• by Tanya Gazdik , August 22, 2024

Automakers estimated national TV spending dropped in July as well as year-to-date, according to iSpot.tv. 

July 2024 spending totaled $98.5 million, down 0.6% compared to $99.1 million in July 2023 while year-to-date spending came in at $1.29 billion, down 6.2% compared to $1.38 billion in the same period in 2023. 

Household impressions also fell for both time periods, dropping 14.5% to 23.6 billion in July 2024 compared to 27.6 billion in July 2023. Year-to-date TV ad impressions through July tallied 160 billion (down 12.3% YoY) compared to 182.3 billion in the same period in 2023. 

The top five brands by estimated national TV Ad spending in July were Toyota ($14 million), Volkswagen ($8 million), Hyundai ($7.8 million), Subaru ($7.2 million) and Genesis ($7.1 million). 

While the 2024 Paris Olympics was a significant part of spending for each of the top five brands, that was just part of the full story, according to iSpot.tv.

Toyota and Volkswagen both advertised during the Copa América 2024 soccer tournament, while Toyota, Genesis, Hyundai and Volkswagen invested in MLB games. 

Summer provides an opportunity to promote various sales events and highlight warm-weather fun involving vehicles, says Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive vice president, media partnerships at iSpot,tv.

“While major sporting events kept delivering large audiences, the auto industry is also continuing its increased focus on Spanish-language audiences,” Schwartzapfel tells Marketing Daily. 

“Top Chef VIP,” the Spanish-language adaptation of Bravo’s hit franchise, was among the top 20 shows by spend for Toyota, Volkswagen and Subaru, respectively. Hyundai and Genesis also advertised during the program, but to a lesser extent, according to iSpot.tv.

The topfive brands by share of automaker household TV ad impressions in July 2024 were Toyota (12.68%), Hyundai (8.16%), Nissan (6.76%), Lexus (6.43%) and Ford (5.79%).

The top programs for automakers by share of household TV ad impressions in July were the 2024 Paris Olympics (7.86%), MLB (5.34%), Primetime in Paris: The Olympics (5.04%), 2024 Open Championship (1.55%) and SportsCenter (1.24%).

Olympics coverage provided the widest reach for automakers in July, while other sports-related programs also delivered large audiences, according to iSpot.tv.

Major League Baseball and the Open Championship also drove significant TV ad reach. MLB ad impressions were mostly flat (+1%) year-over-year, while the 2024 Open Championship saw impressions decrease by 26% compared to the 2023 tournament. 

Beyond sports, shows with some of the biggest year-over-year increases in automaker TV ad impressions included Spanish-language programming like “La rosa de Guadalupe” (+277% vs July 2023), “Top Chef VIP” (+67%) and “Despierta América!” (+45%). Reality TV behemoths like “Below Deck Mediterranean” (+200%) and “The Bachelorette” (+160%) also grew year-over-year, according to iSpot.tv.

The most-seen automaker ads by share of household TV ad impressions for the month were Hyundai: "Summer: Add More Joy" (3.81%), Genesis: "Illuminated" (2.83%), Volkswagen: "Hot Dog" (2.70%), Chevrolet: "For Summer Adventures" (2.52%) and Jeep: "Make the Most" (2.39%).

As part of iSpot's creative assessment survey, likeability measures an ad's ability to appeal to viewers, based on results from the survey prompt “I like this ad.”

The top automaker ads by likeability among the top 20 most-seen ads for the month wereVolkswagen: "An American Love Story" (+15.5% more likeable than automotive norm), Nissan: "The Ultimate Connection" (+5.3%), Subaru: "Push Your Limits" (+5.1%), Volkswagen: "Hot Dog" (+4.4%) and Ford: "Best Summer Ever" (+4.4%).

A one-minute version of Volkswagen’s “An American Love Story” debuted during the Super Bowl, with a 30-second version airing in the months since. The spot celebrates the automaker’s history with old footage and scenes of people enjoying VW models throughout the decades. 

Aptly, “nostalgia” was the top emotion/reaction expressed by surveyed viewers. This commercial outperformed the automotive norm across components including attention, likeability, watchability and relevance, and had an overall persuasion score 11% above industry norms, according to iSpot.tv.