Company: Chrysler
Agency: Clear!Blue
Timeframe: September, 2006
Winning a brand new vehicle can be an exciting proposition for any consumer. But what the Chrysler Group, in conjunction with PR firm Clear!Blue, had in mind to publicize the
their new midsize SUV, the Dodge Nitro, was mind-boggling - or, at the very least, climate-boggling.
On September 22, 2006, on Chicago's North Avenue Beach, both companies teamed up to launch a contest, with the coveted prize being a 24-month lease on the SUV. The only catch?
The Dodge Nitro was encased in 30,000 pounds of ice.
The competitors, comprised of two two-member teams, raced to defrost the SUV with various implements. Whichever team got to the keys in the ignition first were the victors. The
event, dubbed the "Dodge Nitro Hot Shots Melt Off," scored a win for father/daughter duo Ken and Stefanie Ryl while achieving the primary objectives of the PR campaign. Not only
did it unveil the SUV to the marketplace, but also it generated both consumer and media awareness for the new Dodge Nitro; created a unique program that incorporated the Dodge
brand as well as fun visuals; and achieved a cost per media impression of less than 10 cents.
But how was such an off-the-wall campaign with equally hyperbolic outcomes conceived of in the first place? Andrea Wood, chief client officer of Clear!Blue, says it was a
combination of factors. A lot of it had to do with playing up the inherent contradictions: riffing on the vehicle's combustible moniker while juxtaposing it with its diametrical
opposite - summer. "It's hard to track back and say that was my idea when it was a kernel of something else that someone else added on," she explains. "It was very collaborative
working with the Chrysler folks. In this instance, we played off the opposite of what you think about Nitro."
Once the seed of the idea was planted, it was time to kick-start the strategy phase with the $645,000 budget on hand. This began with Dodge communicators sending pitches early
to important media outlets to secure all-call media coverage and live interest. Also, a press release was distributed locally to publicize the contest and invite local "hot shots"
to register online.
Finally, an essay contest in which contestant hopefuls had to answer two questions - "Why do you melt at the thought of driving an all-new 2007 Dodge Nitro?" and "Why do you
consider yourselves hot shots?" - allowed the campaign leaders to identify the winning pairs who would partake in the frosty showdown.
Location, Location, Location
But before any fun could be had, the team had to secure a venue. Carrie McElwee, senior manager of marketing communications and marketing PR at Chrysler, identifies the
logistics behind their planning decision.
"We kind of knew where we wanted to be," she says. "[The Midwest] was a logical place to be because there's definitely a change in season in those venues on the last day of
summer. It really made sense to be in Chicago once we narrowed it down to that market. We were looking for a high-foot traffic area; we wanted to be somewhere near a beach as
opposed to a sidewalk. We thought near a beach would be key, and with the right kind of target audience -- young, active adults."
The challenges of staging such an event were manifold from a production and logistical standpoint. First, there was the issue of actually getting an SUV into a block of ice - a
procedure that, suffice it to say, involved a shipment of 16 1,500-pound slabs of ice and a fusion mechanism. Yet, despite the heavy lifting involved with the car-in-ice theme,
most of the PR team's concerns were safety-related.
"We wanted to make sure we had the right location to melt the vehicle off," recounts McElwee. "We also wanted to make sure that some of the ice was melting with the water and
we weren't creating a hazard for the contestants with their safety -- all that water and whatever they were melting it with. You want them to be away from an electrical cord and
everything else." To diminish the danger element, the team carved out an area where the ice would dissolve into the sand.
Sticking with the subject of location, the PR team conducted extensive research on the ideal marketplace and target audience before choosing a location. As far as media
relations goes, Chicago worked well for the Melt-Off: It is the third largest media market in the country, and it's a key market for the Dodge brand. Then, based on research that
showed that the Dodge Nitro was a viable option for the midsize consumer, the following audiences were targeted:
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Urban drivers, ages 25-55 looking for a midsize SUV;
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Dodge loyalists who are proponents of the brand; and
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Print, TV, radio and online media that have the ability to reach consumers directly.
Mission: Impossible?
Beyond marketplace and audience research, the PR team had to conduct extensive testing to ensure that the competing teams would be able to melt the ice in a reasonable amount
of time while meeting the needs of on-site media. After all, media and spectators would lose interest if the feat took a full day to accomplish. Team members practiced on giant
slabs of ice with various instruments that included hand-held heaters, backpack water sprayers and hot water pressure washer sprayers. All tools had been specifically chosen to
defrost the ice quickly to create an eye-catching photo opportunity.
