Dodge Durango ads starring Ron Burgundy look like a hit

DETROIT -- A series of 70 new Dodge Durango spots featuring comedian Will Ferrell as fictional anchorman Ron Burgundy turns traditional automotive advertising on its ear.

The commercials, which debuted Oct. 5, tout the Durango's features -- but the pitchman is a clueless 1970s-era newscaster. Burgundy explores the 2014 Durango's major and minor attributes, such as a glove box "comfortable enough to hold two turkey sandwiches or 70 packs of gum."

In another spot, Burgundy is convinced that the female voice of the Durango's navigation system is a woman trapped behind the dashboard.

So far, the campaign's risky approach is paying off, although it's too early to say if it will significantly boost demand for the vehicle. First, the spots have gone viral, receiving huge viewership on YouTube and elsewhere. And Dodge shares the costs of the spots with the film's producers because the campaign doubles as a promotion for the sequel to the first Burgundy film.

Just five days into the campaign, the first spots had been viewed more than 2.7 million times, according to Visible Measures, which tracks advertising across social media. The numbers put it on par with Automotive News' top viral video for 2013, Volkswagen's "Get Happy."

Reaction online has been positive, but not universally so.

Created jointly by Wieden+Kennedy of Portland, Ore., and Ferrell's FunnyorDie.com team, the commercials also promote the upcoming sequel to 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, called Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Olivier Francois, Chrysler's chief marketing officer, told Advertising Age, a sibling publication of Automotive News, that Ferrell and his Hollywood creative team exercised almost total creative control over the spots.

"So the idea of the campaign is very simple -- hiring a guy who comes from the 1970s. And he's going to look at our advanced technology through the eyes of a guy who comes from the '70s," Francois said. "That was the creative design. That was the big idea."

Dodge brand head Tim Kuniskis, who Francois credited with having the original idea to approach Ferrell, said the spots are giving the whole Dodge brand buzz.

"The general public is responding so positively to the commercials that Dodge has become a headline topic of conversation. And what they've seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg; there's so much more to come," Kuniskis said.

The Burgundy Durango spots cost less than a similar automotive marketing campaign because of the tie-in with Ferrell's upcoming movie. Ferrell wasn't paid for appearing in the spots, Francois told reporters, though Chrysler is paying for the airtime to broadcast them on TV.

The campaign was conceived with an eye toward its potential to go viral. Francois believes that viral marketing should be done as inexpensively as possible. He told Automotive News this year that he will invest many things into making videos for online consumption -- but not money.

"Viral is always experimental. Viral is unpredictable," he said. "Therefore -- and that's my religion -- viral can't cost. I invest time, creativity, energy, networking. I don't invest money."

Online interest in the Durango shot up sixfold in the days following the release of the commercials Oct. 5, said executives with Kontera, which tracks the impact media makes on viewers.

Ammiel Kamon, senior vice president of marketing at Kontera, said that advertising using celebrities usually creates more buzz for the celebrity than for the product. But so far in the Burgundy spots, "the Durango is holding its own very nicely."

Kamon said the large number of Burgundy videos could keep drawing people back repeatedly, further pounding home Chrysler's messaging on the Durango.

"The ongoing rolling thunder definitely has an opportunity to register with folks, particularly if awareness is one of the big objectives," Kamon said. "It's a great strategy. This is one of the most ambitious content marketing strategies that we've ever seen."

After languishing on dealer lots last year, the seven-passenger Durango found its groove in 2013 with sales of 44,650 through the first nine months of this year, up 49 percent over the same period of 2012.

For the 2014 model year, Dodge re-engineered its largest SUV by adding an eight-speed transmission and cylinder deactivation to improve fuel economy. The Durango received updated front and rear styling for 2014, including the addition of the brand's "racetrack" rear lighting treatment.

Inside the cabin, newly updated electronics and infotainment options were also added, while pricing stayed constant compared with the 2012 model.

Dealers welcomed the advertising help for the Durango.

"I think they're great. They're funny," said Mike Wilson, sales manager at Midway Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge-Ram in Burgundy's hometown of San Diego. "I'm still waiting to get my first 2014 Durango, but once we get them, I'm sure we'll get something out of these commercials."