Chrysler dealers aim to cash in on the surprising 200 commercial

Chrysler dealers, psyched by the Super Bowl spot featuring rapper Eminem, are trying to turn the commercial's buzz into sales.

They are buying local ads, blasting e-mails to customers, printing T-shirts and reaching out to customers in other ways to ride the wave.

The commercial, created by Chrysler's new ad agency, Wieden + Kennedy of Portland, Ore., has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube.com. The spot -- an anthem to the tenacious spirit of Detroit and its comeback-minded auto industry -- combines gritty scenes of the city, Eminem and his music and a compelling new tag line for the brand: "Imported from Detroit."

After selling a Chrysler 200, which was featured in the commercial, the day after the Super Bowl, dealer Tom Vann fired off e-mails to 10,000 potential customers.

The next day a woman who had received one of the e-mails bought a 200.

"We never sold Sebrings," says Vann, who owns Team Hillsdale Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Hillsdale, Mich. "Now -- boom, boom -- we sold two 200s this week." The 200 replaced the Sebring.

Following is a roundup of how dealers reacted to the commercial -- and how they are trying to turn the spot into sales.

'Our spot'

Marion Luna Brem, owner of Love Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Alice, Texas, is talking with her ad agency about concepts to capitalize on the ad. Among the ideas under consideration: a map featuring the "Imported from Detroit" slogan and showing a direct line between Detroit and Alice.

She says the commercial struck a chord with people who work for the petrochemical companies around nearby Corpus Christi.

"They work on the rigs," she said. "They work at the refineries. They endanger their lives. The people were saying there's finally a tribute to the working class. These are all customers who buy Ram trucks. It was right on with my customer base."

The ad was right on with her employees, too.

"My staff -- everyone from the parts counter guy to the technicians to the porters -- they were all saying: 'Wow! Did you see our spot?' It was 'our.' We're not victims anymore."

Halo effect?

Ralph Martinez, owner of two dealerships in the Portland, Ore., area, knows the work of Wieden+Kennedy, the ad agency well-known for its work with Nike.

The commercial "just kind of touched your soul," he said. "I wish I could do that on a local level, attach to people's hearts. It's going to have a trickle effect through the whole showroom, more of a halo effect than a particular 200 punch."

First a skeptic, then a believer

When William Kelly, owner of Kelly Cars (Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Dodge) in Moon Township, Pa., first saw the commercial, he thought Chrysler had blown a major opportunity to tell a national audience about the virtues of the 200.

But he changed his mind after seeing how much buzz the commercial created. Now he is sending more direct mailings this month and talking to his ad agency about further promotions.

"Contrary to my initial opinion, they've struck a chord here. They're trying to reach a younger segment of the audience. "It was a bold stroke. It was really gutsy."

Ordering more cars

David Kelleher, owner of David Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep in Glen Mills, Pa., saw the commercial at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in San Francisco. The next morning he texted his sales manager and told him to order 12 additional 200s, on top of the eight he had at his dealership and the 20 that are on the way.

Said Kelleher: "When the market comes this spring, I don't want to be the guy who runs out of cars."

Kelleher was watching his lead-generation software and saw an electronic exchange between two of his customers. One of his customers told the other, "There's the car you have to buy."

Kelleher said: "When a customer says, 'That is the car Eminem was driving. That is a nice car,' that's amazing. Nobody said the Sebring was a nice car."

Kelleher is having T-shirts printed that say "Imported from Detroit. Delivered in Glen Mills."

Taking on the imports

Tyler Schultz, dealer principal at Schultz Motors in Milan, Mich., said the use of the "Imported from Detroit" tag line was the touch that made the ad work.

"I have for years said our biggest competition is not the domestics; it's the imports. I think they rang the bell by going head to head. It's not a direct attack on the actual foreign nameplates but an acknowledgement of the psyche that the American car buyer has.

"I think people want to buy American. I give them credit for using that term, 'import.' If they hadn't said at the end of that commercial, 'Imported from Detroit,' the message wouldn't have gotten across at all. That was half the ad."