But handy-dandy defrosters aside, the event wouldn't turn out to be a walk in the park - or a day at the beach, in this case.
"Our intent all along was to play the last day of summer, that great Chicago September summer," recalls Wood, but sadly, Mother Nature intervened. "We didn't luck out with
weather, but we used a tent to cover the area so that the participants were dry as much as they could be while they were melting ice the whole time. It really was, at times, a
deluge of rain. We also had to be monitoring the weather because if it had become too inclement, we would have needed to move indoors. Luckily, there wasn't any lightening."
The Beat Goes On
Despite the inclement weather, the communications team couldn't exactly ask for a rain check - after all, they had 30,000 pounds of ice on their hands.
A quickly executed "Plan B" allowed the event to continue on almost as planned. But there was still the issue of entertaining what the team hoped would be a lot of spectators
during the duration of the defrost. Thus, they came up with thematic side events to engage audience members. There was a "mini-melt," in which people took turns melting
oversized ice cubes to win gift cards and Dodge paraphernalia that were inside. Inside the cubes were phrases that captured key points of the campaign. Each was accompanied by a
gift. They included:
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"Dodge Nitro Provides the Key to Summer Fun" - Dodge key chains;
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"Quench Your Summer Thirst Before Summer Melts Away" - Dodge water bottles; and
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"Dodge Helps You Get On Target to Heat Things Up This Fall" - Target gift cards.
Plus, Fear No Ice, the performance ice sculpting company, was on hand to entertain viewers. They created an enormous ice sculpture of the Dodge Ram's head by carving through
huge blocks of ice. The spectacle enhanced the aggregate visuals of the Melt-Off.
The Winners Circle
After three hours of intense ice-melting, the Ryls drove away as winners. Local and national media received photos and B-roll at the conclusion of the event, and the Ryls were
booked the next morning on "Fox News in the Morning"; they also appeared as guests on the radio show, "Drive Chicago."
But the Dodge-driving duo wasn't the only winner - the brand itself benefited from all of the communications team's strategic thinking. The "Dodge Nitro Hot Shots Melt-Off" met
every objective; it:
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Secured coverage on all five of the Chicago network affiliate stations as well as in the city's leading newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times;
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Attracted more than 140 local consumers to register online for an opportunity to compete in the contest, in which two teams were chosen;
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Created an engaging visual that generated more than 12.2 million media impressions based on published circulation/audience numbers; and
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Generated a cost per media impression for the program at less than six cents.
Working on the event was a lot of fun, says McElwee; it also reaped positive sales benefits for Chrysler. "It definitely raised awareness of the vehicle because it was an all
new name plate," she notes. "It also left a huge mark in the Chicago media."
CONTACTS:
Carrie McElwee, [email protected]; Andrea Wood, [email protected]
Severe Storm Warning: Anticipating Snags During Outdoor Events
When staging an alfresco contest on city property, it's best to be covered on all fronts. The following is Chrysler senior manager of marketing communications and marketing PR
Carrie McElwee's advice to all those wishing to implement a similar contest in the future:
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"Be prepared for different scenarios. Things can change. We definitely had a permit allowing us to do this." McElwee says the team obtained the permit from the Parks
Association of Chicago, the organization that owns and runs the city's North Avenue Beach.
- Be prepared for the actual event to play out differently than the dry run. "It did take a little longer for the ice to melt than anticipated," McElwee says. "When we did a
dry run of it, we were a little more strategic. Maybe the contestants had not been as strategic. It took a little longer, but it still worked out fine."
Quick Tips For Contest Events
1. Keep the audience in mind: The competition is clearly centered on the participants, but the onlookers should also be engaged throughout the event. The Melt Off's planners
addressed this issue by planning side events and competitions while the main event was taking place. This attracts the attention of passers-by, and it keeps people around far
longer than if they had to just stand by and watch idly.
2. Think like a photographer: Photography is a key element of an event, as visual images will promote media relations efforts exponentially. Keep in mind details like
lighting, shadows, weather changes, time of day, positioning and duration. Let photographers know early what the estimated length of the event will be; you don't want them to run
out of film before the grand finale.
3. Bring all the amenities of home: If the event will last longer than an hour, make sure the location accommodates basic human necessities:
- Restrooms
- Food
- Water/Refreshments
- Seating
- Covered areas in the event of inclement weather