Chrysler; The descent continues....

The Celine ad campaign was for the entire Chrysler brand, not just the
Pacifica. And yes, sales were slow at first, but have picked up. In August,
for example, they sold 7436, and 7589 in September.

 

Magnum?>Who asked for a new 300 with Rolls-Royce styling?>>>

Here's a better idea, find out who asked GM for the Aztek....and when you do,
put him to death for 1st degree visual pollution....
[/QUOTE]
I think he moved to Cadillac and designed the CTS, XLR, and SRX.

 

Well, considering that Mercedes, BMW, VW, and Audi sell here, and more
importantly, make a profit, maybe we should listen to the Germans.

Who has talked about an SUV off the LX? True, Chrysler is said to be planning
on calling the Magnum a truck, but we all know the tricks makers play with
that label for CAFE purposes.

It sure will be cheaper than the $40k and up SUVs Americans love to buy.

 

Price will start at $25,000 for the 2.7 and go to $35,000 for the Hemi V-8.

 

What on earth would you call the Dodge Magnum other than some sort of
truckish "utility" vehicle.

Have a look:

http://pub88.ezboard.com/f300menthusiastsclubfrm38.showMessage?topicID=9.topic

A sports-luxury sedan should not be sharing the same platform as that
Magnum beast. But because it is, that explains a lot of the look of
the industrial-looking 300.

It's more truck-looking than car (or station-wagon) looking.

Buy the way, here is what Chrysler is gonna pull out of their hat if
they think Dodge needs a replacement for the Intrepid:

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/...naias/dodge.avenger/dodge.avenger.f34.500.jpg

Again, all LX-based "cars" will look more like tonka toys.

 

It was clearly said last week, that they sold so far only 4800 units on 3
months on a projected 60000 units. 7500 a month is outrageously optimist
and there would certainly no be the following bad news.

http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=39262

 

I think the problem with Chrysler advertising (in general) and the
Celine ads in particular is that Chrysler doesn't do saturation
advertising like Toyota (zoom-zoom) does.

I've never seen these commercials with Celine (but it is true that the
first one spends too much time on Celine and not enough on the
Pacifica).

mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/chrysler-performance.asf
mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/chrysler-oneheart.asf
mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/chrysler-passion.asf

"It is not as though Chrysler wasn't warned. Sources say Chrysler's ad
agency, BBDO Worldwide, of Troy, Mich., discouraged its client from
using the singer for its commercials. Still, the campaign went ahead
despite test numbers showing that Ms. Dion appealed to a much older
audience than Chrysler wanted."

Hey, that should do them fine with the new LX cars. Chrysler has the
65-82 year-old demographic locked up with the LX cars and their high
belt-line giving the ocata-genarians the "safe" feeling they're
looking for when they cruise the mean streets. I predict Chrysler
will use Barbara Streisand to advertise the LX cars.

"They were trying to class up the image of Chrysler, and it didn't
have enough excitement," he said. "Dodge has performance. Jeep has a
rugged personality. And maybe Chrysler had its nose a little too far
up in the air."

Buhaha.

"But during testing, BBDO's focus groups told Chrysler that Ms. Dion
appealed to consumers with an average age of 52. Mr. Schroer asked
for additional BBDO research to justify the ad campaign, a source
says. 'Make it work' "Schroer told [BBDO] to go out and test again,"
a source says. "He said, 'Make it work.' Chrysler now says the
average age of a Pacifica buyer is 53."

Well it worked didn't it. Someone tell me why the 53-year-old crowd
is buying family-type vehicles? Stupid. Mr. 53-year-old should be
buying an up-scale sedan, not a small family bus.

 

Thanks for including the link as I went to the site and read it. I think it is
time for you to stop posting out of context and get up to speed on what is
really happening.

Here is what was ACTUALLY in the article: "Dealers sold only 4,828 Pacificas in
the first three months on the market after projecting 60,000 sales in the first
year."

It is interesting in your posting how you have changed the wording to say "they
sold so far only 4800 units on 3 months on a projected 60000 units".

Let me point out to you that there is a BIG difference between the actual
"4,828 in the first three months" and your "they sold so far only 4800 units on
3 months".

