Media Coverage

Ira Kalb, Business Insider

Dodge Durango is using Will Ferrell’s Anchorman character, Ron Burgundy, as pitchman for its all-new 2014 SUV. 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount says, “The partnership marks the first time a movie studio and brand tie-in has used starring talent, in character, to create original long- and short-form content.”

With ads already appearing on TV and online, the campaign will roll out co-branded ad content across multiple TV channels and social media platforms to promote the Dodge Durango and Ferrell’s soon to be released Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

The ads are funny

As one might expect, Will Ferrell is more than funny as Ron Burgundy – the anchorman that can be described as a buffoon with bravado. In one spot, he lectures a horse about being inferior because it has only “one horsepower” compared the Durango, which has “360 horses” under the hood. Because the ad campaign gives viewers humorous snippets of his character in the movie, it is likely to be very effective in selling Anchorman 2. The question is, will it sell the Dodge Durango? In an effort to objectively answer this question, I will do my best to examine the pros and cons of the campaign strategy.

Reasons the campaign could be effective

There are a number of reasons why this campaign might work, three stand out.

1. Cost sharing. Chrysler has the smallest marketing budget of the big 3 US automakers. By sharing the costs of promotion with Paramount (if that is in fact the case), the automaker can save money and realize a bigger “bang for its marketing buck.”
2. Huge viral potential. Because this is a new way to co-brand and promote both a movie and a product, this campaign is already getting a lot of media attention, and it is likely to get much more. The spots are, or will be, appearing on multiple Web sites including those of the Dodge Durango, Funny or Die (Ferrell and writer Adam McKay’s comedy site), Paramount’s Anchorman and Ron Burgundy sites, and all of the social media channels of those involved with the movie and the marketing of the Durango.
3. Comedy gets attention. Infusing commercial spots with comedy from the star of the movie is a great way to get the Dodge Durango brand in the minds of prospective buyers. More viewers are likely to watch the spots because they are funny.

Reasons the campaign could be ineffective or even backfire

While there is a high likelihood the campaign will be effective at promoting the movie, there are a number of reasons why it may not help to sell the Durango. My top three reasons are summarized below.

1. Celebrities typically do not sell. While celebrities are used in roughly one-fifth of all ads, studies show that, more often than not, they are not effective at selling the products they pitch – unless the celebrities are considered expert users of the product (i.e. Michael Jordan and basketball shoes). Ace Metrix tracks every nationally televised TV ad and provides syndicated data on its findings. Its recent study described in Ad Age showed that “fewer than 12% of ads using celebrities exceeded a 10% lift, and 20% of celebrity ads had a negative impact on advertising effectiveness.” The post goes on to say that “The bottom line is that good ads stand on their own, and this study empirically shows that a celebrity has little to no impact on an ad’s effectiveness. In fact, regardless of gender or age, ads without celebrities out-performed ads with them.” David Ogilvy, considered to be the model for the Don Draper character in Mad Men and founder of Ogilvy Mather said in his book Ogilvy on Advertising, “Testimonials from celebrities get high recall scores, but I have stopped using them because readers remember the celebrity and forget the product. What’s more, they assume the celebrity has been bought, which is usually the case. On the other hand, testimonials from experts can be persuasive — like having an ex-burglar testify that he had never been able to crack a Chubb safe.” An Ipsos study reported by Media Post’s Center for Media Research corroborated David Ogilvy’s findings. This study found that celebrity ads had lower ratings for believability than non-celebrity ads. It also found that “The message becomes more powerful when the celebrity endorsement carries ‘expert’ authority or relevance for the brand, such as an athlete for sportswear or equipment, a famous chef for a food product, or a racecar driver for tires or motor oil.”
2. The unique benefits of the Durango are not clear. The funniest ad is the one that compares the Durango’s 360 horsepower with that of a horse. Another one attempts to use the elephant’s trunk strategy by focusing on features of the glove box. The problem is that both spots, while very funny, talk about only features of the product that are not particularly unique to the Durango. In other words, why should anyone buy the Durango over similarly priced SUVs? As reported in the Hollywood Reporter, Ted Kuniskis, Dodge brand CEO claims the “unique” benefits are (1) best in-class power, (2) towing and fuel economy, and (3) class-exclusive technology. That is not clear in the ad campaign so far.
3. Guilt by association. The Ron Burgundy character (that is acting as the pitchman for the Dodge Durango) is a buffoon that does not know much about cars or anything else for that matter. Yet, he is quite forceful and strident in his sales pitches. While he is acting for comedic effect, the risk is that these spots might create the wrong images in the minds of prospective buyers – reminding them of the worst stereotypes of car salesmen and potentially undermining the credibility of the vehicle being sold. Many will understand this is a gag, but unfortunately, the buyer’s brain works in mysterious ways. Using a “spokescharacter” that will do anything for ego and money may not be the best association with the brand even though most of us understand it is a joke.

Will the ad campaign work?

As for the question, “will this campaign sell the Dodge Durango?” It’s anybody’s guess. Even though I respect and admire Will Farrell’s comedic chops (full disclosure: he is a USC grad), I could not, in good conscience, advise any of my clients to invest their promotion dollars in this type of approach. About the only thing that advertisers can count on to work reliably is communicating the unique benefits of the vehicle, and translating those benefits into time and money savings for the buyer. If Ron Burgundy were able to credibly communicate the unique benefits of the Durango with his very funny comedic delivery, perhaps it would work – especially if the viral attention this campaign generates is from bona fide potential buyers rather than the rest of us that will be there to enjoy the comedic ride.

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