With the NBA playoffs in full swing, many automakers are prioritizing games to reach mass, engaged audiences. Of the top five ads, as ranked by iSpot’s national TV ad impressions for April 28 through May 4, only Subaru skipped the NBA completely. Instead, it targeted morning news programming and primetime dramas to rack up enough impressions to make the chart.
With 190 million national TV ad impressions, Hyundai takes first place with a spot reassuring customers that its vehicle prices remain the same, with no increase to MSRP. NBA games delivered 35% of total impressions, with another 3% coming from NBA Tip-Off. Primetime dramas also generated top impression counts, including The Rookie (6% of total impressions), Will Trent (4%) and Tracker (3%).
The No.2 ad from Genesis employs attention-getting visuals: Spider-like light bulbs on legs are crushed as a car zooms out of a city, emphasizing how the new GV70 leaves old ideas behind. Per iSpot’s Creative Assessment, 41% of surveyed viewers said the visual scenes were the “single best thing” about the ad, with one respondent commenting, “Great ad for Genesis, showing the company shedding lights to symbolize the past and moving into the future.” The spot received 170.9 million national TV ad impressions, with top programming including The Big Bang Theory, FBI and Survivor, each of which delivered around 5% of total impressions.
Kia takes third place with a spot promoting the K4 and K5 models that received 91.7 million national TV ad impressions. The NBA was a key focus: Games delivered 51% of its total impressions, with another 15% coming from Inside the NBA. More modest impression counts came from Hannity (3%), MLB (2%) and Supernatural (2%).
With 80.1 million national TV ad impressions, a Subaru Crosstrek ad takes fourth place. Instead of humans, a family of dogs — complete with a puppy in the back seat — shows off the model’s large touchscreen that “keeps everyone happy.” Drama and action programming accounted for 24% of total impressions, with morning news delivering another 19%. Top networks by impressions included CBS (145), ABC (13%) and Investigation Discovery (8%).
The fifth-place spot from Lexus proclaims that “a car that doesn’t make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing.” Sports and related programming drove much of the ad’s reach: The NHL delivered 27% of total impressions, SportsCenter provided 9% and NBA games ran up 7%. ESPN was the top network by impressions, accounting for 41%.
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1. Hyundai: The Hyundai Way: Customer Assurance
Impressions: 189,961,765
Interruption Rate: 3.69%
Attention Index: 84
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,990,560
Impressions: 170,946,497
Interruption Rate: 1.82%
Attention Index: 105
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,412,702
Impressions: 91,740,535
Interruption Rate: 5.25%
Attention Index: 78
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,226,057
4. Subaru: Dog Tested: On Repeat
Impressions: 80,057,725
Interruption Rate: 3.36%
Attention Index: 93
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $810,300
5. Lexus: Reaching a Higher Standard
Impressions: 78,504,817
Interruption Rate: 2.99%
Attention Index: 102
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $718,014
Data provided by iSpot, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement.
Chart positions and other data may be updated in iSpot’s database as additional airings information becomes available.
TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.
Interruption Rate - The percentage of devices that were present at the beginning of the ad but did not complete watching the ad. Actions that interrupt ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV. The Interruption Rate is measured on a scale of 0 to 100%.
Attention Index - A comparison of the ad’s interruption rate against its specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means the ad is performing as expected.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.
