Scrappage Scheme adds a welcome boost to automotive industry reporting.

Scrappage Scheme

Throughout the year-long scheme, Kantar Media Precis team provided monthly evaluation. The tracking revealed sentiment shifted from hostility to more positive industry support.

From late 2008, the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) had lobbied hard for a Scrappage Scheme to support a struggling automotive industry that had seen sales fall off a cliff as the recession bit. When its wish was granted, the Society wanted to monitor awareness of the scheme and attitudes towards it.

Using coverage from the SMMT and its industry-wide automotive syndicate, which it runs for numerous major car manufacturers, Kantar Media Precis identified insights into both press coverage of the scheme and the shifting auto media agenda. Certain topics had not gone away, namely: brand image, financial performance, sales and dealer strategies, which all held their interest during the current recession. But the extreme downturn inevitably meant certain topics became more prominent: customer incentives, redundancies, debt and electronic vehicle subsidies all raised their profile.

Study reveals positive response to scheme

Kantar Media's Jeremy Gibbs illustrated how the scheme had provided an upbeat boost to automotive reporting. Of the 24,397 articles from March 2009 to February 2010 mentioning automotive manufacturers, 2,136 name-checked the Scrappage Scheme - nearly one in ten. Qualitative analysis revealed that sentiment was predominantly neutral or positive (see chart), counteracting some of the negative noise that had persisted in preceding months. Journalists that remained critical were also identified as SMMT future targets.

Nikki Rooke, Head of Communications at the SMMT, commented: "Kantar Media Precis's analysis of how the Scrappage Incentive Scheme was played out in the national media gave the industry an excellent understanding of the full impact of the scheme. It allowed us to identify the trends, both positive and negative, and most importantly, the specific journalists that we needed to speak to".

In-depth tool for measuring ROI on PR

Media analysis using the Kantar Media Precis automotive syndicate enables manufacturers to measure return on their investment in PR. As the data goes back seven years, manufacturers can compare 'noise' generated in previous years and gauge how well received products were. For example, via online and offline reporting, they can see at a glance which of the journalists who attended a launch went on to write articles and whether these were positive.

Kantar Media Precis Automotive

Kantar Media Precis's unique automotive syndicate analyses coverage within seven European markets and historic data from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK is available from January 2003. All manufacturer and model mentions in a representative cross section of publications and websites are analysed enabling brands to assess their press performance.

Kantar Media Precis has extensive experience in the automotive industry throughout Europe and North America. Currently, clients for its syndicated study include: Toyota, Ford, Renault, Nissan, Peugeot, Citroën, Mazda and Audi.

Methodology

Kantar Media Precis has developed a media influence index that gives each article a media impact score of 1 to 100 based on the following factors:

• Circulation of the publication / broadcast OTS

• Percentage of page of the article

• Percentage of page of the picture(s)

• Size of the headline

• Position on page

• Location within the publication

Each cutting also has codes attached which reflect the tone and content of the coverage. These include:

• Brands

• Campaigns

• Key messages