Fiat 500 USA Campaign Analysis: Immigrants
Advertisement Analysis:
Official Fiat 500 USA Commercial “Immigrants”
Advertisements in the form of TV or online video commercials have become an important marketing tool for companies aiming to target large audiences in the last half-century. Today, TV and online video commercials are considered to be amongst the easiest and most effectual ways to approach large audiences at the same time to advertise companies, services or new products. In this report, the Official Fiat 500 USA Commercial “Immigrants” will be reviewed from a marketing point of view. The commercial is vocalized by Adriana featuring Pitbull. This is one of the many commercials that Fiat has put faith in for thriving in its new venture of entering the US car market through effective publicity.
Fiat, officially Fiat Societa per Azioni (Fiat S.p.A.) is an Italian automobile manufacturer based in Turin. It is the oldest Italian automotive manufacturer, founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat, the biggest automotive manufacturer in Italy is undoubtedly one the biggest car makers in Europe. In 2011, Fiat was the fourth largest European automaker by production behind Volkswagen Group, PSA, and Renault and the eleventh largest automaker by production in the world. [1] It has a wide operation network, it is acclaimed for fostering the automotive industry …show more content…
in many countries over the world particularly in Eastern Europe namely in Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria in South America including Brazil and Argentina, and in Russia. Fiat cars are sold in all the continents of the world.
Fiat in the history has developed a number of car that won the European award, “The Car of The Year”, among these designs are 1970 Fiat 128, 1972 Fiat 127, 1984 Fiat Uno, 1989 Fiat Tipo, 1995 Fiat Punto, and the late 2008 Fiat 500. It is also renowned for being the mother brand of some legendary cars that are now considered to be amongst world classics such as Fiat 500. However, over the last two decades Fiat’s glittering brand image has been fading. Mainly due to reliability issues, poor production qualities and the run-of-the-mill designs that have neither been particularly riveting to drive nor had trendy outlooks. The public perception of Fiat as a brand was meagre, Fiat cars were noted by the majority of the public as low-budget cars that were sufficient enough to for the daily run. The public mind-set towards Fiat cars has been that no neighbours were going to woe if pulled up a Fiat to your door nor would it catch any attention driving through busy high-streets.
Most Fiat customers were either students or people with a limited budget who were looking for a small car easy to use within the city. Fiat’s target customers have been those who use their cars primary within the city, thereby prioritize ease of parking and compact sizes besides the low prices. Small cars have accounted for over 80 percent of Fiat’s total sales over the last decade. This gave the chance to Fiat to pioneer in the producing small city cars specially tailored to meet the needs of urban use. They have modified their cars to be utterly compact and equipped them with numerous technologies that aid drivers whilst driving through narrow roads or parking into tight spaces such as extra light feeling power steering systems.
Nevertheless, Fiat has been on the rise since Sergio Marchionne took over as the CEO of the FIAT Group in 2004. He made radical changes in within the organisational structure of the company, and turned Fiat from a deep in debt firm to a firm with a tone focussed in profit and on markets. Since then, Fiat has been releasing innovative models such as the Grande Punto or Fiat Bravo that quickly became popular in Europe, appealing to larger audiences, particularly catching the attention of young people thereby bourgeoning its profits and recuperating its somewhat tainted brand image.
However, Fiat 500 was the model that cemented Fiat’s spin-off. It was a revitalisation of the older version which still is a renowned classic in Europe. Unlike most previous Fiat models from the near future, it has stylish looks both exterior and interior that allude to the original 500. This helps the 500 to appeal to customers of all ages and genders. Yet, it is also equipped with cutting-edge multimedia and driving aid technologies. Although it has a higher price tag compared to the other Fiat models in the same class and its rivals, it has achieved to attain surprisingly high sales figures (so far 26,868 in 2013 only in the US). [2] However, it should be reminded that one of the cornerstones of this “chic” car’s merit in Europe certainly is the successful marketing strategies that went along with it. Once again Fiat’s marketing campaign heavily relied on TV advertisements when the car was first released. In these commercials, analogies to the old model which is admired by the general public were given quite extensive place to. Furthermore, most of the TV commercials were designed to demonstrate the how the 500 blends elegance into ease of urban use, certain fashion elements were also alluded to as well to target women in particular.
