A news report from the Advertising Age is criticizing Olivier Francois, CEO of both the Chrysler and Lancia brand who was appointed by the Fiat Group, for his decision to choose an Italian ad agency over Chrysler Group's longtime partner, BBDO Detroit, for a 30-second TV Spot on the Chrysler 300.The author of the report, Jean Halliday, says that Francois decision "may not sit well with American taxpayers, who bailed out the ailing Chrysler earlier this year with billions of dollars in loans" and that "several hundreds of staffers of Chrysler Group's longtime ad agency, BBDO Detroit, will be out of work at the end of January when the contract expires."
As expected, the somewhat one-sided report, which was also posted on Autonews, goes on to pass judgment on the advertisement saying that it's very similar to a 2008 Lancia commercial calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and that it does not connect to American consumers.
Chrysler's CEO, Olivier Francois said: "We produced the TV film in honor of all those who put their lives at stake in the hopes of making the world a better place. For Chrysler, this is a chance to use our brand image to join with others in the fight for peace and to knock down the walls that divide us. We at Chrysler believe in doing the right thing and making a difference."
Julie Roehm, a former Chrysler Group marketing chief said: "The message is a disconnect to what matters to people here. Americans are focused now on getting back to work and the economy back on track. I don't think the vast majority of Americans know who this woman is or frankly care. They have no idea who their customer is in the U.S. or have a clue how to connect with them."
Playing the devil's advocate, we must note that for one, we don't have all the details on the topic including the cost of the advertisement. Maybe the Fiat Group had a special deal going on with the agency - we don't know.
What we do know from Chrysler is that the spot was initially created as part of the Lancia brands sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin Nov. 10-11, 2009. Furthermore, the spot first aired in Europe (on Nov. 12).
In other words, it's a global ad that doesn't only focus on U.S. consumers and more importantly, Chrysler joined Lancia's efforts, it didn't create a new type of ad.
We won't even touch the subject that nobody cares about who Aung San Suu Kyi is (nobody cared about smaller-sized fuel efficient cars here in the States a few years ago, and look at how the former Big Three are trying to catch up now...).
Unfortunately, some people do not understand that we live in the age of globalization. For any automaker or group of brands to survive today, they need to reach many different markets, both in terms of products and marketing.
If you want to sell cars all over the world, you also have to accept the fact that you will produce vehicles and hire people, agencies, etc, etc, from other countries. That's the way the game works, not only for American automakers but for everyone.
And if you want to criticize the Fiat Group for something, start from asking the Italians what's going to happen to the $73 million grant that Chrysler received from the Obama administration for the manufacturing of 220 plug-in hybrid and electric pickup trucks and minivans in St. Louis and in Michigan, now that the group's CEO Sergio Marchionne reportedly pulled the plug from the EV fleet.
Source: Adage & Autonews (Sub. Required)
