BMW Traffic Spikes 583% on Edmunds.com Following Super Bowl Ad

Mercedes-Benz and BMW saw the most significant spikes in traffic on Edmunds.com after their ads ran during Super Bowl XLIX.

By the end of the game, the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT had the biggest cumulative spike in traffic, with a 2189% jump over previous Sunday averages on Edmunds.com. The BMW i3 captured the second most buzz on Edmunds.com; its cumulative traffic climbed 583%.

“Even though these two advertised vehicles are likely to be sold in small volume to niche audiences, the BMW and Mercedes brands will enjoy the overall buzz they have generated, especially as both continue their efforts to grow their overall reach into new car shopper segments,” said Edmunds.com Sr. Analyst Jessica Caldwell. “Both brands will be quite happy that the millions of dollars they invested had the desired effect.”


Vehicles With Largest Cumulative Traffic Increases on Edmunds.com During Super Bowl:

Mercedes-Benz	AMG GT	2189%
BMW	i3	583%
Lexus	RC 350	568%
Fiat	500x	503%
Jeep	Renegade	405%

Cumulative Lifts in Site Traffic to Super Bowl Advertisers’ Pages*

Lexus	37%
Mercedes-Benz	36%
Fiat	35%
MINI	18%
BMW	16%
Chevrolet	13%
Jeep	3%
Kia	2%

*Lifts determined by comparing unique mobile and desktop traffic on Edmunds.com’s make and model pages against average Sunday traffic levels.

Edmunds.com also tracked the immediate traffic lifts enjoyed by Super Bowl advertisers as and after their commercials ran:

• Chevrolet sponsored the pre-game show and showed four Colorado ads; site traffic to Colorado pages increased 25% during the pregame and 1104% during the first quarter of the game
• During the third quarter of the game, Dodge Challenger ads lifted its traffic on Edmunds 232%
• Fiat 500x increased 3981% in the moments following its second quarter ads; interest remained high in the third quarter, delivering a 986% lift for the vehicle
• Jeep Renegade was advertised in the third quarter of the game and traffic to its pages immediately increased 1031%; during fourth quarter the increase was 5720%
• Kia Sorento traffic increased 213% immediately following its third quarter ad
• Lexus NX’s second quarter ad generated an increase of 341%. The brand did even better immediately after its RC 350 ad ran in the third quarter, increasing vehicle’s page traffic on Edmunds 5702%. The RC continued to enjoy success in the fourth quarter with a 690% lift in traffic to its pages on Edmunds.com
• MINI sponsored an early part of the pre-game show and showed five ads; site traffic to MINI Cooper increased 48% during that period
• Nissan brand consideration increased 90% immediately following its second quarter ad
• In the moments following its halftime ad, Toyota Camry site traffic increased 364%

Edmunds.com analysts noted especially strong activity at halftime for vehicles that advertised earlier during the Super Bowl:

• Fiat 500x increased 14,627%
• BMW i3 increased 1,807%
• BMW i8 increased 501%
• Chevrolet Colorado increased 421%
• MINI Cooper increased 258%

BMW i3 Super Bowl Commercial "Newfangled Idea" Released

Even though the Super Bowl is still about a week away, today BMW released the 60 second i3 commercial which will air during the big game.

The commercial begins with a flashback to a live filming of NBC's Today Show in 1994 with Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel Talking about the internet. They have absolutely no idea what it is or how one might use it. They even can't agree on what the "@" symbol on a keyboard means. It's really hard to imagine this, since in the 21 years that have passed since this was filmed, the internet has integrated its way into all of our lives so much it is difficult to image life without it.

That's the whole point of the commercial. Things that seem foreign to us today may be the norm very soon in today's rapidly evolving world of technology. After the flashback, Katie and Bryant are sitting in an i3, and their conversation sounds very much like the one they had 21 years ago, struggling to understand what the i3 is and even how it was made. At one point Bryant looks out the window at a cyclist who is waiting next to them and says, "Katie said she thought this was a car," inferring that he doesn't even know what to call it.

I must admit, the first time I watched it I was a little disappointed. I was so excited when I heard BMW bought a full 60 second commercial during the Super Bowl just for the i3, and I immediately began to imagine what angle they might use. I was hoping for something that expressed how much fun the car is, how people just love to drive it, and how easy they could integrate the electric lifestyle into their life. I've been critical of all of the automaker's marketing efforts when it comes to their electric vehicle offerings. I don't believe anyone has really captured the essence of driving electric or why someone might consider getting their first electric car. So in my mind this was the angle I was hoping BMW went for. I also had a little fear they would just go entirely the sustainability angle, at which point I may have just banged my head on the kenaf fiber dashboard of my i3 until I was unconscious.

So I was a little surprised when I watched the commercial, but then I watched it a couple more times and I started to see why this may indeed have been the proper angle to take. No, it's not as heartwarming as the Clydesdale horses in the Budweiser spots, or even as cool as Leonard Nimoy's Audi commercial from last year, yet it does drill home the point it was trying to. Electric mobility is on the verge of becoming mainstream, and even though it may seem foreign to most people today, in only a short period of time they will wonder why they were ever living without it. I can live with that. Well done BMW.  Hit or miss; what do you think? Leave your opinions below in the comments section.

Bonus clip: The making of the commercial with Katie Curic, Bryant Gumbel and BMW's Trudy Hardy interviews.