The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
Executive Summary
‘You bought a Jeep?’ Here’s why.
Jeep had always been a niche brand in Australia, considered an American army vehicle lacking
relevance to most Australians. This resulted in decades of stagnant sales, whilst the rest of the SUV
category experienced record growth1. In 2012 however, the ‘I bought a Jeep’ campaign was
launched and Jeep fortunes changed dramatically.
The campaign was quickly and completely embraced by popular culture, lighting up social media
and entering the Australian vernacular. Most importantly however, the campaign was extremely
effective. Since the start of the campaign, sales have increased 156%, outgrowing the SUV
category by 300% while reducing media expenditure per unit by 45%1, 2. Making it the standout
automotive success story of recent years.
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
Entry Number:
1. Agency
2. Advertiser
3. Entry Title
166
cummins&partners/Maxus
Fiat Chrysler Group LLC
You bought a Jeep? Here’s why.
4. Category for this Entry N. Long Term Effects
5. Author
Adam Ferrier, Ben Epstein, Virginia Pracht
6. Phone
03 9066 1900
7. Email [email protected]
Directions appearing with each question must not to be deleted from the completed case; they serve as a guide for both entrants and judges. Complete
entry form in - Type face: black font; 10pt minimum. All data must include a specific, verifiable source. Refer to the Effie “How to Enter” booklet for
guidelines on properly sourcing your data. Data without a source will result in entry disqualification. Answer every question or indicate “not applicable”
and define your target audience in the entry. Any unanswered question will result in entry disqualification.
8. Total Campaign Expenditure
Include production and value of donated media and non-traditional paid media. Check one.
Under $500K
$5 - 10 million
$500 – $1 million
$10 - 20 million
$1 - 2 million
$20 - 40 million
$2 - 5 million
$40 million and over
9A. What was the strategic communications challenge?
What was going on in your category? Provide information on the category, marketplace, company, competitive environment, target audience
and/or the product /service that created your challenge and your response to it.
HOSTILE MARKET ENVIRONMENT
The Australian automotive market is one of the most competitive markets in the world:
1. Australia has twice as many car brands for sale as the USA: Due to government deregulations in the
1980s the Australian car market became incredibly attractive to importers. There are now over 62 vehicle
brands sold in Australia, a very high number considering our relatively small population. For example,
that’s double the number available in the USA, despite the USA economy being over 10 times the size of
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Australia’s .
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2. Competing Media Spends: With consumer confidence consistently low in 2011 and 2012 , and a
competitive marketing environment, the cost of selling vehicles rose dramatically. The total advertising
spend of the category increased by $31M between October 2011 and September 2012 alone. That is an
2
increase in spend of 5% making it harder for any one advertiser to cut through the clutter .
3. Manufactures pulling out: The consequences of this rising cost of doing business have been dire,
affecting even the biggest players. Recently General Motor’s Australian affiliate, Holden, one of the largest
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and oldest car brands in Australia announced it would stop making cars in Australia by 2017 . This follows
on from Ford announcing similar plans earlier in the year, Mitsubishi shutting down manufacturing in
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2008 and Opel, one of the biggest car manufacturers in Germany, entered the market in August 2012 with
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high expectations only to leave 12 months later .
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
This is a hostile marketing environment for any car retailer.
JEEP SALES FLAT AND NOT PROFITING FROM SUV GROWTH
In this cutthroat, highly competitive Australian car market, Jeep has been fighting to hold ground, let alone
grow market share. Between 1999 and 2009 Jeep sales remained flat averaging 4,600 unit sales per year,
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with little deviation (Figure 1) .
Jeep sales flat between 1999-2009
Unit sales 1999-2009
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Figure 1: Jeep sales flat between 1999-20091.
Interestingly, at the same time, the SUV segment in Australia was growing at an average of over 9% from
1
2000 . However, Jeep was not profiting from this growth. Their cars were perceived as 4WD American
army vehicles – an image not very attractive for the ‘Footy mums’ of Australia. They didn’t want to drive a
US army vehicle; they wanted something that fitted their needs and lifestyle. In fact vehicles from the USA
have never succeeded in Australia, with Hummer trying in vain to crack the SUV market with only 12
5
Hummers registered as sold in November of 2009 .
