Chrysler Interprets ‘New Day’ With New Ad Campaign
February 03, 2008

By Dale Buss

Chrysler is trying to leverage the positive aspects of its ownership change in a new marketing campaign that breaks Super Bowl Sunday, while attempting to move consumers past the muddle created by the automaker’s acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management last summer.

Under the theme “New Day,” Chrysler’s ads will emphasize the company’s responsiveness to customer and dealer feedback by promoting the fact that it approved 260 “line-item” improvements to its products within the two months after Cerberus took Chrysler private, and that its new promotional packages offer many “extras” at no additional charge.

“The start of a private company was a good opportunity to talk about the freshest things that are being done to our products to address the issue of improving value and features, and our products overall, as much as we can in a short window,” John Plecha, Chrysler’s director of Jeep marketing, told AutoObserver. “It’s a relevant message for customers rather than just talking about the company.”

In a prepared statement, Deborah Meyer, Chrysler’s chief marketing officer, said, “We’re moving fast to earn the trust of dealers and customers and prove that we are listening.”

This positioning takes best advantage of the cost-paring Cerberus has been doing through employee buyouts, and decisions to stop producing marginal models such as the Chrysler Pacifica. By emphasizing  it is tuned in to and reacting quickly to feedback, Chrysler is underscoring its nimbleness and other positive aspects of the ownership change -- and removing the focus from negative issues that have dogged perceptions both in the industry and among consumers, such as its tenuous financial position and concerns about the pace of new-product introduction and development.

Media coverage focusing on “the company and corporate structure” isn’t “that relevant to the retail customer,” Plecha said. “What’s relevant is we have a new freedom to go faster and react quicker. This (campaign) is the first attempt at telling people we’re doing things a new way, and you (the retail customer) are at the center of everything we do.”

Plecha said Chrysler hopes consumers ponder the New Day theme and realize that, “under a public structure and bureauracy, it would take forever for (an automaker) to do things that are ‘important to me. There’s something going on here at Chrysler. Maybe I should give them a look.’

“Perceptions lag reality of how good our products are,” Plecha said. Another boost will come, he said, with two major new-product launches later this year, a new version of the Dodge Ram pickup and a new crossover vehicle, Dodge Journey.

In launching its New Day Celebration campaign, Chrysler is debuting an animated cross-brand commercial, titled “Listen to You,” as well as eight product-specific dealer spots that highlight 12 vehicles. The ads will break regionally on Feb. 3 in 55 markets as part of local-dealer association purchases around the Super Bowl telecast on Fox.

The animated ad features “a young boy creating his own automotive company by listening to what people want,” Chrysler said. The spot closes with “It’s a new day” and leads viewers to a new Web site, ChryslerListens.com. The overall theme of listening and giving customers more value is seen in the eight vehicle ads, including the three spots scheduled to air Feb. 3 (Chrysler 300 spot titled “Post It,” Dodge Charger spot titled “Engine” and a Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander spot called “Blindfold”).

Besides Super Bowl Sunday, Chrysler’s ads will focus on three other major TV events in February: Super Tuesday presidential primaries Feb. 5, the Daytona 500 NASCAR race and the Academy Awards TV broadcast. Supplemental online advertising will run on AOL, Yahoo!, MSN and Google.

Beginning Friday, Chrysler is offering New Deal Celebration vehicle packages such as this one on Chrysler Aspen Limited: no-charge sunroof, no-charge MyGig with ParkView rear camera, 18-inch chrome-clad wheels, heated first-row leather seats, two-tone leather seats with embossed logo, two-tone leather-wrapped steering wheel, premium floor mats and Signature Series badge. The Limited G 4x4 includes $3,355 in value, Chrysler said, for a price of $1,855. It’s a new midrange option level Chrysler created for New Day, a company spokeswoman said.

Similarly, the new Dodge Caliber SE Plus package features air conditioning, a Chill Zone cooler, air filtration and 17-inch aluminum wheels –- which Chrysler said is a $1,695 package –- for $795.

Overall, Chrysler said its New Day packages represent improved value over what was previously available. For example, in the Town & Country Signature Series, Chrysler previously offered a Touring L –- for “leather” –- package priced at $31,450. Based on customer feedback, Chrysler added a dual rear DVD entertainment system, remote start, a vehicle-information system that includes a trip computer plus tire-pressure monitor and other features, and an upgraded finish on the instrument-panel bezel.

Previously, said Michael Berube, senior manager of Chrysler marketing, a vehicle with these features would have cost $33,670, or $2,220 more than the existing Touring L. “But with the New Day approach, we are charging only $695 more by giving away the DVD system at no charge” –- that is, a $1,525 discount –- he said.

“In other words, the New Day Town & Country Signature Series is priced at $32,145, which is only $695 more than today,” Berube said. “But it has $2,200 more equipment that customers have said they want.”

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