Ad spends are down across the board.  In the auto industry, it is almost non-existent.  Watching the NCAA tournament this past weekend, I took note of which auto manufacturers were running 30 second spots on TV.  Two – Ford and Saturn – and their format and spots were very different.  Saturn went with the human element – putting their employees in front of the camera and letting everyone know ‘We’re still here‘, while Ford chose to leverage two of the hottest properties currently on TV – American Idol and March Madness.  I can’t imagine what those spots are costing them – but it appears that they are taking advantage of available inventory and are probably paying significantly less than what they have paid for each of their previous American Idol sponsorships. 

What’s interesting is looking at the hard push by Saturn to remind us that their still around, even when there is wide spread speculation that they are close to being shuttered by GM.  Who do you believe?  Maybe the true temperature check is with the major TV networks.  One of the headlines in the Wall Street Journal today shows us the breadth of collateral damage: “CBS Shares Drop On Downgrade, Auto-Ad Concerns “.  The article goes on to state:

“Shares of CBS Corp. (CBS) dropped as much as 18% Monday after UBS cut its stock-investment rating and as concerns about the auto sector hurt the media company….A significant portion of CBS’ revenue – 65% – is generated through advertising sales, and the auto industry has traditionally been one of the largest advertisers.”

The key quote, from my perspective, in this article is the following:

“Ad buyers are looking for higher return on their marketing investments”

You bet they are – and if they get pushback from one network, the next in line will step up with a better offer.