Advertising in the Auto Industry: It’s PR for Cars!

Print ad from the 1930's

The automotive industry has been one of the cornerstones of the American economy since Ford began rolling Model T’s off of its assembly lines in the 1920’s. However, once other automakers began to move in on the market, the need for advertising became crucial to the success of automakers. The three American automotive giants that we know today survived because of their aggressive use of advertising campaigns. Even today, one can’t watch television or listen to the radio without hearing some sort of advertisement for a car or truck that has just been released. With a near constant market of people wanting to buy cars, it’s not so surprising that these companies are constantly battling each other to be the first one to get their product in front of the eyes of the public. And they do so through public relations and marketing departments that work nearly twenty-four seven to generate ads that will make you want their product.

Print ad from the 1950's 

Aggressive advertising campaigns from car companies are not a new phenomenon. Advertisements for car companies really took off with the success of the personal radio. With print ads now not being the only way for companies to reach the public, ads for Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, images of their products placed on a screen right in their homes. Soon images of the “space race” era cars that we now consider to be icons were seen on every major television network, and companies were battling for peak time slots in order to get their product in front of as many eyes as they could. The radio and television media outlets dominated the advertising campaigns of the auto industry for decades. However, that all changed in the 2000’s with the introduction of the internet.
and Chrysler flooded the airwaves in hopes of appealing to the masses. It was the success of these
campaigns that kept these major manufacturers going through the great depression and both of the world wars. However, after world war two, a game changer nearly as influential as the radio came into play. The television soon became the best way for companies to not only stimulate the ears of the public, but also their eyes with

Advertising today for the auto industry has become a multi-billion dollar industry due to all of the possible outlets companies are capable of using to reach their target audiences. With the introduction of the internet to the masses in the early 2000’s, advertisements could now be broadcast across a whole new network that was never previously accessible. Also, with the internet came the invention of social media. Automakers quickly jumped on this opportunity to broadcast out images and advertisements on any platform possible. Today every major car company can be found on any social media outlet. From Instagram to LinkedIn, these companies have established a mass following through the use of clever advertisements, vibrant pictures and other marketing and PR

Print ad from 2018.

tricks to get people to follow them on these platforms. Also, automobile advertisements have strayed from the technical and wordy ads of the past. Today's ads are made to be more sleek and even humorous to the viewer. This is evident in ads from companies such as Audi and their "roar to life" ad. With the world’s worth of information available today in the palm of your hand, car companies have spent millions to get their products to show up wherever you may be looking. They have found ways to appear in magazines, newspapers, televisions, computers, and even your cell phones. These companies have transformed themselves into massive public relations and advertising firms along with being among the industry leaders in car manufacturing. With all of this work being done to get their products in front of us in every way possible, what method will they come up with next to get their products in our minds?