Chrysler Group will give away nine cars through its “Ask Dr. Z” web site in September in an effort to spark momentum as the US auto industry shows signs of a slowdown.
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The auto maker, which has posted a series of monthly sales declines in 2006, launched the Dr. Z campaign in July, noted Dow Jones. The campaign – which features DaimlerChrysler chief executive Dieter Zetsche playing company spokesman – “has been a huge success” despite criticism from various advertising web logs and certain advertising trade publications, Chrysler’s global marketing chief George Murphy told the news agency.
Speaking to reporters at a product introduction in suburban Detroit, Murphy said 600,000 people have visited a special web site affiliated with the Dr. Z campaign. Millions of questions submitted by site visitors have ranged from requests for free cars to inquiries on the authenticity of Zetche’s moustache.
Now, the general public will be given the opportunity to win one of nine cars – including Chrysler’s new Dodge Challenger coupe, which doesn’t go on sale until 2008 – via the Dr. Z site. The promotion runs until 4 September, at which time Chrysler will announce winners, Murphy said.
An “employee pricing for everyone” discount scheme that has seen mediocre results, and was launched alongside the Dr. Z campaign, will also conclude in early September, Murphy told Dow Jones.
The broader Dr. Z advertising campaign will continue indefinitely to tout the vehicle engineering-related benefits of the near-decade-old merger between Daimler and Chrysler, Murphy said.
Chrysler is readying the launch of a string of new products starting next month, and Zetsche-as-spokesman could be a key part of the advertising strategy for those products, Murphy told Dow Jones, declining to give details.
The report noted that promotional car giveaways aren’t as common in the motor industry as deep-discount promotions. Chrysler’s Detroit rivals General Motors and Ford have begun slashing retail sticker prices in an effort to lessen reliance on incentives.
GM and Ford last summer also offered employee-pricing deals, but bargain-basement discounts are seen as bad for vehicle resale value, which is a key customer satisfaction and purchasing motivator. Incentives also take a sizeable bite out of profits, Dow Jones added.
Murphy told the news agency Chrysler will “remain competitive” with its domestic counterparts. He didn’t give specific pricing plans, but said Chrysler prefers to “add content” without raising prices, rather than to actually slash prices.
