kelley Blue Book.  "It also points to the fact that advertisers need to connect their offline messages with online exposure to reinforce the awareness and interest they create during the Big Game."  

Percent Increase of KBB.com Search for Big Game Advertised Models¹

Percent Increase of KBB.com Searches for Big Game Automaker Advertisers²

Ford, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota brands received a constant high stream of traffic throughout the game, which is why these brand lifts appear lower.  With more share of traffic to start and keeping it consistent over time, these brand spikes were certainly notable, but less dramatic in short-term response compared to other advertising manufacturers.  In terms of traffic volume at the brand level, and not percent increase, Toyota was the most visited brand, followed closely by Honda and Ford.

"Audi also won at the brand level, with a 448 percent spike, followed by MINI and Kia," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book.  "The Jeep brand also scored high among car shoppers (up 99 percent) with its two heritage-focused ads celebrating the brand's 75-year anniversary." 

¹The percent increase of the model's new-car searches on KBB.com during the hour the ad aired compared to the hour before the ad aired.
²The percent increase of the brand's new-car searches on KBB.com during the hour the ad aired compared to the hour before the ad aired.