To promote the Patriot, Jeep is launching an integrated ad campaign with an interactive video series that aims to attract young car buyers. The title of the interactive video series is "Choose Your Adventure."
The campaign will employ the same characters in traditional ads similar to online videos and allow consumers to create and participate in the developing the web video adventure story. The theme of the web video is about a treasure hunt plus there are also lots of information about the Patriot that customers will get to discover along the course of the story.
The total costs of the campaign ads were not disclose but according to Jay Khunie, director of Jeep Communications, new interactive campaign ads for the Patriot reflects an increase in the company's internet expenses. He also added, "The media split right now is about 55% in TV, which is down significantly from where we have been... It's 22 to 25% on Internet, which is 10% higher than what would be normal if you averaged all Jeep spending on the web."
The Patriot is the seventh vehicle in Jeep's lineup, and at the same time is the fourth new vehicle for the Chrysler Group division in the last eight months. Kuhnie said, "It rounds out our family" and further added that the Patriot is priced at $14,500 which perfectly addresses the low end of the marketplace.
Kuhnie also stressed that the target audience for the Patriot is male with age range starting 22 to 30 years old, single and earning an income ranging from $25,000 to $45,000. Why? "Because they are young people now entering a new life stage, we think Patriot will attract both a male and also a female audience-individual young people who have just gotten out of school, maybe in their first job-who are very social, active and do things outdoors," explained Kuhnie.
The campaign ads which will be channeled via BBDO of Troy Mich., and Chrysler's interactive agency, Organic, New York, as well as GlobalHue, Southfield Mich., handling the Hispanic campaign part which will also come up with TV, prints, Internet and outdoor ads. All these elements drive traffic to the web campaign at www.patriotadventure.com which is due to launch this week. The interactive campaign ads of the Jeep Patriot will showcase the immense power of its and the other superior features that this compact SUV possess.
The patriotadventure.com will hosts a series of interactive videos called "The Way-Beyond Trail" which allows consumers to participate in an adventure by building a narrative from among the 44 scenes. The story of the Patriot adventure begins with three friends by the name of Gary, Srini, and Jodi-same characters found on the TV ad shown sitting around a campfire. One revealed an old leather binder which happens to be a diary written by his great, great uncle Harold. The diary contains details about a buried treasure and since the ad is interactive the trio asks viewers if they want to join the adventure to find the treasure. Interested viewers are required an opt-in response.
Along the course of the adventure various new characters are going to be introduced like a gypsy lady, a sheep herder, a park ranger, a tow truck driver and a bartender. Various information about the Patriot are supplied by the three main characters in the story. Kuhnie said, "It allows us to say an awful lot about the Patriot because it gets put through its capabilities, allowing us to educate consumers in a fun and engaging way."
The interactive Patriot campaign ad will include two 3-second spots and three 15-second spots complete with print inserts support. The inserts are also interactive with one showing a beach scene plus some removable stickers to allow readers to create their very own beach scenes. Connect-the-dot-games are also available at Jeep Patriots interactive campaign site.
Jeep will also employ ad rotation by having its TV ads aired on CBS Sports, College Sports TV, Fox Sports, and other stations. Jeep will also place sports-themed banners of the Patriot on sports web sites, Yahoo and AOL home pages. According to Kuhnie, Jeep has garnered 15,000 to 20,000 hand-raisers for the vehicle from grassroots events around winter sports. He also confirmed that Chrysler is bringing in other agencies to handle the Jeep brand assignment but he said that it's not yet final and that the decision will probably be made beyond this month.