"Saintor" further stated:

If I remember correctly the Pacifica was introduced in April so from the
article to which you posted the link, 4,828 were sold between April and June.
Lloyd posts 7,436 in August and 7,589 in September (I bought mine on Aug. 29).
As THAT is the case how is 7,500 a month "outrageously optomistic"?????

 

"Zoom-zoom" is Mazda, not Toyota.

 

I don't see the distinction you are claiming here. Seems like two
slightly different ways to say the same thing.


Matt

 

That was hilarious. Shows how well the zoom-zoom ads worked for Mazda
.... or how poor Mopar Man pays attention.


Matt

 

I've never seen them either but I don't think that it's lack of saturating
advertising that's the problem with them. Frankly the problem with
all 3 of these ads is that they showcase Celine Dion, they don't showcase
the cars themselves. It's a pretty basic almost newbie mistake made
when advertisers try using popular singers and popular music to apply
to advertising.

The problem with a lot of TV advertising these days is that too many of
the directors of the ads have forgotten the point is advertising a product,
not
telling some kind of story. Compare McDonalds and Coca-cola advertising
to these Chrysler ads - with McDonalds ads, notice that within a second of
so of the ad starting, your going to see the Mickey D's logo, and most
likely
the name McDonalds. Same with Coke. Naturally the ads are dull,
uninteresting
and boring, but they do succeed in pounding the company name into your
subconscious.

Ted

 

Seems that Chrysler's "former" global sales and marketing chief (Jim
Schroer) became infatuated by the idea of Celine and forced her down
the throats of the ad companies. 'Make it work.' he told them.

You know, Buick's ads where they use the ghostly "Harley Earl", while
being corny, still comes across with a half-decent ad that gets their
message across in a watchable way.

Wouldn't it be a hoot if Lee Iacocca did some commercials for Chrysler
a-la Harley Earl? (At least Coconuts is still alive). Heck, wouldn't
it be a stroke of genius to make him President of Chrysler group?

 

Maybe he and Icahn can team up and buy them back from Daimler.

That would be quite a combination of personalities...


Matt

 

He wanted to, he has said as much, see:

http://www.detnews.com/specialreports/2002/iacocca/a01-442791.htm

Schrempp is afraid of him, though.

Iacocca is a bit over 78 years old these days, and his last 5-6 years or so
has been tied up running EV Global Motors (electric bicycles) and Lido
Motors
USA (small electric cars) While the guy has name recognition, what market
segment is it with? Not the younger buyers, that's for sure. And you have
to
ask, for how long? It would be pretty risky to try and design a marketing
strategy around someone that old. He might live another 15 years - but he
might die tomorrow.

I frankly think that the best thing to happen to Chrysler would be for it to
continue to lose money. Give it another 3-5 years of losses and Damlier
is finally going to get sick of losing money on it, and will sell it to
someone
else. Damlier doesen't understand the bulk of the American car buying
market and never will. They have been real successful in the luxury market
in the U.S. because they understand how those buyers think - but that
market doesen't think like the majority of U.S. Chrysler buyers. As long as
they remain successful in the luxury market they never will be able to
understand
the Chrysler market, and we are going to continue to see more goofs like
this Celine Dion ad campaign.

Ted

 

Fairly typical though. Polaroid used to run ads with 2 big names back
in their hay-day but when they did surveys, everyone associated the
celebrities with Kodak.

 

Well, you just proved that saturation ads are a waste of money...
because MAZDA is the "zoom zoom" company...

Yeah, I agree. Chrysler doesn't know how to advertise anything except
the trucks.

"What are you DOING to him? Son there's only one thing you need to know:
Hemi. Can you say 'Hemi?' "

 

Lloyd Parker wrote:

No, I've told you a dozen times it was '69. Actual horsepower was
already dropping in '70, although the engines didn't get re-rated
(officially) until 71.

 

And Jeeps. Many of the Jeep ads are some of the most clever on TV in my
opinion.

I wonder if each division hires its own ad agency?



Matt

 

Good point -- remember, it was the first ads from Infiniti that didn't mention
the name or show any vehicles that were blamed for putting them well behind
Lexus.

Of course, some ads create a negative association -- the Dodge Ram ad where
the guy coughs up his food onto the windshield, for example. That's one ad I
in which wish neither the Dodge name or vehicles were ever mentioned!