Therefore in 2011, Jeep embarked on a new strategic journey to achieve growth. They stopped referring to
the American origins of the car, and instead spoke directly to it’s ‘can do’ attitude, and the ‘Don’t Hold
Back’ brand platform was developed. This original campaign, commencing in January 2011, prompted a
moderate change in fortune for the brand. However, in a market driven by discounts and special offers, the
brand platform was only part of the resurrection. A strong and memorable action-orientated campaign
was needed.
9B. What were your objectives? State specific goals.
Your entry is expected to include compelling data including behavioural objectives and results. Only in rare instances are the judges likely to
award an entry that only demonstrates attitudinal changes. Provide a % or # for all goals. If you do not have a specific type of objective (e.g. no
quantifiable objectives), state this in the entry form and explain why and why the objectives you do have are significant and challenging in the
context of your category, etc. You must provide benchmark and context for your goals versus year prior and in context of competitive
landscape and category.
With a strong brand platform in place, Jeep set highly aggressive sales metrics in place for the action-based
component of the campaign:
OBJECTIVE 1: Increase sales from 8,648 units in 2011 to 12,000 units in 2012. This represented an increase
of 39%. Jeep felt such an ambitious percentage lift was attainable due to the strong foundation already laid
by the ‘Don’t Hold Back’ brand campaign.
OBJECTIVE 2: Drive active consideration of Jeep. Active consideration is measured by website inquiries –
which we wanted to increase by 50% in 2012.
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
OBJECTIVE 3: Make Jeep relevant to SUV, sedan and wagon buyers. At that point in time, Jeep was only
relevant to 4WD enthusiasts. This would be measured by social media engagement with the broader
Australian population.
9C. What was your strategy – and how did you get there?
What was your strategy? Was it driven by a consumer insight or channel insight or marketplace / brand opportunity? Explain how it originated and
how the strategy addressed the challenge.
We knew the new brand message and campaign ‘Don’t Hold Back’ resonated with the Australian consumer as
1
vehicle sales increased in 2011 from 5,975 to 8,648 . However, we also knew that something was still holding
us, and the consumer, back.
Buying a Jeep was still considered an extraordinary purchase and certainly not as socially acceptable as buying
any other SUV. We conducted qualitative research with current Jeep owners, and found one of the most
interesting insights was that other people were always ‘incredulous’ when the Jeep owner told them they had
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purchased a Jeep . They would often respond with words to the effect of, ‘You bought a what? We needed to
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increase the social acceptance of purchasing a Jeep, by demonstrating social proof .
We wanted people to feel good about buying a Jeep, we wanted it to be ordinary yet aspirational. Often a
brand’s strength will lie in its weakness as a result, we decided to dramatise these reactions of people hearing
someone had bought a Jeep – and turning the reactions into a positive.
9D. What was your big idea?
What was the idea that drove your effort?
The idea should not be your execution or tagline. State in 25 WORDS OR LESS.
We dramatise the ‘incredulous approval’ people receive when they tell others that they have bought a Jeep.
‘I bought a Jeep.’ ‘You bought a Jeep?’
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
9E. How did you bring the idea to life?
Describe and provide rationale for your communications strategy that brings the idea to life. Explain how your idea addresses your challenge.
Describe the channels selected/why selected? How did your creative and media strategies work together? In not more than three A4 pages show
sufficient creative examples to enable the judges to understand the campaign. These pages can be additional to the seven A4 page written entry.
The idea was bought to life in a range of executions, all with the aim of ‘normalising’ buying a Jeep – that is
putting it in an Australian ‘everyday’ context. Each one enacted a different ‘I bought a Jeep’ situation – from a
schoolyard to a, child’s birthday party, to a golf course. This was to truly reflect Jeep being a mainstream
brand for mainstream Australia. All executions signed-off with inter-changeable Jeep models and their
recommended retail price.
