The Offer: The Chrysler Group launched a promotion in support of the 2012 Dodge Journey that offers consumers the opportunity to own one of the new luxury-crossover vehicles for free — if they can locate it, that is. Three Dodge Journey models have been positioned in discreet locations around the country. Clues to the automaker’s hide-and-go-seek placement of the vehicles are offered both in digital and TV spots, as well as on Dodge’s YouTube channel. ?
The Data: Dodge does not collect any consumer information as a part of the primarily digital campaign, although commenting on the YouTube “clues” page requires a user to log in with their YouTube, Twitter or Facebook accounts, and pulls a limited amount of information from those. The channel had achieved more than 9 million views by the beginning of October. ?
?The Channel: The offer is not promoted prominently on Dodge’s website, but its YouTube channel devoted to the campaign is very active. Dodge put its TV spot on its Facebook landing page, which then redirects consumers to YouTube.??
The Creative: The constant flow of new “clues” engages consumers and makes the slim possibility of finding one of the cars seem not quite so impossible. ?
Verdict:
Jason Kulpa is CEO of Underground Elephant, a San Diego-based marketing company he founded in 2008. Kulpa last year was named “Most Admired CEO” by the San Diego Business Journal. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, a global association of young CEOs.
The campaign made me think of how difficult it is to purchase a car. Not only did I have to search for what type and brand would suit my needs, ?but now I would have to wander around the country ?to figure out where the dealer left it. While it’s fun to search for things on a scavenger hunt, buying a vehicle is a really big decision. The last thing I want to associate that experience with is a game. ?
