Someone forgot to tell the Chrysler Corp. about the decline of brand names.
Myriad marketers are scrambling to cope with consumers' abrupt abandonment of name brands for cheaper alternatives. Yet Chrysler is redoubling efforts to bolster the brand images of its five lines of cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles."For the '90s, we're concentrating almost solely on building our brands," John B. Damoose, the No. 3 automaker's vice president of marketing, said at a news conference, outlining advertising plans for the 1994 model year.
"With 600 nameplates and all the clutter, consumers need something to help sort out their complex purchase decisions," he added. "I would go so far as to say that if we haven't built identifiable brands, we won't be viable."
In a conference room at the midtown Manhattan office of BBDO Worldwide, which handles Chrysler's Dodge account, Damoose detailed how he intended to build better brands with the $425 million that Chrysler spends annually on national advertising, as estimated by Adweek. He sketched what he hoped would become the five faces of Chrysler, which, coincidentally, has a five-sided star as its corporate symbol:
-Chrysler, "carving out a contemporary, new-values luxury brand image."
-Dodge, "a mainstream brand, beginning to be a competitive alternative to Ford and some of the imports."
-Eagle, "developing over time as a high-end, import-fighting niche product."
-Jeep, "the gold standard in sport-utility vehicles."
-Plymouth, "a fun-to-drive, baby-buster step-up brand in the Chrysler showroom."