On Super Bowl Sunday, Acura, Buick, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mini, and Toyota have some large tracks to fill. Since 2010, luxury and non-luxury automotive brands have accounted for 25% of all Super Bowl ads, paving the way for these brands in an uncontested fashion. Automakers are far and away the largest investors in the Super Bowl, and despite Nissan and Mercedes-Benz backing out of Super Bowl 50, we’re seeing signs that trend will continue.

The number of automaker ads has remained relatively constant the last few years, with 12 in 2013, 13 in 2014, and 11 in 2015. For the upcoming game, as of this writing, we know of 7 brands investing in 8 spots, and more may come in over the next week. While there are 11 auto brands with 2 or fewer Super Bowl ads since 2010, in looking at the brands most effective by Ace Score, we chose those with 3+ ads. As the chart below shows, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Jeep have delivered the highest average scores. Chevrolet and Hyundai Non-Luxury have had the biggest Super Bowl presence, running 10 ads each.

In terms of air time, automotive ads totaled 11 minutes within the 2015 Super Bowl. To put that in perspective, in the same Super Bowl, the three industries closest in ad air time were Technology, Alcoholic Beverages, and General Business, all with under four minutes. What drives automakers to commit massive ad dollars to this event? Is it the opportunity to connect with over 110 million people on an emotional level or to unveil a new model with the unique opportunity for that kind of reach? Is it about showcasing features or telling a story? In looking at the top 20 most effective auto Super Bowl ads since 2010, we see different approaches yield success:

ad title	brand	category	air date	score(s)
(SB 14) Dad's Sixth Sense	Hyundai	Luxury Auto	02.02.2014	681
(SB15) Fable	Mercedes Benz	Luxury Auto	02.01.2015	649
(SB15) Official Dodge Wisdom	Dodge	Non-Luxury Auto	02.01.2015	644
(SB 12) It's Halftime America	Chrysler	Non-Luxury Auto	02.05.2012	633
(SB 12) Matthew's Day Off	Honda	Non-Luxury Auto	02.05.2012	630
(SB 13) Soul	Mercedes-Benz	Luxury Auto	02.03.2013	626
(SB15) This Land Is Your Land	Jeep	Non-Luxury Auto	02.01.2015	625
(SB 14) Joy Ride	Toyota	Non-Luxury Auto	02.02.2014	625
(SB15) The Perfect Getaway	Kia	Automotive	02.01.2015	624
(SB 14) Rendezvous	Jaguar	Luxury Auto	02.02.2014	623
(SB 13) Whole Again	Jeep	Non Luxury Auto	02.03.2013	622
(SB 14) The Truth	Kia	Non-Luxury Auto	02.02.2014	621
(SB15) Newfangled Idea	BMW	Luxury Auto	02.01.2015	620
(SB15) One Bold Choice	Toyota	Non-Luxury Auto	02.01.2015	612
(SB 13) Stuck	Hyundai	Non-Luxury Auto	01.28.2013	611
(SB 14) Made Here	Chrysler	Non-Luxury Auto	02.02.2014	609
(SB 13) Space Babies	Kia	Non-Luxury Auto	02.03.2013	604
(SB15) Blue Pill	Fiat	Luxury Auto	02.01.2015	603
(SB11) The Force	Volkswagen	Automotive	02.06.2011	603
(SB 11) Discovery	Chevrolet	Automotive	02.06.2011	602
(SB 11) Miss Evelyn	Chevrolet	Automotive	02.06.2011	602

While some of these ads use humorous approaches and some veer more emotional, it’s the effective use of celebrities to tell a story that appears to drive the strongest performance. Half of these top 20 ads include celebrities. In fact, the automotive category is an anomaly of sorts in that regard, as across all Super Bowl ads those with celebrities don’t perform as well as those with them.

Our data shows that the auto ads with celebrities are longer in duration and have high breakthrough ability, demonstrated by often having high Attention and Likeability scores. 22 out of the 26 ads we’ve seen since 2010 are :60 or longer. Automakers are taking a risk on celebrities but have found a winning formula of integrating them into an attention-grabbing, likeable story.

Great examples of this are Kia’s “The Perfect Getaway”, Toyota’s “Joy Ride”, and Jaguar’s “Rendezvous.” The Kia ad uses a former James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, in an action-adventure movie pitch. Toyota’s “Joy Ride” lives up to it’s name with as a musical romp featuring Terry Crews and the Muppets, and Jaguar’s spot includes some famous British villains and a stylish getaway car. As we see below, these three ads are very similar in personality:

Our data bodes well for Buick, Hyundai, Kia, and Mini, who have all announced that celebrities are appearing in their Super Bowl ads this year. We can’t wait to see what they have in store on February 7^th.

Check out our infographic, The Changing Landscape of Super Bowl Ads, for more facts about Super Bowl ads. And don’t forget to  follow @Ace_Metrix on Super Bowl Sunday to see how all of this year’s ads perform.