Mazda Leads Most-Seen Auto Ads Chart

Mazda moves up from second to first place in iSpot.tv’s latest 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 No.1 ad for the week of Jan. 13 is Mazda’s spot for the “first-ever” CX-30 subcompact CUV. Lincoln slips to No.2 with a serene spot for the ’20 Aviator starring an ice-fishing Matthew McConaughey.

The third-place commercial from Nissan illustrates the dangers of being glued to your cell phone while out and about. Luckily, the ’20 Rogue has safety features including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection and blindspot warning, helping drivers avoid collisions with oblivious people.

This spot has the best iSpot Attention Index (133) in the ranking, getting 33% fewer interruptions than the average auto ad (interruptions include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

At No.4 is Chevrolet’s ad for the ’20 Silverado featuring real pickup owners (not actors) experiencing the “world’s first invisible trailer.” The model’s optional technology package offers up to 15 different views, including one that makes an attached trailer seemingly disappear.

In the fifth-place ad, a mother explains that her family got a Subaru to give their son “some adventure, to reconnect and be together.” The company urges viewers to “go where love takes you” with the Outback.

While spend and impressions are important measures for TV advertising, every marketer is ultimately concerned about ad effectiveness. That’s why iSpot recently introduced benchmarks, including the iSpot Lift Rating, which measures the causal impact of TV advertising on key performance indicators (KPIs); simply put, it reflects new business driven by TV ad placements.

The recently released average iSpot Lift Rating for the automotive industry in December was 26.38%, slightly below the average across all categories that iSpot measured (33.10%).

The three networks that generated the highest lift for the industry were BBC America (59.22%), NBC Sports (50.07%) and The Weather Channel (48.22%). The KPI for December’s benchmarks: consumer visits to automaker websites, to, for example, research and configure vehicles or look up inventory.

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1. Mazda: Manifest Destiny

Impressions: 384,809,391

Attention Score: 86.97

Attention Index: 72

Est. TV Spend: $9,005,786

2. Lincoln Motor Company: Warm Escape

Impressions: 342,711,748

Attention Score: 92.56

Attention Index: 121

Est. TV Spend: $9,327,493

3. Nissan: Protection

Impressions: 319,435,079

Attention Score: 93.66

Attention Index: 133

Est. TV Spend: $3,621,703

4. Chevrolet: Invisible Trailer

Impressions: 237,810,985

Attention Score: 72.28

Attention Index: 34

Est. TV Spend: $421,505

5. Subaru: Greatest Adventure

Impressions: 177,498,214

Attention Score: 91.75

Attention Index: 112

Est. TV Spend: $3,056,505

Data provided by iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company.

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

Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.

Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs. the average in its respective industry. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.

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