Chrysler Group President Challenges Creative People To 'Step to the Edge' at Adcraft Luncheon

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 10 Chrysler Group President and Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche, in a speech to the Adcraft Club of Detroit on Friday, May 10, told industry executives that companies willing to take risks "are often those whose messages are heard."

Addressing an audience of some 400 at the marketing organization's monthly meeting, Zetsche said that the Chrysler Group encourages a constant commitment to creativity in its products and throughout its organizations, and that often translates into taking risks.

"We want our people to go the extra distance to create and market the most talked-about cars and trucks in the industry. In fact, we not only want them to take smart, calculated business risks each day -- we expect them to!"

But he added that there are many obstacles to creativity "that can test the mettle of even the most forward-thinking businessman or woman." Some of the greatest constraints to creativity in business today are found in a court of law and in the court of public opinion. "The costs associated with the American civil justice system are two-and-a-half times what the nation spends for police and fire protection each year."

Zetsche added that throughout the auto industry, engineers spend thousands of hours giving depositions in legal cases, taking valuable time away from the duties they were hired to perform. "As we work to create even safer cars and trucks, we find ourselves being sued if we do -- and sued if we don't."

Beyond the constraints of the civil justice system on creativity, Zetsche said that "advocacy groups" which use modern-day tools like the internet, can "humble -- if not hobble" corporations. "Activism is not new, nor is it necessarily bad," he said. "Today, however, activism in our society is creating a new set of challenges for the business community ... by putting pressure on any corporation whose products or policies may run contrary to their views."

These well-organized challenges can actually obscure the true voice of the consumer, said Zetsche. "You might call it the difference between natural public opinion and synthetic public opinion."

Chrysler Group advertising has found itself in the crosshairs of these organizations on several occasions, said Zetsche. "We do not go looking for trouble, and we certainly don't try to offend anyone, but we also want to find ways not to be driven to middle ground, the 'no-man's land' of ultra- conservative products people won't buy and ultra-conservative marketing they can -- and will -- ignore."

A little bit of controversy can create products that resonate with customers, and generate marketing that brings new customers to dealer showrooms, he added. "Over the years, our company has prospered whenever it eagerly took creative chances on the products it made and the way it marketed them." In marketing, he said, that means breakthrough ads that "step right up to the edge -- but not over the edge -- of acceptable standards and execution."

He concluded, "the challenge, of course, is to find the right balance -- to push creativity as far as possible without becoming a target."