DETROIT -

As many consider the holidays to be a time for family, it stands to reason that this topic would resonate in ads, as well, around this time of year. In keeping with the season, the experts at Phoenix Automotive had some commentary to share on the plethora of holiday season commercials that have hit the networks lately from automakers.

But Brian Maraone, vice president at Phoenix Automotive said that although family themes tend to generate traction, it is still important that automakers be informative about the vehicle, as well.

"There still needs to be some kind of demonstration or some kind of informative way of featuring the vehicles. You can’t just show a family in a family setting and show the vehicle at the end of the ad," he explained.

"You still have to show why somebody should want to consider the vehicle. People can see through the emotional advertising, and you have to consider that you are still selling a vehicle here."

And while watching TV around the winter holidays, many will notice that luxury brands tend to focus on the winter season celebrations more than their non-luxury counterparts.

A lot of the luxury brands try to position their holiday ads to include the them of "giving a vehicle as a gift," Maraone said.

Kevin Severance, Phoenix senior research analyst, agreed, noting that luxury brands tend to include heavy holiday themes in their campaigns, while the non-luxury brands focus on another year-end happening.

"Luxury brands that come to mind that have overt holiday theme are Lexus, Mercedes, Acura, Audi and Infiniti. They do tend to focus very much on explicit holiday themes: Santa, treating yourself with a car, giving gifts to others and more," Severance said.

On the other hand, he continued: "Non-luxury brands tend to focus on year-end clearance themes, which is still an important message for consumers. But it focuses on generating traffic and sales, as the luxury ads tend to create emotional connection — so it is kind of a balance between those two themes during the holidays."

But not all holiday ads are created equal, or resonate with consumers.

Maraone pointed out that in years past, celebrity endorsed holiday ad campaigns haven’t worked out so well for manufacturers.

He used Acura’s "Season for Reason: campaign in 2012 as an example.

“Acura ads last year that featured Dr. Phil and Suze Orman didn’t connect with the audience. There just wasn’t the connection with the brand with those specific celebrities," Maraone said.

Maraone explained the results were polarizing. 

"Some consumers really liked the campaign, and almost as many didn’t connect with it because they (the celebrities) are such strong personalities. It gets people talking, but cuts some people out. Compared to other, more straightforward links to the brand, they didn’t generate the same kind of response," he concluded.

Editor's Note: For more commentary from  Phoenix Automotive regarding 2013 advertising trends, see Friday's Auto Remarketing Today e-newsletter.

Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.