Lexus Scores Four of Top Five Most-Seen Auto Ads

With over 297.5 million TV ad impressions per iSpot.tv, an ad for Chevrolet’s Silverado models takes first place as the most-seen automaker spot for the week of Jan. 9-15. That’s about a 50% week-over-week increase in impressions for the spot, while estimated national TV ad spend increased 226% compared to the previous week. 

About half of those impressions came from NFL games, while college football delivered about 25.6 million TV ad impressions. According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, 35% of survey respondents said the visual scenes were the best thing about the commercial. 

Lexus dominates the rest of the chart. Overall, the brand aired eight ads (including four ads that didn’t make our top five) over 4,000 times during the week – about twice as many as Toyota, which was the automaker with the second-most ad airings. The eight Lexus ads racked up over 688 million TV ad impressions, with NFL games, college basketball and SportsCenter as the top impressions-driving programs overall.

The leading Lexus spot, “Electrified,” highlighting its electric vehicles, generated more than 200.6 million TV ad impressions, around a quarter of which came from NFL games. iSpot’s Creative Assessment survey data shows the ad had 91% brand recognition (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Lexus ad after watching it), above the automaker industry norm of 81%. 

“Characters,” the No.3 ad, invites viewers to “discover a new world of possibilities” with the Lexus RX. iSpot’s Creative Assessment shows the commercial garnered 10% more attention than the norm for automakers. 

Men’s college basketball was the top impressions-driving program for both the fourth- and fifth- place Lexus spots. At No.4 is an ad for the ES model, which generated 145.9 million TV ad impressions. The fifth-place commercial spotlights the NX model and had 139.3 million TV ad impressions. 

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1. Chevrolet: Adventure Is Everywhere 

Impressions: 297,550,212

Interruption Rate: 3.93%

Attention Index: 59

Est. TV Spend: $15,862,465

2. Lexus: Electrified 

Impressions: 200,610,487

Interruption Rate: 2.72%

Attention Index: 83

Est. TV Spend: $7,768,601

3. Lexus: Characters 

Impressions: 150,490,533

Interruption Rate: 1.71%

Attention Index: 82

Est. TV Spend: $639,786

4. Lexus: Not Just For You, By You

Impressions: 145,919,213

Interruption Rate: 2.18%

Attention Index: 68

Est. TV Spend: $586,223

5. Lexus: Get Ahead

Impressions: 139,316,482

Interruption Rate: 1.84%

Attention Index: 80

Est. TV Spend: $749,692

Data provided by iSpot.tv, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement

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.