I recently went to the San Diego Auto Show and it was awesome!  I remember my dad dragging me along to the Los Angeles Auto Shows as a kid.  Aside from the time I got to spend with him, I never had an interest in any of the cars or what was going on. 

The San Diego Auto Show changed my mind.

My car is 9 years old now and I’m starting to think – maybe I should get a new car?  I definitely have a couple of years left on my 2003 eclipse, if I want them.  But seeing all the new cars made me seriously think about making a purchase.

As a person who has worked in media my entire life, and has worked on many car lines, I am now seeing the ads on TV as a consumer rather than a media specialist and it’s a completely different experience.  I used to look at the pods the ads were running in and what stations and programming the spots were running in.  I analyzed the categories auto ads were placed next to, and what kind of separation auto ads had from each other.  I looked to see which ads were local and which ones were national.

Since the Auto Show, I  see these ads with a different eye.  Of course, I still look at the creative and where the ads are running.  But now I’m looking for the offer. I’ll watch to see which company has zero down and zero interest for 60 months.  I’ll look at what the payments are on different car lines.  I’ll look at the luxury brands and think “perhaps some day I will buy one of those.”  I’ve even gotten out the calculator on my phone to try to figure out what I can and can not afford.  And now as a consumer, I watch the whole ad and I’ll look for every piece of information I can find.  I try to find out what the features of each car are such as the gas mileage and monthly cost.

And now, with some of the new media technologies, I don’t just have to watch an ad on TV to get the information I want on a car.  I can click my cable On Demand and search the auto section to see what cars they have featured.  Online I can visit the Hyundai (or any other car line) website, then leave their site and be served a Hyundai ad as I click around on other sites (this is retargeting).

We all know that cars, especially new ones, are big ticket items.  Now I see why Auto is usually the largest spending category.  I understand the importance of good creative in advertising and I also understand why putting in an offer is also important. As a marketer I’ve learned that when you are a consumer you want to see an offer, you want as much information as possible – I will definitely keep this in mind when I am putting together media plans moving forward.

I watch every auto ad and I don’t care if they are placed right next to each other.  I watch them differently than I did before I was considering buying a car.

I’ve heard many people say that people who go to auto shows are likely to buy a car within 6 months of their experience there.  That may be true, we’ll see what happens.  Until then, I’ll not only be watching auto ads as a media buyer/planner/supervisor,  I’ll also be watching as a consumer.