• April 13, 2005

In a bid to more closely direct its interactive advertising with DirecTV, Chrysler has agreed to be the first client to join the satellite company's Advertising Development Partner Program, which will launch next September.

The deal was brokered by Omnicom's PHD Detroit, the media buying and planning agency for Chrysler, a Chrysler spokeswoman said.

The program is designed to connect marketers with consumers who are in turn connected to DirecTV's interactive basic set-top receivers, digital video recorders, and the DIRECTV Media Center. The program also provides research and assorted guidance to marketers who join it. As part of the agreement, Chrysler can customize its media plan with a wide variety of new media tactics. The tactics are provided by Twentieth Television, which oversees all advertising sales on behalf of DirecTV.

As part of the service, DirecTV and Twentieth will hold focus group studies on selected Chrysler Group campaigns, in order to assess whether their tactics will work or not, a spokesman for Twentieth said. -- D.K.