Chrysler Group Employee Pricing Plus Advertising & Lee Iacocca

Chrysler Group Employee Pricing Plus Advertising Cuts Through the Clutter with "Hot" Product and "New" Face -- Lee Iacocca




VIDEO CLIP:
Employee Pricing Plus "Desk" commercial with Lee A. Iacocca
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How does the Chrysler Group reach today's discriminating buyer? Simple: hot product; great deals; classic lines; and familiar faces...like former Chrysler CEO, Lee A. Iacocca. Mr. Iacocca and others are featured in the company's new marketing and advertising campaign, Employee Pricing Plus.

"It was important to make sure that our message cut through the clutter facing consumers in the marketplace today," said Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler Group Executive Vice President - Global Sales, Marketing and Service. "At the Chrysler Group, we have built our reputation on being different, in our product design, innovation and execution. We wanted to continue that so we reached out to personalities who embody the true spirit of the Chrysler Group to communicate that to customers -- Lee Iacocca is one of them."

While Iacocca and others are featured alongside the Chrysler Group's award-winning product line in television advertising, the broader campaign (print, radio and Internet) remains focused exclusively on the vehicles and the competitive pricing surrounding them.

Employee Pricing Plus launched Wednesday in USA Today with a three-page print spread titled "First, we beat them at the show. Now, we're taking it to the showroom." Subsequent print advertising is running in the top 50 markets around the U.S.

Television advertising will launch regionally July 9 and nationally July 10 with a 30-second spot called "Desk." This spot features Iacocca and veteran comedic actor Jason Alexander who rekindles Iacocca's famous line, "If you can find a better car, buy it," in a familiar setting. Subsequent spots feature Iacocca and others talking about Chrysler Group vehicles and the new Employee Pricing Plus in a variety of settings.

"Our lineup of products, the youngest in the industry, has earned its place in the market and has been recognized with accolades around the world," said Eberhardt. "We believe award-winning product with global appeal and the power of influential personalities is a winning combination; so we applied this principle to reach today's savvy consumer."

The spots were created by BBDO Detroit, the company's lead agency.

Employee Pricing Plus gives customers in the U.S. the same price available to Chrysler Group employees, plus up to an additional $3,500 cash back on most vehicles. Details of the Canadian program, which is the first to be offered in Canada, are provided in a separate release from DaimlerChrysler Canada. The program will run through August 1, 2005 in both the U.S. and Canada.

Mr. Iacocca is not accepting a fee for his endorsement. Instead, the Chrysler Group has offered to contribute to the Iacocca Foundation's JoinLeeNow campaign. JoinLeeNow was launched last year to fund a clinical trial of a potential cure for Type 1 diabetes. JoinLeeNow will build on 20 years of diabetes philanthropy by the Iacocca Foundation and Iacocca family to help fulfill a promise Mr. Iacocca made to his late wife, Mary, to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. Mary Iacocca died from complications due to Type 1 diabetes in 1983. Over the last 20 years, the Iacocca Foundation has given more than $20 million to diabetes research. For more information and to join the Chrysler Group and Mr. Iacocca in their drive for a cure, go to www.joinleenow.org.