• MarketingCharts, Friday, April 18, 2008 10:18 AM

While just 17.5% of General Motors customers say TV influenced their choice of auto purchases, the carmaker spent 40% of its $3 billion-plus ad budget on the small screen -- suggesting its marketing is out of whack with the current media environment, according to a study from BIGResearch. The new analysis comes as automakers reallocate more dollars to digital ads. But they may not going far enough, the survey says.

The big auto companies pumped by far the highest percentage of their media dollars into TV in 2006 in a spend unbalanced compared to the medium's influence on consumers to purchase. And because so much went to TV, they missed out on opportunities like newspapers, magazines, radio and the Internet, BIGresearch notes. By way of example, Ford spent les than 6% of its budget on newspaper advertising, which influences almost 17% of its potential customers.

"Automakers are making advances in a consumer-centric media world by integrating new media into their advertising strategy," says Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch. "However, when you look at which media their customers say influences them to purchase a car, they are over-allocating ad dollars on TV and under-spending on Internet, outdoor, radio and print."

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