Dodge Infomercial Rams It Home

Chrysler LLC got nearly 10,000 responses to an infomercial for Dodge Ram trucks this past summer, an effort that helped clear out dealer inventory.

“I’ve been in automotive marketing for 10 years and this is the first time a manufacturer has embraced the infomercial,” says Christian Holiday, chief executive officer of Global Media Marketing, the ad’s producer.

The infomercials for the “Dodge Summer Selldown,” in both English and Spanish, ran for a little more than 28 minutes on broadcast networks such as CBS, Fox, Tele-mundo, Univision, and others in Denver; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles; Omaha, NE; Phoenix; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and Wichita, KS. The budget was less than $1 million.

Besides delivering a “branding message,” Holiday says the infomercial offered aggressive incentives on the Ram.

Whenever a prospect dialed the toll-free number on the screen, the call was immediately routed from Global Media Marketing’s call center to the prospect’s local dealer, which arranged sales appointments and test drives.

The infomercial was aimed at “the male demographic that wants to drive a truck, so you’re looking at anywhere from 25- to 55-year-olds,” Holiday says. Some 51% of the calls came from people who fit that profile.

Global Media Marketing scripted, shot and edited the infomercials and tailored them to specific markets. Holiday argues that, unlike the usual 30-second spot, the long-form infomercial “really helped explain some of Chrysler’s strengths, like its lifetime warranty and fuel-efficient vehicles.”

The infomercial was run in conjunction with BBDO Worldwide, Chrysler’s advertising agency of record.

“BBDO is not going to say that the infomercial itself saved the truck — obviously the agency did a lot of different advertising — print, radio and other places,” Holiday acknowledges.

Will Chrysler run infomercials again? Holiday says meetings were going on with people in Detroit but at deadline nothing had been decided.

“I’m hoping Chrysler uses infomercials for a product launch or something like that — to embrace the direct response avenue a little bit more,” he says.