In January, Cadillac launched mycadillacstory.com, an online community for Cadillac enthusiasts. The site features celebrities from Joan Jett to Tiki Barber to Andy Garcia telling their Cadillac story, and also invites non-celebrity enthusiasts to submit their own experiences via the website, YouTube or a toll-free number. Compete took an early look at this site and its impact on visits to cadillac.com.

Compete evaluated the amount of time spent on cadillac.com among people who visited mycadillacstory.com (exposed) and compared this to people who did not visit the Microsite (control). In January, the exposed group spent 33% percent more time on cadillac.com than the average control group visitor. By capturing more attention from the exposed group, Cadillac’s effort succeeded in attracting and engaging better quality visitors at cadillac.com.

This initial analysis shows the branding campaign’s impact has been positive. Measuring mycadillacstory.com over time and providing deeper analysis into the two groups will provide a more complete picture of how successful this campaign is for Cadillac and if it could be an effective strategy for other OEMs.

In February, Ford announced that the 2008 Ford Five Hundred will be renamed the Taurus and Mercury Montego will be renamed the Sable. To gain insight into consumer awareness of these four brands, Compete measured the number of search queries for each vehicle in the month prior to the announcement.

Despite a lack of active marketing, both Taurus and Sable have maintained relatively high awareness, based on search queries. Taurus search activity nearly equaled that of the Five Hundred, while consumers searched for the Sable substantially more than the Montego.

Marketers can rely on search term analysis to gain a clearer view of brand awareness; this analysis suggests that the Taurus and Sable have maintained brand equity among consumers. Trending this analysis over time will further highlight how consumers are reacting to the name change after the launch of the new marketing campaigns.