Auto Segment Stages Digital Comeback

NEW YORK — November 03, 2010 (Digiday) — The auto industry is staging a comeback, and one of the venues is digital marketing. After posting a 10% percent overall industry spike in October, many digital advertising companies are reporting bigger projects and more overall business from the category.

New York-based Vibrant, a contextual advertising solutions company, reports a 76% increase in auto-related revenue this quarter. This increase in auto advertising from OEMs and aftermarket parts and services companies aligns with Vibrant's expansion in the automotive sector. ComScore has reported an increase of 26% in unique visitors in Vibrant's auto vertical for 2010.

"This growth is driven by the tremendous value we are providing to auto advertisers, publishers and consumers," says Doug Stevenson, Vibrant Co-founder and CEO. "Our U.S. auto publisher network has grown 24% Y-Y this quarter, and our unique audience is now 130 million in the U.S. We are working with 90% of OEM's for national and regional initiatives, and we are well-positioned to grow as the automotive industry returns to advertise as usual."

Vibrant's performance in the auto vertical follows on the heels of its 44% growth in auto revenue reported in H1 2010. Earlier, record profit and revenue growth was announced for 2009. The company has increased its user base by 50% over the past year and now reaches 61% of the U.S. online audience according to comScore.

One of General Motor’s latest marketing efforts was a blend of TV and social media. In September Chevrolet worked HGTV to mirror the popular show "House Hunters" in a series of commercials known as the Car Hunters Challenge. Customers test drive three vehicles from their category of choice - Midsize Sedan: Chevrolet Malibu, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord; Compact Crossover: Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V; or Midsize Crossover: Chevrolet Traverse, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot. They are then asked to select their favorite.

Chevrolet wasn't guaranteed to be the winner. In an effort to make this venture as authentic as possible, GM employed a third party research company, GfK, to conduct the drive clinics. Drivers had no idea which car company was sponsoring the project.

GM reports that 43 out of 70 people opted for the Chevy model. Chevrolet worked closely with HGTV to ensure that the Car Hunters Challenge emulated House Hunters as accurately as possible; They even hosted the Car Hunters website, CarHuntersChallenge.com, through HGTV.com. Along with videos and behind the scenes footage, the site features a Car Hunters Challenge Sweepstakes—the grand prize being the champion of the Compact Crossover category, a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox.

Everyone is trying to figure out how to be heard by the audience who needs to hear their message. Knowing your target and their use of digital media is extremely important. You don't want to talk above or below them or you will completely miss the target," says Monica Neville, VP of Group Director Business Leadership for Momentum Worldwide, which managed the project. "Striking the perfect balance between information, entertainment & education is an ever changing challenge and this is probably true for every category, not just automotive. We do feel that with Car Hunters and our alignment with HGTV House Hunters we have achieved communication, which is very effective with our primarily young female target."

About Vibrant
Vibrant is a world leader in contextual technology aligning billions of words across the Internet with relevant video, information, tools, and advertising. With over 4,500 premium publishers, reaching 200 million unique users per month (comScore, September 2010), Vibrant gives top brand marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted advertisements within premium Web content and offers publishers premium editorial tools to re-circulate users throughout their websites. Vibrant works with top brand advertisers such as Microsoft, Unilever, Warner Bros and AT&T. The company was founded in 2000 and has offices in London, New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Dusseldorf. Vibrant's rapid growth has been recognized by the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 50 lists. In 2010, the company was named by Advertising Age as one of the "Best Places to Work in Marketing & Media." Vibrant Co-founder and CEO Doug Stevenson was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 for Metro New York. For more information, visit: www.vibrantmedia.com, www.vibrantmedia.co.uk, www.vibrantmedia.de, www.vibrantmedia.fr.