You have to hand it to Dodge.
SUV marketing usually involves romantic imagery of man traversing the rugged terrain, utlizing his machismo machine to achieve his primordial instinct to conquer nature – all to a Jeff Bridges-like voiceover.
Dodge has decided to take a different “route”.
For it’s launch of the new Durango, Dodge is putting it’s money on no other than the suave, svelte, Scotch drinking seventies-man Ron Burgundy…
In the risk category, Dodge scores an A+.
Marketing is about being creative, shunning the status quo, and standing out.
However, marketing is also about driving sales.
The question is, will Dodge’s unique pitch (or pitchman) sell more SUVs?
There’s no doubt that Dodge will get a lot of social media mileage out of this campaign – YouTube views, likes, shares, Tweets, posts, mentions, etc. – but will all that attention equate into actual sales?
My guess would be “maybe at first”.
The amount of attention will equate to a spike in sales for Dodge, but I don’t think it’s sustainable.
At the end of the day, marketing isn’t a campaign, it’s a commitment – a long-term commitment.
The problem for Dodge is that the Ron Burgundy schtick will eventually wear thin.
Remember the Old Spice guy?
That campaign generated a lot of buzz for Old Spice, but as the hype died down so did sales and Old Spice was left trying to continually top themselves with similar types of creative, yet faddish, campaigns.
What do you think?
Is the new Dodge campaign going to “sell” or “stall?”