Not only is the value of digital advertising resulting in more innovative deals between automakers and TV networks, but even auto mags are getting into the act, such as offering “virtual test drives” to boost ad sales.
While auto companies spent $9.9 billion on TV advertising in 2005, compared to only $422.1 million on the Internet, they’re increasing shifting ad budgets to new media initiatives for accountability and efficiency. In particular, GM increased its online spending 67 percent to $66.1 billion and Pontiac last year launched a new model, the G5, with online ads only, TV Week notes. GM has also become a major player in VOD. It sponsors the CBS prime-time series that appear on Comcast’s VOD service, even as it continues to develop its own on-demand service, GM Showroom, which runs on the four biggest cable providers, with information on 60 vehicles available in 20 million households.
This experimental spirit is also translating to auto trade mags. In a move that could be adopted and adapted by other magazines, Hachette Filipacchi Media’s Car and Driver and Road & Track are turning their car reviews into “virtual test drives,” AdAge reports. The virtual test drives appear on the magazines’ respective websites ands lets consumers view assorted videos with editorial commentary. Advertisers
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