Bobblehead Characters New Jeep Spokesmations

NEW JEEP COMPASS MARKETING CAMPAIGN REACHES OUT TO YOUNG NEW BUYERS

by Marty Bernstein
Marketing & Advertising Editor

While many automotive brands are shaking their heads on how to capture the aging baby boomers market – millions turning 60 for the next several years – the Jeep division of Daim-lerChrysler has turned bubbleheads’ into advertising spokesmations for a new vehicle called Compass.

They’re going after the youth market -- consumers 22 to 30 years old -- with a huge, integrated marketing and advertising campaign that was just launched. In a departure from usual corp-speak, it was noted the target group for the Compass is, “A market that has not considered the Jeep brand before. It’s a new type of Jeep vehicle for younger consumers who may not have previously considered the Jeep brand.”

What’s really unusual about the new campaign is the use of bobblehead characters. The funny looking little ‘dolls’ whose head move up and/or down or left and right. Until now bobblehead usage has been confined to celebrity characters. The integrated campaign in-cludes television, print, radio, interactive, customer relationship marketing, events and “out-of-home” marketing components.

John Plecha, director of Jeep marketing and global communications in a presentation to the media said, “Smart, clever, effective and integrated communications are critical to reaching this audience and making the Jeep Compass a success. Bobblehead characters, infec-tious music and a media mix that includes traditional and non-traditional media will reach the Jeep Compass prospects where they live, work and play.”

To reach this audience, Jeep created a “bobblehead world” of characters representing a cross-section of typical Compass buyers. Their world is centered on the Jeep Compass, and the ads establish it as a fun, hip and youthful vehicle that keeps life moving in style through the city. Bobblehead figures have long been perceived as fun, entertaining and recognizable characters that have mass appeal among the Jeep Compass target.

Four 30-second television spots featuring bobblehead characters bouncing to Hip Hop pioneer KRS-One’s track, “Steady Bounce,” begin July 31 on network, cable and online media outlets. These include target-appropriate programs on networks such as FOX, CW, UPN, ESPN, E!, MTV, Telemundo, Univision and the new AOL Action Sports Network

TV extensions include Compass vehicle integration in MTV Real World 18 and “Un-charted,” a month-long Jeep Compass Music Tour of up-and-coming artists, which will kick off in New York in August. Print ads feature the bobblehead characters with a few inserts using music chips as part of the ad. Out-of-home media will reach this active, younger audience through outdoor billboards, bus shelter advertising, painted walls, building wraps and buzz marketing at beaches and clubs.

User generated media content includes a Jeep Compass Karaoke singing avatar initia-tive, powered by Oddcast; a bobblehead icon generator where visitors to www.jeep.com can build their own bobblehead character to send to friends; and a Free Your Thoughts.com con-test where consumers have an opportunity to create their own Jeep Compass commercial.

The campaign was created by a consortium team of Jeep advertising agencies includ-ing BBDO, PhD and Global Hue.