Super Bowl 48: The pre-game reckoning
As in previous years, automotive brands will be competing hard for our attention during Super Bowl weekend, but the real prize for advertisers starts long before the Big Game kicks off on February 2nd.
In 2012, 12 automotive brands spent a staggering US$94.5 million on just 16 TV spots reaching over 166 million people. Online their reach was extended by a further 69 million views, while in 2013 the number of automotive ads exceeded 17.
SEE ALSO: Super Bowl 47 kicks off the social video season for automotive brands
According to social video agency Unruly Media, the video ads released in 2013 attracted almost twice as many shares online as the previous year.
They’ve created a helpful infographic packed with some of the more interesting stats, but the first thing which stands out is the dominance of the automotive sector, with Volkswagen top of the tree with its pint-sized Darth Vader ad, ‘The Force’. Since 2011, they’ve accumulated 67 million views and a sizeable 5.2 millions shares – providing a total yield of 7.8%.
Although Super Bowl itself is just a football game, the online traffic it drives makes it the most significant event of the year for brand marketers. 60% of the most shared ads of all time were launched before Super Bowl Sunday, while 7 of the top 20 most shared ads from Super Bowl 2013 were supported by teasers.
The reason is simple, apart from the boost provided by over 100 million TV viewers, the ads themselves are the epitome of what we call ‘native content’ – high-quality entertainment with product promotion playing second fiddle.
The best ads tend to be either funny (Volkswagen – “Get In. Get Happy.”) or emotional (Ram Trucks – “The Farmer”). In both cases they made a powerful connection with audiences who subsequently owned the message and shared its content.
We’ll use this post to keep tabs on all the ads, then in a fortnight from now we’ll summarise how they performed.
SEE ALSO: Super Bowl 47 Car Ads – the post-game reckoning
The ads
The main automotive brands competing for attention this year include; Jaguar, Volkswagen, Audi, Carmax, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota.
First Published: Jan 11, 2014 Views since: 100,056Jaguar: “Rendezvous: The Set Up” Teaser
They say: This year sees Jaguar joining the fray and using Super Bowl to launch the new F-TYPE Coupé. The ad features British actors Ben Kingsley, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Strong as a trio of British villains who star in Jaguar’s cinematic “Rendezvous” spot, filmed by Oscar-winning British director Tom Hooper.
“Now, do we have your full attention? Excellent. Our gents have the character, intelligence and sheer determination to turn the world upside-down. These eminently admirable qualities are also present across the Jaguar R Performance line-up – and exemplified in a new British villain. Also known as the F-TYPE R Coupe.” Visit the British Villains microsite.