Following its success in Europe, Fiat decided to extend the sales of 500 to the US car market as well. However, this is a challenging task since Fiat is entering the US car market for the first time. Hence the key to the success lies under effective publicity through pursuing the correct marketing strategies. 500 is the only model that is currently being sold in the US, yet Fiat is making use of various commercials through various websites and on TV to raise publicity and create for itself a sustainable customer portfolio for the future. Amongst these, “Immigrant” is selected to be analysed from a marketing point of view for the purposes of this report. In this advertisement, different versions of the 500 drive into the sea from various parts of Italy after a short cruise on authentic Italian roads and then they are spotted at different parts of America by people who belong to different social groups. A link to the commercial from Fiat USA’s Official YouTube Channel could be found in the additional bibliography.
First of all, it could be stated that it stresses fun design of the car for which it is the commended in Europe. This is done by means of referral to the so called “Mediterranean Culture”. In the eyes of most Americans, the Italian culture and life style are rather relaxed and enjoyable. Therefore, an analogy to this is both an entertaining and effective way of placing the fun image of the design to the audience’s mind. It is a common belief that entertaining or amusing commercial have higher chances of being remembered. Hence it could clearly be stated that this commercial is intended to have a jovial tone from its screenplay to the background music.
Emphasising that 500 is an Italian made car also helps raise the publicity of Fiat as a brand too, which also is a corollary of this advertisement. Currently, there are very few European brands competing in the US market. Unsurprisingly, the market is dominated by US and Japanese car makes namely, Toyota, GM and Ford. Therefore, Fiat as a new entrant to the US car market is in the pursuit of differentiation by means of stressing the fact that it is the only Italian brand available in the US. This practice can clearly be deciphered from “Immigrant”.
Although 500 can be considered to be a niche product comparing the build quality, design and price tag to the rest of the Fiat model range and its rivals in Europe, this is does not apply for Fiat USA. 500 is the only Fiat model that is currently being sold in the US. What Fiat did differently when entering the US market was to avoid missing out on possible buyers through over articulated market segmentation. For example, in Europe, Fiat offers similar cars with at lower prices such as the Fiat Panda which belongs to the same class as 500 or Punto EVO, formerly the Grande Punto, which is one class higher than 500. In all the commercials of the 500 in Europe, there was always a correlation between the 500 and certain elements of overwhelming wealth and luxurious life style either through the location of the setting or the casts, or through elements of fashion, and etc. These allusions to such commodities that most possible buyers cannot afford conceivably made buying a 500 to be perceived too high a stake for those who need to keep an eye on their budget.
This, as is clearly seen from the commercial itself is not the case for Fiat in the US market. Fiat did not limit itself to those possible buyers with higher budget allowances but is trying to appeal to the general public. In the commercial this is addressed to when all the different versions end up in a diverse range of destinations in the US and are spotted by members of public who belong to different backgrounds.
Additionally, different 500 versions are made use in the commercial of at the same time so all the different features of the model range can be performed and introduced in a single commercial.
This also hints, the wide personalisation options Fiat offers over the 500 series. Yet, Fiat disseminates this advertisement to the audience via various mass media channels simultaneously such as the TV and the internet through a number of different websites including the Official Fiat USA website, YouTube and many more. This helps reach out to greater masses rather than missing out on possible customers by limiting itself to a single mean of
communication. In conclusion, “Immigrant” reflects the marketing policy that Fiat is pursuing in the USA quite clearly. Certain elements of Fiat’s marketing strategy can be inferred from this advertisement such as, avoiding too small segmentation for expanding the target market and differentiation efforts.
