Toyota Camry's Innovative Takeover of AutoTrader.com Homepage Exceeds Advertising Benchmarks

ATLANTA, March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoTrader.com's Overdrive advertising solution drove significant value for its latest advertiser, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (Toyota), which leveraged the interactive homepage solution in February to promote the reinvented 2012 Camry. Comprised of multiple interactive ad units, the Overdrive solution proved to be incredibly successful for the popular sedan, exceeding the automotive vertical benchmark click-through rate by over 300 percent, delivering a stronger than average interaction time by two to one and driving additional search activity on AutoTrader.com.

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"Overdrive has proven to be an incredibly effective way for our OEM advertising partners to gain significant exposure and drive shopper interest in their vehicles," said Matt McKenna, senior vice president of national accounts at AutoTrader.com. "We continually work to bring innovative new advertising solutions to our partners, and we're exceedingly pleased with the success of the Toyota Camry campaign."

Overdrive is an ultra-premium, custom advertising experience launched from the AutoTrader.com homepage that offers advertisers a large creative canvas to bring big ideas to life. The experience integrates rich media with unique features not available in any of the other advertising solutions on the site, including a marquee banner with out-of-banner animation and branded wallpaper.

Camry Overdrive Campaign Delivers Significant Exposure and Drives Additional Search Activity

Shoppers on AutoTrader.com were highly engaged with the ads throughout the campaign, evidenced by a significantly higher than average click-through rate, exceeding the automotive vertical benchmark by over 300 percent and a stronger than average interaction time by two to one. Additionally, shoppers exhibited a high level of interest in the Camry through acting on numerous calls to action such as exploring the model, reviewing trim levels, selecting colors and submitting information, as well as clicking through for dealer information.

"Creating unique and highly engaging experiences for shoppers is an essential part of fostering strong connections with a brand," said Dionne Colvin, national marketing media manager, Toyota. "The AutoTrader.com Overdrive solution enabled us to offer an exciting way for shoppers to interact with and learn about the new Camry online and added an innovative social solution to address people's queries about the vehicle. We are pleased with the results of the campaign."

This high level of interaction with the ads led to significant increases in search activity for the Toyota Camry. The Camry achieved significant lifts in terms of both volume and share activity on the site, outpacing the site benchmarks and the midsize car segment up to 100 percent in week-over-week change. The increased level of interest in the Camry was so strong that the popular sedan went from being ranked No. 21 among new vehicles on the site (measured by shopper interaction) to No. 5 during the campaign and No. 3 during the week following the campaign.

About AutoTrader.com
Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts millions of unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates one other auto marketing brand, AutoTraderClassics.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto, Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com), HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of online inventory management and merchandising solutions for the automotive retail industry and VinSolutions, a leading provider of end-to-end solution platforms for dealers.  AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

About Toyota
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of nearly 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers which sold more than 1.64 million vehicles in 2011.  Toyota directly employs nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com.

SOURCE AutoTrader.com

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