ATLANTA -

AutoTrader.com recently completed the inaugural campaign of its new Overdrive homepage advertising solution and shared Wednesday how the first advertiser to use the interactive tool – Chevrolet – fared during the week-long endeavor.

Chevy used Overdrive to market its Sonic model and found that search volume and share for the vehicle on AutoTrader.com saw a significant uptick on a week-over-week basis.

Specifically, there was a 49-percent increase in the number of searches for the Sonic on AutoTrader.com during the campaign, pushing the model’s share of searches among compacts up 63 percent. This was stronger than any previous volume, officials noted.

Moreover, AutoTrader noted that the Chevrolet website saw “significant traffic” as a result of the campaign.

Officials also emphasized that shopper engagement with the ads was high as well, noting that the interaction rate was 10 times stronger than the industry average. What’s more, the amount of time visitors spent interacting with the ad was two times the industry average.

So how exactly does Overdrive work?

The custom advertising solution is launched from the AutoTrader homepage and blends rich media with features that aren’t accessible elsewhere on the site, officials explained. It includes an array of ad components and page elements.

One of those page elements is a marquee banner that features out-of-banner animation and branded wallpaper. The marquee banner also includes an expandable “Sidekick” designed to promote further interaction with site visitors.

"The demand for brand experiences has never been higher, and Overdrive enables us to deliver a unique, highly engaging and influential new car advertising solution that drives value for our clients and consumers," said Matt McKenna, senior vice president of national accounts at AutoTrader.com. "For our OEM clients, Overdrive provides them an exclusive way to raise the visibility of a vehicle and increase engagement with their brand online. Consumers get an exciting experience where they can interact with and learn about a new car."

For every Overdrive campaign, the service will start Monday and go through Saturday. Just one automaker per quarter can utilize Overdrive, AutoTrader noted.

“We are very excited to have the Chevy Sonic be the first vehicle showcased in the AutoTrader.com Overdrive homepage solution. Since the theme of the launch has been ‘firsts’ this was a perfect fit and aligned well with other elements of the overall campaign," stated Johanne Pearson, manager of in-market digital advertising for the Chevrolet division.

Tom Dobry, group account director on Chevrolet for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, added: “This was our first major project with AutoTrader.com and our teams did a great job on execution. The new IAB Sidekick ad unit really lends itself to engaging with auto shoppers on AutoTrader.com and complemented the experience we had built for the Sonic on Chevy.com.”