What's up, doc?

dreck · 08-15-2006, 10:04 PM

What's up, doc?

Polarizing Dr. Z ads resonate, but Chrysler sales on life support

Monday, August 14, 2006

You know Dr. Z. You've seen him on TV, heard him on the radio. The Chrysler ads starring former CEO Dieter Zetsche have generated no shortage of buzz in Metro Detroit.

But they're a $100 million gamble for Chrysler, a unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG. The automaker hopes to stoke Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicle sales by promoting their German and American heritage while trying to make Zetsche the newest CEO-turned-pop-culture icon.

So far, results are mixed. Among consumers and marketing experts, the ads, launched July 1 to kick off Chrysler's summer sales promotion and reduce bloated inventories, are a bit like sauerkraut: some love 'em, some hate 'em.

And Chrysler's still waiting for a big sales spike -- demand fell nearly 40 percent in July.

Still, the automaker says research shows the advertising blitz is anything but a flop.

"All the statistics are pointing to the fact that there's an awareness of the product and that we're definitely on (consumers') shopping list," said Christine MacKenzie, Chrysler's executive director of multi-brand marketing.

Last month, online searches for information about new Chrysler vehicles rose 26 percent, inquiries about sales incentives soared 130 percent, and 22 percent more consumers used the company's Web site to find a dealer, she said.

Nearly 500,000 visitors clicked onto the interactive Dr. Z Web site, where more than 3.1 million of their questions about Chrysler vehicles have been answered.

In addition, surveys conducted for Chrysler by national market research firms show many consumers are connecting with Zetsche, now chairman of DaimlerChrysler.

"The general reaction to the campaign and to Dr. Zetsche looks very positive," said Bob Coppola, vice president of Millward Brown Research Detroit, which surveyed 149 consumers, ranging in age from 25 to 75, who intended to buy a new vehicle within 90 days.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they enjoy the commercials, 70 percent like seeing the former Chrysler chief in the ads, and 74 percent say Zetsche should continue as Chrysler's spokesman.

IAG Research, which measures the effectiveness of TV ads and product placements, conducted a national online poll of 7,600 TV viewers and found the Dr. Z campaign continues to perform strongly, even if its appeal is waning because of frequent airings.

The commercials' message resonated with 81 percent of respondents, compared to a norm of 69 percent for auto ads that aired between September 2004 and earlier this month.

"Messaging has been one of the key successes of this campaign," said Sallie Hirsch, vice president of IAG's auto research group. "It's 50 percent more effective than the average auto branding ad."

Some marketing experts say, "So what?" Building brand image is not enough.

"Budweiser comes up with great ads, but I would never buy their beer," said John Henke, a marketing professor at Oakland University in Rochester. "If it doesn't translate into purchased cars, then at least some of the money has been wasted."

Chrysler counters that the ads are helping to sell vehicles.

Survey Partners of America polled 254 consumers across the country who purchased Chrysler vehicles in July and found that the summer promotion featured in the ads -- employee discounts for all plus free financing and a 30-day money-back guarantee -- was a major factor in their buying decision, according to the company, which Chrysler contracted with.

And although Chrysler's total sales fell last month, the automaker credits the discount program for a 9 percent gain in July retail sales, which excludes sales to fleets such as car rental companies.

MacKenzie nonetheless acknowledged that new commercials have been rolled out in response to a concern among some dealers that advertising for the summer discount deal, tacked on to the end of the Dr. Z spots, was being overlooked by consumers. The latest Dr. Z TV ads detail the incentive separately, and three new radio ads focus only on the discount.

Chrysler spokeswoman Eileen Wunderlich said the Dr. Z ads were never intended to be a quick fix.

"What we're trying to remind everybody is that Ask Dr. Z was intended to be ongoing," Wunderlich said. "It was intended to build brand awareness of our products and the company."

Even if survey results show many consumers like the Dr. Z ads, the campaign is not without its critics. Chrysler has twice used its online blog for journalists and analysts to defend the campaign, which has been jeered by professional critics and average consumers alike.

"My wife and I find these commercials superficial, a bit dopey, and to a great extent an exercise in pandering to the lowest common mental denominator," said a chat room participant on Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site.

Bob Garfield, a columnist for Advertising Age magazine, panned the commercials. Referring to one spot in which Zetsche slides underneath a Chrysler 300C parked in a residential driveway and removes its German-designed five-link rear suspension, he wrote: "Talk all you want about a five-link rear suspension. A cheesy commercial still screams CHEESY."

The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee's Sam McManis also piled on earlier this month: "We figured that if we ignored him long enough, Dr. Z would go away. No such luck If the point was to drill Dr. Z into your head as a 'brand,' well, then it works. But the annoyance level is off the charts."

But Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, finds the ads entertaining, funny and easier to watch than Ford Motor Co.'s ads starring CEO Bill Ford Jr.

"It's interesting to contrast these lighthearted spots to the Ford spots that are extraordinarily earnest," Calkins said. "This warms up the company because (the ads) put sort of a friendly face to it."

Eric Stegman, a 41-year-old Connecticut resident, thinks flaunting the German and American lineage of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles is a smart move.

"I like the commercials," said Stegman, a graduate of the University of Buffalo in New York. "Dr. Z reminds me of an engineering professor I used to have."

Quote:

Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News

Picture below:
Former Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche is seen in Dr. Z ads. Chrysler is hoping the ads, which tout the company's German and American heritage, build brand awareness, though consumers and ad experts are split over whether the campaign is inspired or annoying.

LinkBacks (?) LinkBack to this Thread: http://thisdarncar.com/vb/automotive-news/3309-whats-up-doc.html
Posted By	For	Type	Date
Chrysler says Auf Wiedersehen to Dr. Z \| Adland	This thread	Refback	07-06-2007 01:57 PM
Chrysler says Auf Wiedersehen to Dr. Z :: AdLand the commercial archive :: by the adgrunts for the adgrunts advertising blog x ad-rag.com	This thread	Refback	05-11-2007 05:01 PM
Chrysler says Auf Wiedersehen to Dr. Z :: AdLand the commercial archive :: by the adgrunts for the adgrunts advertising blog x ad-rag.com	This thread	Refback	11-14-2006 07:08 PM

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