Infiniti’s ‘Band Recital’ Ad Hits Right Notes With Viewers

Infiniti’s “Band Recital” claims the No.1 spot for a second straight week on iSpot.tv’s ranking of the most-viewed automotive commercials – the ads that have generated the highest number of impressions across national broadcast and cable TV airings.

The Nissan luxury brand’s discordant “Band Recital” ad showcases the soundproofed qualities of the Infiniti QX60 amid an out-of-tune student performance. Perhaps ironically, iSpot’s Ace Metrix survey data finds that viewers cited “soothing” as the top emotional response, while the music was the “single best thing” about the ad with 24% of respondents in agreement. 

Cadillac’s “Fortune Favors the Fearless” follows with an electric-vehicle focus. The future-is-here message drove a 10% increase above the industry norm among Ace Metrix viewers for the “change” category, while “upscale” stayed on-brand for Cadillac as the top emotional response. 

Subaru claims positions three and five, with “Go Further” and “Girls Trip,” respectively. The former leaned heavily on college basketball for impressions, with a smattering of procedural dramas in support. “Girls Trip,” meanwhile, focused on a variety of programming including the Today show, FBI and Survivor to deliver audiences. 

Mercedes-Benz rounds out the list at No. 4 with “Enlightenment,” which scored highly on the Ace Metrix survey. The “desire” survey category led the way with a score 19% above industry norms, followed by “likeability” at 15%. The ad also scored double-digit percentage points above industry norms in every other category, including “attention” (+10.8%) and “watchability” (+10.3%). It was the only ad among those on the list with a significant focus on the Oscars telecast. 

(click on blue links for videos)

Infiniti: Band Recital 

Impressions: 349,635,236 

Interruption Rate: 2.48% 

Attention Index: 101 

Est. TV Spend: $1,953,198

Cadillac: Fortune Favors the Fearless 

Impressions: 205,187,852 

Interruption Rate: 2.17% 

Attention Index: 114 

Est. TV Spend: $1,102,226

Subaru: Go Further 

Impressions: 154,750,269 

Interruption Rate: 2.44% 

Attention Index: 105 

Est. TV Spend: $1,908,725

Mercedes-Benz: Enlightenment 

Impressions: 150,523,485 

Interruption Rate: 2.43% 

Attention Index: 104 

Est. TV Spend: $3,333,064

Subaru: Girls Trip

Impressions:   146,095,530

Interruption Rate: 2.40%  

Attention Index: 113  

Est. TV Spend:  $1,388,172

Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands

*Ace Metrix auto industry norms data measured over the last 90 days.

TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.

Interruption Rate - The rate at which the audience present at the beginning of your ad disengages with it before it ends.

Attention Index - A comparison of your ad’s Interruption Rate against your specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means your ad is performing as expected.

Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.