Critique of the 2012 Superbowl FIAT 500 Campaign. This was my Marketing Fundamentals course final project at IE Business School

1. Seduction
You will never forget the first time you see one

2. What comes to your mind when you think about Italian style?

3. What comes to your mind when you think about American culture?

4. How do you marry these two worlds together?

5. FIAT 500
Cinquecento – Heritage and timeline
 Designed and launched in 1957
 Re-launched in 2007 in Europe
 Launched in USA in 2011

6. FIAT 500
Cinquecento – Features
• Attractive & Sexy retro design
• Italian passion & design flair
• Small city commuter
• Powerful Abarth edition

7. FIAT 500
You will never forget the first
VW Beetle – It’s Back Racing is in our blood
time you see one
• $19,500 – $29,000 • $19,500 – $25,000
• $15,500 – $22,000
• Very famous in USA – It’s • Focus on associating
• Focus on brand
Back racing and speed with car
awareness creation

8. FIAT 500
Cinquecento – Target Customer
• Hip and stylish young man
• Thrill seeker - Out for a fun city car
• Secure about their appearance
• Doesn’t care about judgment
• First time car owner

9. FIAT 500
FIAT and USA
 Poor awareness
 Some know it as “Fix it again, Tony”
 No presence in USA for last 30 years
 Unreliable sport car maker
 Very few dealers

10. FIAT 500
• Launched with the “Simply More”
campaign – Print, TV, Digital & Non
Traditional
• JLo advertisement was a failure
• Only 19,000 units sold in 10 months
• Ambitious target of 50,000 units in first
year
FIAT NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING FAST…

11. WELCOME TO THE SUPER BOWL XLVI

12. CAMPAIGN REVIEW
Medium Utilization Attention Capture Differentiation Positioning
• Super Bowl • Grabs attention • Italian culture • Catering to the
2012 • Intense story • High on style urban male
telling • MINI & Beetle • Fashionable –
• TV’s largest • Attractive also cater to European chic
show model the urban male • Customers
• Very Sensual value style
• 111 Million • High recall • Aggressive
viewers value driving

13. CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVENESS
 111 Million viewers in 2012 Super Bowl
 3358% increase in number of views of
Fiat 500 on Edmunds.com
 68% Sales increase in February 2012
over January 2012 at 3227 cars sold
 Further 15% increase in March 2012
sales at 3712 cars sold
 Jumpstart indicates 87% increase in Fiat
500 online page views in 3 weeks after
super bowl

14. CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVENESS
 $8 Million Investment ($3.5 Million/ 30
Seconds)
 $80,500 per percentage point in share
gained (87%)
 Average car price - $18,500
 Payback 6000 cars
 Jumpstart.com rates Fiat 500 at 2nd best
on ROI

15. LOOKING FORWARD
 Car seen for 20% of commercial
duration only!
 Is the target customer
established?
 Do we see how the brand creates
value for this customer?

16. LOOKING FORWARD
 Focus on customer and value
creation
 Print campaigns leveraging on
design and heritage
 Digital campaigns on FB and
mobile applications.
 Non traditional campaigns
highlighting Italian culture and style
 Strong emerging celebrities to
endorse brand
 Product placement in movies

17. QUESTIONS?