FCA Launches Star Wars Ad Campaign

With a much-anticipated Star Wars movie on the horizon, FCA has decided to take full advantage launching marketing campaign centered on the release of the new film.

Starting December 3, Fiat Chrysler launched a new TV ad campaign in conjunction with Lucas Films and Disney. This campaign comes on the heels of the FCA TV ad campaign for The Hunger Games – Mockingjay 2.

Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer at Fiat Chrysler, spoke about the new campaign to the Detroit News saying, “Cinema is a perfect way to shape a brand, make it look a little bit different than another. And more importantly, to be relevant.” Francois went onto explain how FCA plans to make use of just how popular Star Wars could be, worldwide. Francois told Detroit News, “I wish that the ‘Star Wars’ characters were driving our cars, but they obviously don’t. No problem. It (Star Wars) is still going to be the most culturally relevant thing in the world in December.”

One of the biggest questions surrounding the campaign is how much will it cost? After all, this is Star Wars we’re talking about. Unfortunately exact figures haven’t been released. However, the figure likely lies between the $112,000 average cost for a: 30 prime time commercial and the $1.55 million it cost for 30 seconds of air during the 2015 NCAA men’s basketball championship game. Either way, with seven commercial spots and plans to release them in North America, Argentina, Brazil, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it will be a multi-million dollar marketing effort for FCA.

Do you think that FCA is marketing in the right direction by associating their vehicles with Star Wars and the last Hunger Games film? Do you feel automaker ads are more effective when they describe the vehicle in real life, or link it to celebrities or major motion pictures?