The winning TV ad, “This or That,” features the hamsters cruising around in a Kia Soul playing a popular 90’s hip hop track, “The Choice is Yours.” The spot cleverly compares Soul’s unique comforts to other boxy rides – represented by toasters, washing machines and cardboard boxes – while the hamsters rap along to the song’s lyrics, “You can get with this, or you can get with that.”

Last year, Kia took home the top award when with the debut of their music-loving hamsters in the commercial “A New Way to Roll.”

“Despite another challenging economic year for the auto industry, it is great to see the industry has not lost its focus on producing engaging and highly effective advertising,” said Lois Miller, President of Nielsen’s global automotive unit.

The Nielsen Automotive Advertising Awards, which were presented at the 2011 New York International Auto Show, is the only awards program measuring effectiveness of automobile TV ads.

Other big winners included:

• Best Green Ad: Ford Fiesta
• Best Sales Event Ad: Ford ‘Swap Your Ride’
• Luxury Campaign of the Year: Mercedes-Benz SLS ‘Triumphant’
• Spanish TV Advertiser of the Year: Toyota

The awards are based on response data from 2.5 million viewers of national television advertising collected by Nielsen. Nielsen measures the effectiveness of every ad and product placement on 24 measured networks. All national auto ads that began airing in 2010 were eligible for the award.

In the winning TV ad, streets are occupied by hamsters running in place on exercise wheels until a red Kia Soul pulls up to a stoplight as the passenger window rolls down to reveal a trio of music-loving hamsters who have found “A New Way to Roll.”

The ad was found most effective by Nielsen’s panel of 2.5 million television viewers who answered questions about how much they remembered about the programs and commercials they watched the previous evening throughout the past year. Only TV ads that launched in 2009 were eligible for nomination.

“Our data show that truly effective advertising starts with a great creative idea,” said Lois Miller, President of Nielsen Automotive. “When you combine that idea with a memorable and unique hook that grabs the viewer’s attention, you are going to get the results that we saw from Kia this year.”

This was the fourth year of Nielsen’s Automotive Advertising Awards, which were once again held at the opening breakfast of the New York International Auto Show. Nielsen also distributed awards to Ford for “Green Ad of the Year” and to Toyota for “Sales Event Campaign of the Year.”

The Social Media Effect
But it was Kia whose ad stood out as the best of the best. To maximize its success on TV, the company carried the message to social media, which is now becoming standard practice for marketers both in and out of the auto industry.

“Even before we could get our own copy of the ad online, fans had already found it and posted it on YouTube,” said Michael Sprague, Kia’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Within a couple of months we saw that the ad had a total of over a million online views.”

As Nielsen’s Miller is quick to point out, consumers aren’t just viewing videos on the web; they’re talking about them as well.

“Social media is a living, breathing channel and many companies are scrambling to understand it,” said Miller. “Fortunately, Nielsen can measure social buzz and can give insight into whether marketers are creating positive or negative sentiment in these spaces.”

Watch Automotive marketers and consumers discuss social media’s impact

Whether viewed online or over the airwaves, consumers were able to connect – and connect positively – to Kia’s marketing effort. And that means TV and Internet audiences haven’t seen the last of those hamsters.

“We never envisioned this ad being as popular and effective as it’s become,” said Sprague. “Stay tuned. You’re going to see more hamsters coming this summer.”

The re-designed Forester boosted sales for Subaru, while Hyundai and Kia launched new models appealing to younger drivers.  Existing models, such as the Sorento and Sedona posted strong sales growth (69% and 48%, respectively).  And Lincoln was the only U.S. brand to outperform the market (although sales remained in negative territory on a year-to-year basis).   Foreign automakers benefitted disproportionately from escalating gas prices because consumer perception that their vehicles, especially hybrids and diesel models, are more fuel-efficient.  Hybrids remain an exciting but emerging segment, as consumers take their time investigating the genre.  Meanwhile, consumer interest in the basic economy vehicle was solid when gas prices were high, but dropped sharply once gas prices dropped.

Read more about the positive developments in the auto industry in 2008, as well as consumer behavior with respect to shopping for and buying vehicles in the July edition of Consumer Insight

One might assume that the unemployment rate at a state level would show a strong negative correlation to the likelihood to purchase a vehicle in the next six months, but this doesn’t appear to be the case. Michigan had the highest unemployment rate at 11.6% in January 2009; however, these residents are slightly over-indexing for the likeliness to purchase a vehicle in the next six months. It’s very interesting that Mississippi is the most likely state to purchase a vehicle and Idaho is the least likely, since both states fall in the middle of the heap for unemployment.

January 2009 Unemployment Rate Vs. Likelihood To Purchase A Vehicle

Solely looking at shopping intention by state is too high of a level to glean any actionable insight. However, coupling intention with current vehicle ownership allows for smarter inventory planning and target marketing within each state. Typically, we would be a bit more aggressive and aim to conquest more sales, but in the current economic condition we need to be more cognizant of advertising expenditures and ensure a high ROI.

In 2009 it will be imperative that automakers focus on the total customer experience of existing owners and consider developing loyalty programs. It is much easier and cheaper to retain an owner than it is to make a conquest from a competing brand. Nielsen @Plan data is indicating that Oklahoma residents are the second most likely to purchase a vehicle in the next six months and are also over-indexing on owning a Kia vehicle and Compact Sedans/Coupes. There appears to be an opportunity for Kia to gain additional market share within Oklahoma especially with the Optima and Spectra. Lincoln also has an opportunity in Mississippi with an ownership index of 286, while Chrysler may want to reduce their ad spend in this state and shift focus to areas that have a higher concentration of Chrysler owners such as Iowa, Kentucky and Michigan.