CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com, the
premier online resource for buying and selling new and used
vehicles, struck a chord on Sunday with a quirky, 30-second
commercial during Super Bowl 46. Love it or hate it, the ad
resonated with viewers and media, with outlets such as the
Huffington Post saying "we have a feeling people will remember this
Cars.com spot" and CNN calling the ad "the most talked about Super
Bowl commercial" prior to the game. Additionally, the ad has hit
the pop culture scene and was spoofed in a recent monologue on
NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno.
"Our Super Bowl commercial was meant to grab the attention of
viewers and we certainly did that based on the feedback we've
seen," said Mitch Golub, Cars.com
president. "The volume of conversation about our ad shows us that
its quirkiness and catchy tune helped Cars.com to break through the
clutter with its message of confidence. Generating these
conversations to build our brand is one of the key points of
advertising to this huge audience, so I'd say our ad was
success."
As a result of the commercial, the site saw increased traffic
during and after the big game. Most notable on these days was
the increase in traffic to Cars.com's mobile site and apps, and
traffic from mobile devices to the Cars.com wired site, which was
up more than 107% from 2011.
The site also saw increased attention to its corporate-giving
initiative, Cars.com Cares. For this program, Cars.com
selected seven different causes that build confidence in kids and
young adults. During the Super Bowl, when the Cars.com
commercial aired, viewers who used the popular Shazam App to tag the ad earned $1.00 for the cause that generates the most votes
on Cars.com's Facebook page. Voting began on January 26 and lasts until February 13.
"This year, through our partnership with Shazam, we were able to
bring our Cars.com Cares initiative into the spotlight," said
Golub. "The interaction with our ad to support this program
shows the willingness of viewers to engage on a deeper level with
brands, and I'm happy to report that Cars.com will be
donating the full $100,000 to the
winning cause."
To view the Cars.com 2012 Super Bowl commercial, click here, or
visit www.Cars.com/superbowl. For more information on
Cars.com Cares, click here.
ABOUT CARS.COM
Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers
that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers
formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay
for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle
listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo
galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools.
Cars.com put millions of car buyers in control of their shopping
process with the information they need to make confident buying
decisions. Launched in June
1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC,
which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE:
BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:
MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE:
WPO).
SOURCE Cars.com