Dodge is sending nine college students packing for a road trip from their collegiate towns to Miami to promote the 2007 Caliber brand, and to earn money for charity.
On June 5, the students, who hail from Boston, Chicago and Dallas, will hit the road in a Dodge Caliber for the five-day trip. Along the way, teams will earn points for creating attention-grabbing events that utilize the Caliber and drive people to download songs from Global Music Project, a non-profit organization that lets consumers download songs and sends proceeds to charity.
Each team will make three stops along the route in cities like Atlanta, Houston and Philadelphia and will decide how they will attract crowds to the vehicle.
“We’re really leaving it into their hands,” said Jodi Tinson, Dodge spokesperson. Dodge will give students signage and banners to help bring promote the student-run events, she said.
“The target consumers for the Caliber are 18- to 35-year-olds,” Tinson said. “[The promotion] is perfect for college students because if they think something is great or worth considering they’ll talk it up with their friends and that the buzz we want.”
Dodge will send radio and TV stations media releases announcing the teams’ arrival in their area. Each team will earn points for how effectively they demonstrate the features of the Caliber at each stop.
Premiums including 1,800 branded cordless earbuds and Caliber CDs with screensavers, games, and music from upcoming artists will be handed out at events. Teams will maintain an online travel journal with photos that capture their favorite moments at Dodgehighcaliberchallenge.com.
Music download cards will also direct event attendees to the global music project Web site. For each song downloaded, Dodge will donate $1 on the team’s behalf to the organization with a maximum donation of $10,000 to benefit Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organization.
On June 9 in Miami, the teams will unite to participate in a final fundraising event. The team that earns the most points will be the winner of the High Caliber Challenge. Each member of the winning team will win a 24-month lease of a Dodge Caliber. Two finalist teams will each receive $500.
To identify students for the road trip, Dodge focused on college and university campuses in key markets across the U.S. Last month, students submitted proposals outlining how they would use the Dodge Caliber to raise awareness for Global Music Project.
The Chicago offices of Clear!Blue handles. Dodge is a division of DaimlerChrysler Corporation.
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