• by Karl Greenberg , October 1, 2007

Suzuki today rolls out the first elements of a national product and brand campaign that promotes new vehicles like SX4, while continuing a car-meets-motorcycle brand strategy begun last year.

The new effort also continues the theme line "Way of Life," and the motorcycle-esque tagline: "It's gonna be a great ride." To support the effort, the company is also doubling its interactive spend.

The integrated campaign, via Brea, Calif.-based Dentsu Next (formerly Colby and Partners), touts the company's XL7 mid-size and its Grand Vitara SUVs--the new five-door SX4 Crossover and SX4 Sport--scheduled to arrive in dealer showrooms in October. Suzuki also will be highlighting the backing of its vehicles with its warranty, which it terms "America's #1 warranty."

The five new 30-second TV spots also introduce a new visual bookend--a Suzuki logo "closing" as if it were a car door.

The effort increases Colby's branding efforts and product-focused advertising, with particular focus on the SX4 crossover and sport sedan, which replace the Aerio compact. The company has launched four new vehicles in the past two years.

One spot for the SX4 vehicles suggests the vehicle is as much fun, off- or on-road, as a motorcycle. It shows a couple who meet on top of a parking garage before their commute. Each drives one of the new SX4s. As the two head off in opposite directions, obviously intent on racing each other, the voiceover asks: "Are our cars as much fun as our bikes?" The guy goes off-road through a construction area, while the woman takes city streets. She beats him to the ferry, and as she smiles with satisfaction, the guy walks up behind her and says, referring to himself, "I don't think he's going to make it." Another ad touts the company's warranty and owners' ability to transfer warranty coverage to the next buyer during the seven-year coverage period. The ad shows a set of keys flying through the air and being snatched by a passenger in a speeding Grand Vitara. V/O: "There's only one car company where America's #1 warranty comes standard on every car and SUV."

"What we have done this year is increased emphasis on a brand focus," says Gene Brown, vice president/marketing. "We had just one brand spot last year, and this year there are two brand-oriented spots, one about our warranty and the other with a connection to motorcycle heritage." Suzuki is also increasing its online spend as much as 100%, per Brown, with more upper funnel media and creative focused on branding. "We are expanding [online] much more than TV," he says.

The company last week launched a new consumer site at Suzuki.com. The motorcycle-heritage brand spot shows a guy parking his Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle at an upscale biker bar. Then Suzuki's four crossover vehicles enter, circle the lot and back into spots like motorcycles. The driver doors open, and each has a kickstand.

Still, says Brown, the presence of bikes is less obvious in this campaign, versus 2006, when the ads were almost as much about Suzuki bikes as cars and told an episodic story about a gang of biker chicks and a pair of guys in a Suzuki XL7 SUV. "We have backed off how explicit motorcycles are in the ads," says Brown, "but we are clearly building on what we began last year."

Brown says the media mix includes buys on Fuel, Bravo, and HD networks like Mojo and Universal HD--which is a change--and targets what the company calls "confident explorers." "We have a slight male skew, but in our research we have found the message appeals to women as well."

The ads will also run on major networks and cable channels, with a focus on active-lifestyle programming: Discovery Channel's "Man vs. Wild," NCAA basketball and Nascar on ESPN, plus regional NFL and college football. Other cable buys include A&E, FSN, National Geographic, NFL Network, Outdoor Channel, Speed and VH1. Print will run in books like Bicycling, Skiing, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic Adventure, Fitness and Surfer, the SX4 cars getting special attention in import-tuner buff books like Super Street, C16 and in Motor Trend. Suzuki's XL7 will get separate advertising in Southern Living, Real Simple and Time.