It’s Here…A New Level of Ad Exposure for Automotive Marketers with TV Streaming

Feb 17, 2023

What if there was a better way to quantify exactly how advertising to auto shoppers in streaming TV impacts web browsing, vehicle sales, and more? Well now there is.

Both retail media and streaming TV advertising is growing in the U.S. – eMarketer projects that U.S. digital retail media ad spending will grow 31.4% to $40.81 billion in 2023. Pretty impressive number, right?

But what’s even more impressive is that it will make up over 18% of digital ad spending. And that shift to increased TV streaming ad spend is accelerating, quickly. However even with this major shift, up until now there have been some blind spots for auto advertisers when it came to measuring the impact and performance of ad spend in that sector.

Now, with Cox Automotives’ new partnership with streaming giant Roku, auto marketers can better quantify exactly how advertising in streaming TV impacts web browsing, vehicle sales, and more. It offers auto advertisers a holistic view of the consumer auto journey, revolutionizing how advertisers measure the impact of their digital advertising investment.

“With our data capabilities combined, we will offer auto advertisers a

holistic view of the consumer auto journey, revolutionizing how advertisers measure

the impact of their digital advertising investment. Cox Automotive’s unparalleled audience paired with the data insights from Roku will provide a new look at performance during every stage of the car buyer journey.”

Steve Lind, Cox Automotive Vice President of Operations, Advertising

Leading automotive dataset gives large advantages

The new Cox Automotive and Roku partnership is important because a leading automotive dataset is now available for marketers to connect ad exposure to every stage of the shopping journey for the first time.

Cox Automotive’s family of brands, including Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, reach two out of three online car shoppers during their research and shopping journey. (Source: Cox Automotive Car Buying Journey – 2022). And with Roku being the pioneer for TV streaming, it gives the ability to connect users to the streaming content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers.

This data powerhouse partnership with Roku provides the following two large advantages for automotive marketers that haven’t been available until now:

It fills a measurement void: Nearly half of potential auto buyers start their consumer journey 6+ months before a purchase.* However, most measurement solutions for auto marketers today only capture basic sell-through metrics for new and used vehicle transactions. This leaves a blind spot for brands who want to understand how TV streaming impacts search, discovery and pre-purchase behavior.

It brings scale to automotive streaming insights: Roku’s 70 million active accounts paired with Cox Automotive’s 2.7 billion online visits across its online properties, offers unprecedented reach among consumers.* This scale will give automotive marketers critical insights and proof points that will in turn raise confidence in their measurement methodologies and inform their media investment decisions for 2023 and beyond.

How does it work

The automotive marketer will gain visibility

into the entire car buyer journey –

from early consideration to intent and ultimately to purchase.

To get started, an auto brand identifies its target audience and runs a TV streaming campaign with Roku. Roku then passes its ad exposure data to Cox Automotive matching it with their own first-party data set.

Cox Automotive in-turn can then deliver reports that tie streaming ad exposure to consumer behaviors across Cox Automotive properties.

“The ad measurement of the future will start with data from direct consumer relationships because it’s more accurate and scalable,” says Asaf Davidov, Head of Ad Measurement and Research at Roku.

“Roku and Cox are uniquely positioned to

partner with auto marketers to go under the hood

and make every marketing dollar work harder.”

What this means for auto marketers 

Up until now, there was data, but there wasn’t data intelligence to this degree. New insights exist to help have a precise view of the shopper, understand their needs, and drive your strategy around what is performing.

With the new partnership and capabilities auto marketers can activate and excel in the following areas:

Data Intelligence – Nearly half of potential auto buyers start their consumer journey 6+ months before a purchase (Source: Cox Automotive Data – 2021) You will have a more precise view into your ideal shopper and how TV streaming impacts their search, discovery and pre-purchase behavior.

Transform the consumer’s experience – Leverage our real time data to pinpoint consumer needs and intent. Powered by Cox Automotive’s proprietary DRIVEQ, the largest breadth of first-party data in the automotive ecosystem, a Cox Automotive Marketing Partnership ensures your content is aligned to vehicle shoppers’ critical touchpoints and allows you to help them with real-time decisioning, starting at the earliest moments of consideration.

Strategic Insight – Our robust and actionable reporting provides strategic insights that inform campaign decisions and enable us to continually optimize your performance and drive ROI across the life of your campaign.

CAMP 360 – Data That Drives

Cox Automotive understands auto shoppers and their behaviors. And with your partnership, our data can make your data drive efficient and more informed marketing decisions.

In the coming year, it’s essential for auto marketers to make their marketing dollars work smarter and harder in 2023. This new partnership with Roku and the advantages it brings, is sure to activate a more optimized performance driving more than just ROI, also delivering un-matched insights into the car buyer journey.

With the power of your Cox Automotive Marketing Partnership alongside you, our successes, data, audiences and destinations can be yours. Powered by advanced AI learning capabilities and proven by transparent reporting, CAMP 360 utilizes first-party data across the entire customer journey to ensure the right message and content is reaching, and most importantly, resonating with auto shoppers in the moments that matter most.