Despite the barrage of negative news surrounding a declining ad spend as a result of COVID-19, there are some areas of spend growth shining through. And some of those areas fall outside the expected realms of FMCG staples and e-commerce.
The auto sector is one area that is bucking the general trends, and advertising is rising to engage consumers who are thinking more closely about personal transportation than mass transit options. According to Nielsen Ad Intel data, Australia’s advertising spending in the automotive industry registered an uplift between May and June 2020, based on automotive internet sites, SUV brands and dealer group activity.
ほとんどの州がロックダウンから脱しつつある中、このような出費の増加は、増加する潜在的な自動車購入者を適切なタイミングで引き留めようとするブランドにとって極めて重要である。加えて、COVID-19が消費者行動を顕著に変化させ、（ロックダウン規制が実施されていた）メディア消費を増加させたことで、マーケティング担当者が広告戦略を調整する必要に迫られたことは周知の事実である。
Expectedly, new car sales plunged while consumers were forced indoors during lockdown restrictions. But after falling 48.5% in April, the auto industry is recovering and at the end of June stand only 6.4 per cent down on the corresponding month a year ago. This result was driven primarily by consumers and businesses looking to take advantage of enticing end-of-financial-year deals and the federal government’s valuable instant asset write-off scheme. In fact, Australians purchased more than 110,000 new cars in June 2020, prompting actual worries about a possible inventory shortage in the coming months.
This shows how important it is for brands to not go silent on consumers during crises, even when brands have hard budget decisions to make. Nielsen research shows that brands that go totally dark for the rest of 2020 could be facing revenue declines of up to 11% in 2021.
Taking a closer look into the profile of potential auto shoppers, latest Nielsen Consumer & Media View (CMV) data (based on February to April 2020 Survey) shows a positive trend in the demand for both new and used cars, especially among males in the 25-39 age band.
同期間中、地方/田舎に住む18〜24歳の新車購入意向は倍増し、3ヶ月前（12月〜2月）と比較すると8％に達している。また、首都圏に関しては、25～39歳の消費者の新車購入意欲が最も高まっており、9％（12月～2月）から12％に伸びている。
今後6ヶ月以内に新車を購入する意向のある人たちのブランドを見ると、アウディ、BMW、JEEP、トヨタが検討対象として増えている。
また、広告費に関しては、トヨタ自動車、現代自動車、三菱自動車が、広告費ランキング（2020年1月～6月）で自動車広告主トップ10をリードしている。
Looking forward, auto advertisers need to ensure that their brand messages evolve to continue resonating with consumers.
COVID-19 has certainly reshaped the advertising industry. It’s pushed advertisers and marketers to rethink their strategies. The key is for manufacturers to ensure their brand awareness remains at the forefront of consumer consideration in the ‘new normal’.