References
1. Wikipedia Contributors. Fiat. Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 01/12/2013, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat
2. Kisiel R. Chrysler Group LLC Reports August 2013 U.S. Sales Increased 12 Percent; Best August Sales in Six Years. Chrysler.com. Retrieved: 02/12/2013, from: http://media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=E14D8C8C40121E97C091F4EEA31F7543?&id=14816&mid=23
Additional Bibliography
1. Link to the commercial on the Official Fiat USA YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUrYf1z9Bg
Official Fiat 500 USA Commercial “Immigrants”
Advertisements in the form of TV or online video commercials have become an important marketing tool for companies aiming to target large audiences in the last half-century. Today, TV and online video commercials are considered to be amongst the easiest and most effectual ways to approach large audiences at the same time to advertise companies, services or new products. In this report, the Official Fiat 500 USA Commercial “Immigrants” will be reviewed from a marketing point of view. The commercial is vocalized by Adriana featuring Pitbull. This is one of the many commercials that Fiat has put faith in for thriving in its new venture of entering the US car market through effective publicity.
Fiat, officially Fiat Societa per Azioni (Fiat S.p.A.) is an Italian automobile manufacturer based in Turin. It is the oldest Italian automotive manufacturer, founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat, the biggest automotive manufacturer in Italy is undoubtedly one the biggest car makers in Europe. In 2011, Fiat was the fourth largest European automaker by production behind Volkswagen Group, PSA, and Renault and the eleventh largest automaker by production in the world. [1] It has a wide operation network, it is acclaimed for fostering the automotive industry …show more content…
in many countries over the world particularly in Eastern Europe namely in Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria in South America including Brazil and Argentina, and in Russia. Fiat cars are sold in all the continents of the world.
Fiat in the history has developed a number of car that won the European award, “The Car of The Year”, among these designs are 1970 Fiat 128, 1972 Fiat 127, 1984 Fiat Uno, 1989 Fiat Tipo, 1995 Fiat Punto, and the late 2008 Fiat 500. It is also renowned for being the mother brand of some legendary cars that are now considered to be amongst world classics such as Fiat 500. However, over the last two decades Fiat’s glittering brand image has been fading. Mainly due to reliability issues, poor production qualities and the run-of-the-mill designs that have neither been particularly riveting to drive nor had trendy outlooks. The public perception of Fiat as a brand was meagre, Fiat cars were noted by the majority of the public as low-budget cars that were sufficient enough to for the daily run. The public mind-set towards Fiat cars has been that no neighbours were going to woe if pulled up a Fiat to your door nor would it catch any attention driving through busy high-streets.
Most Fiat customers were either students or people with a limited budget who were looking for a small car easy to use within the city. Fiat’s target customers have been those who use their cars primary within the city, thereby prioritize ease of parking and compact sizes besides the low prices. Small cars have accounted for over 80 percent of Fiat’s total sales over the last decade. This gave the chance to Fiat to pioneer in the producing small city cars specially tailored to meet the needs of urban use. They have modified their cars to be utterly compact and equipped them with numerous technologies that aid drivers whilst driving through narrow roads or parking into tight spaces such as extra light feeling power steering systems.
Nevertheless, Fiat has been on the rise since Sergio Marchionne took over as the CEO of the FIAT Group in 2004. He made radical changes in within the organisational structure of the company, and turned Fiat from a deep in debt firm to a firm with a tone focussed in profit and on markets. Since then, Fiat has been releasing innovative models such as the Grande Punto or Fiat Bravo that quickly became popular in Europe, appealing to larger audiences, particularly catching the attention of young people thereby bourgeoning its profits and recuperating its somewhat tainted brand image.
However, Fiat 500 was the model that cemented Fiat’s spin-off. It was a revitalisation of the older version which still is a renowned classic in Europe. Unlike most previous Fiat models from the near future, it has stylish looks both exterior and interior that allude to the original 500. This helps the 500 to appeal to customers of all ages and genders. Yet, it is also equipped with cutting-edge multimedia and driving aid technologies. Although it has a higher price tag compared to the other Fiat models in the same class and its rivals, it has achieved to attain surprisingly high sales figures (so far 26,868 in 2013 only in the US). [2] However, it should be reminded that one of the cornerstones of this “chic” car’s merit in Europe certainly is the successful marketing strategies that went along with it. Once again Fiat’s marketing campaign heavily relied on TV advertisements when the car was first released. In these commercials, analogies to the old model which is admired by the general public were given quite extensive place to. Furthermore, most of the TV commercials were designed to demonstrate the how the 500 blends elegance into ease of urban use, certain fashion elements were also alluded to as well to target women in particular.
