Chrysler'sRam brand is drawing upon America's national parks heritage to target 3 millionoutdoorsmen in the biggest, most important market for new pickups — Texas —with a retro-themed ad campaign that showcases the 2013 Ram.
Thefour ads, which resemble fine-art posters, will appear in a hunting/fishing guidefor outdoor enthusiasts in Texas, a huge recreational market that’s home toprime pickup truck buyers. In the guide, Ram Truck joins other national advertisers,including Nikon, Bass Pro Shops, Geico, Dick's Sporting Goods, Whataburger andWal-mart. Ram is the exclusive automotive sponsor in the guide. Two of the adsare full-page ads; the other two are double-page ads.
Theads were designed by the Anderson Design Group in Nashville, and they follow,in spirit, the color theme and illustration style of posters from the WorksProject Administration. The New Deal agency was created after the GreatDepression, and its Federal Art Project promoted the natural beauty ofAmerica’s parks. This program put starving artists to work and produced some ofthe most iconic posters ever created in the United States.
"Thiswas the perfect opportunity to take a different creative approach,” saidOlivier Francois, Chrysler's chief marketing officer. “The use of vintage type styles,hand-rendered illustrations and muted color palettes creates a nostalgicapproach to advertising art that we hope will resonate with consumers just asthe original posters helped romanticize each national park destination."
It’salmost ironic that Americans need to be reminded of our rich national-parksheritage by a man who once said, “I'm a Frenchman working for an Italiancompany, Fiat, managing an iconic American brand, Chrysler.” Francois is also creditedwith green-lighting the famous “Imported from Detroit” Super Bowl commercialfeaturing Eminem, a TV spot that many credit with being one of the key turningpoints in Chrysler's remarkable turnaround from its 2009 bankruptcy.
Thesenew ads feature renderings of the Rio Grande Valley, Balanced Rock, EnchantedRock and Lighthouse Rock, using them as backdrops for the Ram 1500 Mossy OakEdition Outdoorsman, Ram 2500 Power Wagon, Ram 1500 Lone Star and Ram 1500Laramie Longhorn. Like any good marketing program, the posters highlight Ram attributesthat distinguish the trucks from the competition.
“Ramtrucks are an essential tool of the trade for the avid outdoorsman,” said FredDiaz, Ram’s president and CEO. “The ads make an impactful statement about thebeauty of Texas, my home state, while showcasing features hunters and fishersneed in their trucks, including a powerful Hemi V-8 engine, towing capacity,all-terrain tires and versatility, combined with interior styling and luxury.”
Chryslerspokeswoman Kimberly Shults shed more light on the Ram pickup story with regardto the Texas market. “In calendar year 2011, Texasrepresented 16 percent of all U.S. large-pickup registrations. Texas pickuptruck registrations were nearly three times larger than the next largest state,California. Three of the 10 largest metro market areas for large-pickupregistrations are in Texas: Dallas, Houston and San Antonio,” she said.
“It's also important to note that Ram is celebrating its 10th anniversary of selling the Lone Star model inTexas, a truck designed specifically to appeal to Texans,” Shults continued. “AndRam has continued to draw inspiration from the Texas pickup customer, as seenin the Laramie Longhorn model released in 2011.”
Theprints and postcard sets from the ads are for sale on the Anderson Design Group website. Desktop wallpaperimages are available for download on AutomotiveTraveler.com.
