• by Karl Greenberg , October 5, 2014

Chrysler Group has made it a strategic point to try to put the Dodge division squarely in the muscle-car and performance camp.

The Dodge Brothers have been resurrected to help. John and Horace Dodge, who founded the company about a century ago, appear in their own era in the new campaign, via Portland-based independent Wieden+Kennedy. 

The first spot, breaking Saturday, is an early century ballroom Mise-en-scène where the brothers Dodge are celebrating their new cars and their civic activities during a ball in their honor. A curtain pulls back and you see their own cars as well as the new Challenger. Voiceover says, “As boys, the Dodge brothers made their own bicycles … John went on to hold office, Horace supported the orchestra. They raced yachts. Their lives were big, but their dreams were even bigger.”

The spot ends with a shot of the new Challenger next to two 1915 Dodge Touring cars and closes with “The New 2015 Dodge Challenger” and “Their Spirit Lives On” supers. The campaign also employs an updated version of the original Dodge Brothers logo.

Randy Ortiz, head of Dodge brand advertising, tells Marketing Daily, that bringing the brothers back was the best way to celebrate the brand's centennial.

"Throughout the year as we are exploring our history and roots, and learning what this brand has been, everything just came back to the Dodge Brothers," he says, adding that the ads, while focused on the performance cars are meant to embrace the whole portfolio by telling an innovation story tied to the founders. "They were ahead of their time, so we just used them as as an inspiration. It's putting a stake in ground for Dodge performance and innovation." 

The effort includes digital ads, pre-roll, and social media support slated to run through the anniversary year, possibly longer. The first ad breaks on CBS college football games, and then on Fox, NBC and CBS NFL broadcasts. From there it shifts gears to late night, primetime, sports and cable programs, per the automaker. The spot is on Dodge’s YouTube channel.

The company says initial full-page and spread print ads show the 2015 Dodge Challenger with the headline “They may be gone, but they left us the keys.” The ads will run in enthusiast, lifestyle and general market magazines and newspapers. After the initial salvo, there will be more spots plus print and digital for the 2015 Dodge Charger and 2015 Dodge SRT Hellcats and Viper.