Following its success in Europe, Fiat decided to extend the sales of 500 to the US car market as well. However, this is a challenging task since Fiat is entering the US car market for the first time. Hence the key to the success lies under effective publicity through pursuing the correct marketing strategies. 500 is the only model that is currently being sold in the US, yet Fiat is making use of various commercials through various websites and on TV to raise publicity and create for itself a sustainable customer portfolio for the future. Amongst these, “Immigrant” is selected to be analysed from a marketing point of view for the purposes of this report. In this advertisement, different versions of the 500 drive into the sea from various parts of Italy after a short cruise on authentic Italian roads and then they are spotted at different parts of America by people who belong to different social groups. A link to the commercial from Fiat USA’s Official YouTube Channel could be found in the additional bibliography.
First of all, it could be stated that it stresses fun design of the car for which it is the commended in Europe. This is done by means of referral to the so called “Mediterranean Culture”. In the eyes of most Americans, the Italian culture and life style are rather relaxed and enjoyable. Therefore, an analogy to this is both an entertaining and effective way of placing the fun image of the design to the audience’s mind. It is a common belief that entertaining or amusing commercial have higher chances of being remembered. Hence it could clearly be stated that this commercial is intended to have a jovial tone from its screenplay to the background music.
Emphasising that 500 is an Italian made car also helps raise the publicity of Fiat as a brand too, which also is a corollary of this advertisement. Currently, there are very few European brands competing in the US market. Unsurprisingly, the market is dominated by US and Japanese car makes namely, Toyota, GM and Ford. Therefore, Fiat as a new entrant to the US car market is in the pursuit of differentiation by means of stressing the fact that it is the only Italian brand available in the US. This practice can clearly be deciphered from “Immigrant”.
Although 500 can be considered to be a niche product comparing the build quality, design and price tag to the rest of the Fiat model range and its rivals in Europe, this is does not apply for Fiat USA. 500 is the only Fiat model that is currently being sold in the US. What Fiat did differently when entering the US market was to avoid missing out on possible buyers through over articulated market segmentation. For example, in Europe, Fiat offers similar cars with at lower prices such as the Fiat Panda which belongs to the same class as 500 or Punto EVO, formerly the Grande Punto, which is one class higher than 500. In all the commercials of the 500 in Europe, there was always a correlation between the 500 and certain elements of overwhelming wealth and luxurious life style either through the location of the setting or the casts, or through elements of fashion, and etc. These allusions to such commodities that most possible buyers cannot afford conceivably made buying a 500 to be perceived too high a stake for those who need to keep an eye on their budget.
This, as is clearly seen from the commercial itself is not the case for Fiat in the US market. Fiat did not limit itself to those possible buyers with higher budget allowances but is trying to appeal to the general public. In the commercial this is addressed to when all the different versions end up in a diverse range of destinations in the US and are spotted by members of public who belong to different backgrounds.
Additionally, different 500 versions are made use in the commercial of at the same time so all the different features of the model range can be performed and introduced in a single commercial.
This also hints, the wide personalisation options Fiat offers over the 500 series. Yet, Fiat disseminates this advertisement to the audience via various mass media channels simultaneously such as the TV and the internet through a number of different websites including the Official Fiat USA website, YouTube and many more. This helps reach out to greater masses rather than missing out on possible customers by limiting itself to a single mean of
communication. In conclusion, “Immigrant” reflects the marketing policy that Fiat is pursuing in the USA quite clearly. Certain elements of Fiat’s marketing strategy can be inferred from this advertisement such as, avoiding too small segmentation for expanding the target market and differentiation efforts.
References
1. Wikipedia Contributors. Fiat. Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 01/12/2013, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat
2. Kisiel R. Chrysler Group LLC Reports August 2013 U.S. Sales Increased 12 Percent; Best August Sales in Six Years. Chrysler.com. Retrieved: 02/12/2013, from: http://media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=E14D8C8C40121E97C091F4EEA31F7543?&id=14816&mid=23
Additional Bibliography
1. Link to the commercial on the Official Fiat USA YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUrYf1z9Bg