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
MEDIA STRATEGY
Don’t Fragment Spend: As the automotive market in Australia has fragmented, so too has the media channel
mix. The strategy of choice for many of our competitors was a scattergun approach. Of the top 15 auto
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advertisers in market, 12 of them used 7 media channels in their communications . Rather than join the race
of fragmentation, we decided to go against the trend and consolidate our media, narrowly focusing spend
into two paid channels then amplifying these further through owned media.
TV: To be mass, choose mass.
The hero communications vehicle was undoubtedly TV. To amplify our quest to be ordinary we developed
many TV executions of the ‘I bought a Jeep’ idea to be spread across high reaching, high impact shows and
timeslots. Placed in rotation, each one dramatised a different ‘I bought a Jeep’ situation and ended with a
tailored vehicle offer.
Interactive/Online: Only fish where the fish are.
Online placements were made on key automotive sites – carsguide.com.au, carsales.com.au and
goauto.com.au – as well as being re-targeted to those actively searching for their next car purchase.
The ‘I bought a Jeep’ campaign was extended into dealerships, entire dealerships proudly telling all passing
traffic ‘I bought a Jeep’. Dealers also activated through eDMs, brochures, FB and on the jeep.com.au website.
10. How do you know your campaign was successful?
Detail why you consider your effort a success. Refer to your objectives (results must relate directly to your objectives in (9b) – restate them and
provide results) and demonstrate how you met or exceeded those objectives using quantitative and behavioural metrics. Did your effort drive inmarket results? Did it drive awareness and consumer behaviour change? Use charts and data whenever possible. Explain what x% means in your
category. For confidential information proof of performance may be indexed if desired. Demonstrate the correlation between activity and
outcomes.Make sure you address every objective, whether fully achieved or not. Indicate why the results you have are significant in the context of
your category, competition and product / service.
OBJECTIVE 1: Increase sales from 8,648 units in 2011 to 12,000 units in 2012, an increase of 39%.
To date the ‘I bought a Jeep’ campaign had sold an additional 13,522 units, a growth of 156%, translating into
an astonishing revenue increase of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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As shown in Figure 2, ’I bought a Jeep’ delivered the most significant uplift of Jeep in Australia ever . The long
term flat yearly sales pattern was completely and dramatically shattered, moving from approximately 4,600
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sales per year for the previous decade, to 18,014 in 2012 and over 22,000 sales in 2013 ! This sales growth is
1
even more remarkable when you consider that the auto market was only growing at 12.7% .
Sales Impact of the 'I bought a Jeep'
Jeep unit sales 2004-2013
25,000
'I bought a
Jeep'
campaign
Sales more than doubled in 2012
Jeep unit sales & growth 2010-2012
20,000
20,000
18,014
15,000
+108%
15,000
10,000
10,000
5,000
5,000
0
8,648
5,975
0
2010
1
Figure 2: Sales Impact of the ‘I bought a Jeep’ .
2011
2012
1
Figure 3: Sales more than doubled in 2012 .
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
Figure 3 shows the relatively small impact the brand platform campaign (‘Don’t Hold Back’) had, until we built
the retail message on top of it. From 2010 to 2011 sales increased from 5,975 to 8,648, an increase of 45%.
Only once the ‘I bought a Jeep’ idea was executed did Jeep show phenomenal sales growth.
In it’s first year the 2012 sales objective was 3,352,additional units. We achieved 9,366 additional units,
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overdelivering on the target by almost 180% . This exceptional growth was continued in 2013 with an
1
additional 4,000 vehicles sold (Figure 4) and an overall over target growth of 85% in two years .
Continuous growth over 2 years
Jeep unit sales 2012-2013 vs. 2012 target
85%
25,000
4,156
6,014
20,000
15,000
Additional Sales
2013
Additional units
sold 2012
Sales Objective
2012
10,000
12,000
5,000
0
Figure 4: Continuous growth over 2 years1.
OBJECTIVE 2: Drive active consideration. Increase web traffic by at least 50%.
The increased consideration for Jeep due to the campaign was also reflected in the website traffic. Website
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visitors to www.jeep.com.au increased by 400% (Figure 5) between Jan 2011 and Nov 2013 .
