ABRA Auto Body & Glass Launches "Auto Body Blues" in Branding Campaign

11 November 1999

ABRA Auto Body & Glass Launches "Auto Body Blues" in Branding Campaign

    MINNEAPOLIS--Nov. 10, 1999--If your car has ever been damaged, more than likely you've experienced those "Auto Body Blues". It's ABRA to the rescue in their new campaign and branding strategy developed in conjunction with their advertising agency, Bolin Marketing and Advertising. ABRA Auto Body & Glass is a Minneapolis, MN, based corporation which is on the road to national expansion. They currently have 69 locations in twelve states, serving major markets such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, Denver, Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee and Salt Lake City.
    Curing those Auto Body Blues is what ABRA's new TV, radio, outdoor and print campaign is all about. With an irresistible nod to Blues Brothers-style humor, tongue-in-cheek "music video"-like spots sell ABRA as the remedy. And, like a music video, the spots actually include on-air credits.
    The TV commercial production involved a cast and crew of about 100 filming at three on-site locations, including a real junkyard and one of ABRA's high tech facilities. Joe Juliano, a well-known Twin Cities Blues performer, and vocal back-up group, Best Kept Secret, were signed on originally to record a :60 jingle. However, it soon became apparent that Joe's personality was exactly right for the TV screen, and he became the talent for the television commercials as well.
    While performing was not new for Juliano, commercial production was. "This is my first TV spot," he said. "But the production was so smooth that it was never awkward. In fact, we had not performed with the Best Kept Secret group before, and now we plan to record our next CD with them."
    If the radio spots have a certain blues spontaneity, it was because of the collaboration in the studio between Juliano and Scott Bolin, agency producer and composer. "Joe's band understood our score, and they brought that real blues dimension into it," said Bolin.
    The TV, outdoor, print and radio campaign is part of a brand building strategy and corporate identity plan according to Victoria Reinart, Director of Marketing for ABRA Auto Body & Glass. "ABRA is rapidly becoming a national brand, and to build brand equity we need to develop a personality and consistently position the company as the leader in auto body repair, paintless dent repair, and auto glass repair and replacement," she said.
    "We feel that the campaign that we developed with Bolin is on target for what we need to accomplish," Reinart said. "This theme will be carried throughout ABRA's communication vehicles."
    ABRA Auto Body & Glass is a national damaged vehicle repair company, specializing in collision repair, paintless dent repair, and auto glass repair and replacement. Their plans for accelerated national growth over the next several years include acquiring existing facilities and building new locations.