• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 27, 2006

In February, Toyota caused a frisson with the first Super Bowl spot partly in Spanish. Now, competitor Chrysler is using the strategy to launch a TV campaign in two additional languages--Mandarin and Korean--albeit on less high-profile programming.

Airing in leading markets with large multi-ethnic populations--New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco--the campaign features a spot with the same content, but in three different languages. (English is the third.) It also employs talent from three different ethnic groups.

Focusing on the significance of family, the spot targets people of Chinese and Korean descent in the Mandarin and Korean languages, respectively--and will also air in English to target English-speaking individuals with an Indian lineage.

A corresponding print ad will run in the three languages in publications aimed at the three groups.

The TV effort for the 2007 Sebring sedan will run on a collection of broadcast and cable stations in the three markets, ranging from the Chinese KTSF in San Francisco to Korean WMBC in New York to Indian-oriented SET Asia and Z Cinema.

Print outlets include China Daily News, Korean Central Daily Times, and India Abroad.

"Because our consumers are using an ever-expanding array of media, we are making a direct effort to reach out and communicate with them in venues they find most comfortable," says Dave Rooney, a director in the Chrysler marketing and global-communications unit.

Chrysler says the creative attempts to appeal to the role of family in Asian-American communities. In the spot, a new owner of a Sebring touts its entertainment system, which includes the opportunity to display digital photos and show off family photos.