Organic visits increase by 258%
Monthly web traffic increased by 400%
Organic website visits 2011-2013
Total monthly visists jeep.com.au. Jan 2011 - Nov
2013
1,200,000
250,000
976,429
258%
1,000,000
+400%
200,000
Nov-13
Jul-13
Sep-13
May-13
Jan-13
Mar-13
Nov-12
Jul-12
Sep-12
May-12
Jan-12
Mar-12
Nov-11
Jul-11
0
Sep-11
200,000
0
May-11
400,000
50,000
Jan-11
600,000
100,000
Mar-11
150,000
Figure 5: Monthly web traffic increased by 400%11.
718,642
800,000
272,876
2011
2012
2013
Figure 6: Organic visits increase by 258%11.
Not only did more people visit jeep.com.au in the case period, more visitors arrived at jeep.com.au from
organic search (Figure 6), meaning more people were actively searching for Jeep than they ever had before. In
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addition to generally higher traffic, ‘I bought a Jeep’ also increased conversion .
OBJECTIVE 3: Brand relevance. Talkability shift from 4WD enthusiasts to general population.
Web traffic didn’t just increase for the brand; people started to search the exact phrase, ‘I bought a Jeep’
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(Figure 7) .
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
'I bought a Jeep' becomes a search term
Google Trends 'bought a Jeep' 2011-2013
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Figure 7: ‘I bought a Jeep’ becomes a search term12.
‘I bought a Jeep’ has quickly entered the Australian vernacular. Figure 8 shows a number of examples across
Twitter (8a), Instagram (8b) and Facebook (8c). In the case period, the phrase ‘I bought a Jeep’ was mentioned
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over 3,600 times in blogs and on Twitter alone .
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15
Over 9,300 spoof/parody videos uploaded onto YouTube , some of them clocking up to over 55,000 views .
Figure 8a: Twitter Examples16.
Figure 8b: Instagram / Google Examples17.
Figure 8c: Facebook Examples18.
And while the campaign has now been running for over two years, there is no sign of the conversation slowing
down. Its cultural relevance and talkability actually continued to grow in 2013, as can be seen in Figure 9. In
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2013 social mentions stayed above 200 every month, in some months even going up to over 600 . Recently,
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
AFL star Buddy Franklyn crashed his girlfriends car – a Jeep. Many of the news headlines were not ‘Buddy in
crash’, they were ‘I crashed a Jeep’. The brand is truly embedded into Australian culture.
'I bought a Jeep' social conversations continue to grow
Social media mentions (excl. FB and instagrag 2011-2013)
5000
4038
4000
+275%
3000
2000
1000
1078
28
0
Jul-Dec 2011
Jan - Dec 2012
Jan - Dec 2013
Figure 9: ‘I bought a Jeep’ social conversations continues to grow13.
i)
Explain, with context, why your results are significant in your category and competitive situation. Did your effort drive
business? How? For confidential information proof of performance may be indexed if desired. Numerical results lacking context
regarding why they are significant will be disregarded. Provide pre and post measures and an understanding of the industry
and category norm. You must show how the individual KPIs achieved tie together and collectively impact the overall success of
the case. Note: Only results that fall between Jan 1, 2012 – Sep 30, 2013 will be evaluated by judges. Dates for all results
presented here should be included to prevent confusion. You may include data before your start date for context purposes, but
do not include results after Sep 30, 2013. This will result in disqualification.
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Over the past three years, both the SUV segment and the total auto segment experienced growth . However,
Jeep significantly outgrew the market and its competitors in the campaign period. As can be seen in Figure 10,
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Jeep outperformed both the total market growth and the category growth by more than 4 times , with the
1
total Australian automotive market growing by 12.7%, and the SUV segment by 36.6% in 2011-2013 .
Jeep outgrowing total Auto and SUV segment by far
Growth in unit sales 2011 vs. 2013
156.4%
36.6%
12.7%
Total Auto
SUV Segment
Figure 10: Jeep outgrowing total Auto and SUV segment by far1.
