• by Karl Greenberg , January 29, 2010

The Jeep brand is launching new TV spots as part of its sponsorship of the 2010 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., which conclude on Sunday.

At the Games this week Jeep was on hand with its "Tag Shop," a garage-style, two-story hangout and showroom, with product spokespeople, athletes, music and an online sweepstakes.

The new TV spots, which spotlight the 2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon vehicle, airing on ESPN and ESPN2, have an outdoors, action and sport lifestyle feel, highlighting the extreme off-roading prowess of the vehicle and those who drive it.

The two ads are via GlobalHue, Jeep's diversity market agency, which took over as lead shop on the account in early January. One spot has a guy on the peak of a mountain, gazing over the edge of a precipitous drop, with the Rubicon parked in the snow behind him.

"Fourteen thousand feet of pure powder, and I'm still not sure this is high enough. And the only way I can get there ... my Jeep Wrangler with legendary four-wheel-drive capability. It's not just about the ride down ... it's about the journey to the top." The guy intones Jeep's new tag: "I live. I ride. I am. Jeep."

At the Winter X Games gold medalist Gretchen Bleiler signed autographs at the "Tag Shop," where Jeep ran sweepstakes and had signage, billboards, competitor bibs, street teams, shuttle rides, PA announcements and vehicle displays.

In December, Chrysler Group sales increased 36% from November, but Jeep sales were off 31% in 2009 versus the year before. The Wrangler -- the iconic Jeep vehicle -- fared best, with sales off only 3% for the year and 4% for the month, while sales of the other five Jeep crossovers and SUVs were down double digits, ranging from 32% to 54% year over year.

Kim Adams House, head of jeep brand advertising and communications, tells Marketing Daily that the ads will run in rotation extending beyond Winter X. "And the great thing about this is, we have gotten more of an extension of this by giving it dealer groups to run as well," she says, adding that in February and March, Jeep will begin other initiatives. "We are focusing on a couple of things that are experiential."

House says the company has been bringing the "Camp Jeep" experience to auto shows. The exhibit lets show visitors ride in a Jeep over an obstacle course. "Going forward, we really have a number of partnerships that align with the passion of the brand," she says, adding that much of the attention will be on Wrangler, "which is a kind of brand in and of itself and has such a broad reach."

Jeep showed off "Mountain" and "Islander" limited editions of Wrangler and a limited edition of Liberty called "Renegade."