Did Chrysler's Super Bowl ad do well for the city of Detroit? On the surface, it seems like it did. But I wonder whether the message of the spot is aligned appropriately with Detroit's rebuilding effort.
I love Detroit. I spent almost 12-years in Metro-Detroit. I represent a minority of people that actually think the city is pretty great. For me, it was the first major city I had lived in. It was the first time I was settled in a city that had professional sports, good theater options, diverse cultures, top-notch music concerts, terrific festivals, etc. Having grown up in Columbus - which has evolved to become quite a phenomenal city in-and-of itself - we just didn't have the kinds of options that bigger cities had. Of-course, that's all changed for Columbus, but during the 70s and 80s, Columbus was a small town trying to find its niche.
While Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" spot grabbed at the emotional strings within me and millions of others, from what I know about Detroit and how it's dealing with today's economic turmoil, I believe the spot was mis-aligned with the message that the city is trying to project. Sure, the filming was great, and it shined a positive light on a city that has been more-often-than-not exposed as a city of blight. But I wonder whether people noticed the lack of consistency between what Chrysler expressed in its spot, and what the goals of the city are.
Detroit doesn't want to be the Motor City. It wants the automobile to be a part of its personality, but it doesn't want to be defined as the Motor City anymore. As the spot begins, the city has been "through hell and back", and that's largely due to its reliance on the automotive industry. Today, Detroit is trying to position itself as something else - the alternative energy capital of America, a creative hotbed, Midwest's cultural center, Hockeytown...the list goes on.
So while Chrysler should be appreciated for its positive depiction of the city, I argue that the company didn't do its homework in aligning it's business goals - to sell cars - with the community's goals - to shed its legacy of being the automotive manufacturing center.
Did Chrysler sit down with the city's economic development staff to understand their vision for the city? Did it meet with the city's chamber of commerce? Did they sit down with the Dan Gilberts and Peter Karmanoses of Detroit to talk about why they felt it was so important to relocate their companies' headquarters in the heart of the city? Did they meet with the ex-automotive suppliers who have now transformed their businesses to make parts for wind turbines instead of cars?
I don't know the answer to this, of-course, but my guess would be "no". Had they done their due diligence, they may have created a spot that was less about manufacturing (check out the shots of workers on the assembly lines) and more about how the the city is striving to be relevant in the 21st Century. The city is looking forward - beyond its automotive legacy. Chrysler would have done well for itself, and the city, had it aligned its message with the goals of the community. Chrysler should certainly position itself as a part of the solution for a town that needs one. It just needs to recognize the goals of the town, and determine how Chrysler fits in with these goals before producing a beautiful commercial.
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6 comments:
Jon: Interesting commentary and I would agree IF the goal of the ad was to promote Detroit. When promoting Chrysler, which I believe is still being made in Detroit, and confronting the American attitude that says that "Detroit doesn't know how to make cars...Chrysler doesn't know how to make cars" I think that the ad was right on the mark. In fact, I think that the ad spoke well for Detroit. Mark
Good point, Mark...certainly Chrysler cares more about selling cars than selling Detroit. And they did shine a positive light on Detroit. But I still believe that they painted Detroit as the automotive, steel, blue collar town that it has traditionally been know to be. And knowing what I know of Detroit, it's a label that the city wishes it could shed - or at least dilute.
I don't think the problem for Chrysler was that they couldn't make cars, I think they just sliced and diced Americans into narrow groups and sold cars to those groups. I think the majority of Americans slipped through their net, and Toyota and others picked those people (who make up a large amount) up. The big 3 really didn't make a car for me(until recently) my wife says the same thing (although she grew up in a rural area). In fact, I think they did a poor job of marketing to women(period). Hopefully that will change. I liked the ad, and I think Detroit gets a bum rap from many non immigrant Americans (myself included), but it seems that many different immigrant communities have started to bet on Detroit and the surrounding areas. I could say a lot more about Detroit, and marketing, but I want. I'll just say I wish Columbus, and Ohio would start to market themselves more.
I'd almost suggest you have it backwards. Maybe the City's economic development strategy should instead realign behind the storyline of the Chrysler ad. So many cities are striving to create a unique personality. Detroit has one. An authentic, gritty, blue collar, tough, "hell and back" one. It's a little silly to try to turn its back on such a powerful legacy and iconic imagery. It's like saying "Okay everyone, you have to stop calling New York the Big Apple. It's annoying the people who are trying to sell oranges."
epavner, interesting take...and I like your New York/Big Apple reference. However, Detroit gets burned over and over again by its reliance on the auto industry and manufacturing in general. Isn't it time they try to highlight some of the other quality elements of the city? Isn't it time they look to define themselves around a less-volatile industry? They have the examples to point to...just point to them already, damn it.
I understand your perspective, Jon, and I have never lived in the Detroit area so I'm probably not qualified to weigh in as much as others. However, I really like the message of 'pride' that the commercial conveys. I do get the fact that Detroit is trying to re-shape it's image and perhaps get away from the 'Motor City' image. However, I don't agree with that entirely. That is their heritage and again, something to take pride in, particularly the way the commercial was done.
I think you can have it both ways, to some degree. Case in point: I grew up in Pittsburgh, a city that for years was known as the Steel City. It was dirty, soot-filled, and probably unhealthy. Starting around 40 yrs ago, they took measures to clean it up, with Renaissance I and then Renaissance II, and eventually became a hub of Fortune 500 companies. What was once strictly a blue-collar city became also a white-collar city. Even today, even though you haven't seen many steel mills around, what's the one thing that they show every time the Steelers are on Monday Night Football? Steel mills, molten steel, etc. - and Pittsburghers STILL take great pride in that....even though 30 yrs ago that was tied to unemployment, recession, etc.
My 2c.
Dan
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