Imagine a world in which comedians Craig Robinson and Jake Johnson are your neighbors… the only rule is, no one can touch Craig’s new Dodge Dart. In a hilarious departure from the typical car commercial, Dodge worked with the Portland Oregon agency Wieden + Kennedy to create this story of warring neighbors as Jake itches to go for a ride in Craig’s shiny new Dart.

After months of troubled sales of this entry-level class sedan in the Chrysler Corporation’s suite of Dodge brand vehicles, this commercial aimed at millennials  launched in August and was voted AdWeek’s #1 commercial of the first week of August.

A few weeks later, W+K rolled out a series of brief videos that continue the story of Jake trying to get Craig’s attention, from peeking through his garage door windows, to building a birdhouse to hang right above the car, to approaching the car with key in hand with the intention of giving it a friendly first scratch. When these 30 second spots are viewed on Dodge’s “Don’t Touch my Dart” YouTube playlist, an ad pops up on the video screen inviting you to “See what happens when you touch my dart.” The link directs viewers to an interactive micro site, where Craig gets out of the car and warns you not to touch his Dart while he’s in the house making a sandwich. Moving your cursor over the car or actually daring to click on it prompts an amusing series of obstacles and mini games. One of the most clever ones is a dare, “If you touch my Dart, I’m going to make you touch every Dart on the internet,” and the consequence of when you inevitably click on the car is hundreds of popups within the screen advertising the Dart’s features and price with the tagline “There’s a lot to be proud of.” Also, true to Craig Robinson’s unique talents, the ads incorporate a “Don’t Touch my Dart” theme song written and produced by Craig himself.

After playing more than a dozen interactive games, the user is invited to “Tell everyone not to touch my Dart” with buttons to send pre-populated Twitter and Facebook posts as well as an invitation to enter a sweepstakes (only eligible after watching a 30-second Dodge Dart video).

The Don’t Touch my Dart campaign is a wonderful example of integrated marketing done well. In regards to consistency across executions, every new video takes the viewer to the driveway of “Craig’s house” with a consistent feel of his suburban neighborhood and even the same soundtrack of birds chirping in the background. Across different media platforms, the Don’t Touch my Dart print ads are so consistent with the TV spots that the majority look like still shots of scenes from the videos, and all of them feature the same bright red Dart despite the fact that it comes in eight other colors. Check out the mobile site to see for yourself: http://m.dodge.com/en/mobile/donttouchmydart/

Every one of Dodge’s social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, and the official blog called Redline – feature a consistent mix of campaign photo or video ads and many include #DontTouchMyDart. Facebook also incorporates user generated content with albums of photos from fans such as this picture of Scott Mark Perkins’ orange Dart:

Every medium also links to a video or a chance to learn more details about the Dart, my favorite example of which is this custom tab on Dodge’s YouTube channel that features a giant meme of Craig wagging his finger at you and urging you to quit scrolling down before you find his Dart. Of course I played along, and when I finally reached the car at the bottom and clicked on it I was brought here: http://www.dodge.com/en/dart/

Note that this campaign has a crucial feature of integrated marketing, in that every interaction is bringing the consumer closer to making a purchase. It starts with exposure to the story of Craig and Jake’s conflict over the Dart, to information about its best features subtly written into a song, to the pricing or leasing information worked into games on the interactive micro site, to the customized browsing experience of the mobile-friendly landing page or regular dodge.com landing page prompting you to build your ideal Dart, price it, and find a local Dodge/Chrysler dealer. After all, when Craig warns “Don’t touch my Dart” he’s really saying that you should get your own instead.

References

Feldman, L. (2014, August 8). Why Dodge is using comedians to sell cars. Wall Street Journal Speakeasy Blog. Retrieved from: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/08/08/why-dodge-is-using-comedians-to-sell-cars/

Griner, D. (2014, August 5). Ad of the day: The Dodge Dart makes Craig Robinson and Jake Johnson hate each other. AdWeek. Retrieved from: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-dodge-dart-makes-craig-robinson-and-jake-johnson-hate-each-other-159305

Wieden + Kennedy. (2014, August 4). Dodge: DON’T TOUCH MY DART. Portland’s Work. Retrieved from: http://www.wk.com/campaign/dont_touch_my_dart