Jeep
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
11. Did it achieve a positive ROI?
You need to convince the judges that the marketing investment provided a positive financial return – if that was a requirement. Indexing of data is
acceptable. Your entry will not be ineligible if you don’t provide any data, but entries that do provide convincing evidence will gain additional
marks. ROI is defined as profit margin on incremental sales less the campaign costs. (Note that this data can be excluded from the published case
on request.) We recognise that, in some instances, a measurable financial return will not be an objective, but you will need to persuade the judges
why not.
Deleted
12. Convince us that the result was not due to other factors.
You must explain in your entry the effect of any other potentially relevant factors such as product changes, pricing changes, distribution changes,
competitive activity, press coverage, economic conditions, weather etc. Advertising does not often work in isolation, but the judges need to be
convinced that your campaign had a major impact on results.
In the period of this campaign the Jeep brand had no dramatic difference in model upgrades than any other
year. Only one new model, the Compass, was launched in 2012, however this new model only contributed
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16% to all Jeep sales in 2012 .
The lower Australian dollar allowed Jeep to charge a lower price per unit. However, this lower price strategy
was one employed by all imported car manufacturers and main competitors (Figure 12) like Nissan, Mazda
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and Honda did not experience sales growth anywhere near the growth of Jeep .
Jeep outgrows imported vehicle competitors by far.
Sales growth main imported car manufacturers vs Jeep 2011-2013
200%
156%
150%
100%
50%
13%
30%
17%
30%
10%
0%
Nissan
Mercedes-Benz
Mazda
Honda
Audi
Jeep
Figure 12: Jeep outgrows imported vehicle competitors by far1.
The steep increase of Jeep sales clearly coincided with the start of the ‘I bought a Jeep’ campaign. In addition,
a strong rise in website enquiries, the huge impact on social media and the fact that Jeep has become part of
the Australian vernacular indicate that the ‘I bought a Jeep campaign was the major driver of success.
REFERENCES (in order of appearance)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
VFACTS 1991 – 2013
Adex, main media, for calendar year 2013 (Adex is a standard desktop competitive ad spend data tool).
Cut-throat Car Market, Adnews, 30 November 2012
Monthly Consumer Confidence Ratings 1973 – 2013, Roy Morgan Research
GM Premium Brands in limp-home mode. GoAuto.com.au, 8 December 2009
Very vulnerable: Writing long been on the wall for Australia’s car industry. Sydney Morning Herald, December 16, 2013
The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
German niche brand Opel to exit Australia after just 12 months. GoAuto.com.au – 2 August 2013
Agency research. Cummins Ross 2011. Internal market research on Jeep owners. Unpublished.
Cialdini, R. B. (2001). "Harnessing the science of persuasion". Harvard Business Review 79 (9): 72–79
Agency calculation. Based on incremental vehicle sales between Jan 2011 and Dec 2013 vs. 2011 and an average vehicle
price of 45,000
Google Analytics Jeep.com.au
Google Trends “Bought a Jeep” on 20th Dec 2013
Radian6. Social mentions, excluding FB and instagram based on Jul 2011-Dec 2013
YouTube Search “I bought a Jeep spoof” on 20th Dec 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3bNcp97hl4 on 20th Dec 2013
Twitter search ‘boughtaJeep’ 10th March 2014
statagram search ‘boughtajeep’ & Google Image search on 10th April 2014
Facebook on 10th March 2014
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The Australian Effie Awards
General Entry Form 2014
AGENCY AND ADVERTISER AUTHORISATION
SIGNATURE FOR ENTRY BY COMPANY OFFICERS
We certify on behalf of:
____________________ (Agency CEO) and _________________
(Client Company CEO or equivalent)
that the information submitted for the attached campaign is a true and accurate portrayal of the objectives
and results of that campaign.
We also certify that the campaign has not been found in breach of any advertising or marketing codes or
in breach of any law within the Australian jurisdiction.
We acknowledge that the case study of this campaign may be published by The Communications Council
or with the authorisation of The Communications Council, but that we will have the opportunity to remove
such information from that case study that we regard as market sensitive or confidential.
_________________________________
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