Kelley Blue Book, the leading provider of new car and used car information has just released its own unique set of predictions for this year’s Super Bowl. But instead of focusing on the outcome of the game itself, the forecast from Kelley Blue Book’s Market Intelligence team deals with picking winners from among the vehicles that will appear in advertising specifically created to run during Super Bowl XLVI. Arthur Henry, manager of market intelligence for Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com, sees the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic as faring best on game day itself. Relatively new, and in the hot subcompact segment where consumers place a high priority on value fuel economy and affordability, he anticipates the Sonic will leverage its national exposure into nearly a 250 percent increase in traffic share on the kbb.com website.
In the long run — post game day and beyond — the vehicle most likely to benefit from its spot in the Super Bowl will be the 2012 Honda CR-V. Based on the results of SUV ads in previous games, the new CR-V is expected to see a 100 percent markup in traffic from the previous Sunday. Henry notes that the new CR-V is already among the top 10 most-researched vehicles on kbb.com, so it doesn’t have a high potential for rapid growth. "The images of the new CR-V have been available for several months, but this affordable model, currently available for purchase, has been high in demand even before the redesign. The national exposure will only further interest in the model, as advertisements that resonate most with consumers are those that are model specific."
"In addition to being model focused, commercials with pop culture references tend to outperform other campaigns," said Henry. "Last year, Volkswagen saw a lot of success with its Star Wars ad and Chrysler also benefited from their ‘Imported from Detroit’ commercial starring Detroit-native Eminem."
For a comprehensive look at our up-to-the-minute coverage of all the car commercials that you’ll be seeing this Sunday during Super Bowl XLVI, click here.
