Automakers ramp up NFL advertising after withdrawal

After a slowdown in recent years, automakers are getting back into advertising during the National Football League season.

Toyota Motor Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company The Detroit automaker is expected to use the NFL and its games as a major advertising platform in the coming months. In particular, Toyota will enter the football season as the “Official Automotive Partner of the NFL,” a first for the world’s largest automaker.

“There [are] There are many variables affecting budgets, but automakers are already starting to rebound. Paramount CBS Sports, which streams NFL games weekly on CBS and Paramount+. “We have automotive advertising across our entire portfolio.”

The auto industry has slashed advertising and marketing budgets in recent years because there aren’t enough vehicles to sell. The Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain issues have left vehicle inventory levels at historically low levels. But amid high interest rates and economic worries, vehicle inventory levels have been growing, and automakers are turning to live sports, especially the NFL, to help promote new products.

General Motors, First, more than $400 million in advertising spending is expected to be increased in the second half compared to the first six months to promote new or redesigned vehicles. GM declined to discuss spending details, including how much of it was specifically related to NFL advertising, but reiterated that spending remains well below historical levels.

The NFL is an important part of the automaker’s advertising strategy. About 44% of national television’s automotive ad spending budget went to the NFL during last year’s NFL season, which ran from September to February, according to media planning and data firm Guideline. The company reports that this represents 31% of all department budgets.

“The NFL’s impact on the automotive advertising industry is really, really big,” said Alberto Leyes, director of product strategy at Guideline.

NFL games dominate traditional television ratings. Last year’s NFL regular season averaged 17.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl drew an average of 123.7 million viewers.

Despite customers fleeing pay-TV packages, the NFL’s continued viewership has led to a surge in the value of its media rights deals, which in turn has been a significant driver of NFL team valuations. Today, the average NFL team is worth $6.49 billion, according to CNBC’s official 2024 NFL team valuations.

The ad market overall is showing signs of rebounding this year, especially for streaming and digital players. Overall, live sports events remain the most important ad spend, recession or not.

“We’re seeing much stronger growth in 2024 than we’ve seen in any year since COVID-19,” Reyes said of overall media spending. “We know that with the return of the NFL, we’re going to It will also be strong.”

Last NFL season, automakers were the most watched brand industry, accounting for more than 10% of TV ad impressions, according to advertising data company iSpot.

disney, Andrew Messina, the company’s senior vice president, said the automaker’s ad spending, which airs “Monday Night Football” on its television network and streamer, known as ESPN, “has grown over the past five years.” achieved sustained double-digit positive growth.” Sold in disney advertise. Messina singled out Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Chrysler parent company Strantis.

Messina said brands are also starting to expand their commitments to include sponsorship opportunities in addition to advertising spots.

Automakers have ‘key marketing space’ on ‘Sunday Night Football’, show Comcast NBCUniversal chairman of global advertising and partnerships Mark Marshall said the NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock are working together. While traditional TV still dominates automotive advertising, Peacock’s influence has grown, with the company exclusively broadcasting NFL games over the past year.

Guideline reports that NFL broadcast viewership grew about 7 percent last season, while ad spending on NFL programming doubled to 14 percent. Leyes said automotive ad spending has increased 17% in the past two quarters and is expected to grow again this year.

Jenny Wall, chief marketing officer at TV measurement company VideoAmp, said: “For automotive brands in particular, we saw 139% year-over-year growth as they look to more accurately understand media spend in the complex U.S. market. .

Toyota, the “Official Automotive Partner of the NFL,” launched a new advertising campaign this week called “Roll Deep” for the NFL season.

It debuted an “anthem ad” for the campaign. Toyota also played a big role Thursday night in the NFL’s first game of the season.

For Toyota, this will kick off a “season-long content plan across linear broadcast, digital, paid social and in-game formats,” the automaker said.

Dedra DeLilli, vice president of marketing communications for Toyota North America, said Toyota decided to establish a new partnership with the NFL after conducting a comprehensive review of its marketing and advertising spending.

The automaker has previously built advertising and sponsorships around NFL games, but believes the best value for its media spend is in strengthening its partnership as the league’s official automotive sponsor.

“The most attractive thing about this partnership is that we have access to 218 million highly diverse, highly engaged NFL fans. That’s almost 72% of the population. You won’t find scalability like any other American sport. sex and diversity,” DeLily said.

“It was a match made in heaven,” she said.

DeLilli declined to disclose Toyota’s advertising spending in the NFL. This follows our successful partnership with this year’s Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Stellantis expects to launch new advertising soon for the NFL season, including around its Jeep brand, but a spokesman declined to provide further details.

Hyundai will continue to play a major role in NFL broadcasts, including serving as a sponsor of NBC’s Sunday Night Football Kickoff Show for the seventh consecutive year.

The company declined to disclose details of its spending plans, but Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Park said the company’s spending is expected to be about the same as last year.

“We want to capture consumers’ attention as they watch live television,” he told CNBC. “We do think it’s very, very important from a strategic perspective…especially with sporting events, you can see the number of eyeballs increasing year on year.”

Revealed: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. rights holder for all summer and winter Olympics through 2032.