Fiat Multijet Diesel Engine: "THE MASCHERANO CASE" Direct marketing by Leo Burnett Argentina

Category: Cars & Automotive Services
Advertiser: FIAT
Product/Service: DIESEL MULTIJET ENGINE
Agency: LEO BURNETT ARGENTINA
Date of First Appearance: Jul 27 2009 12:00AM
Entrant Company: LEO BURNETT ARGENTINA, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Entry URL: http://www.mascheranocase.com
Chief Creative Officer: Pablo Capara (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Chief Creative Officer: Seto Olivieri (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Copywriter: Luis Sanchez Zinny (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Art Director: Carmelo Maselli (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Creative Director: Carmelo Maselli (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Creative Director: Luis Sanchez Zinny (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Account Director: Hernan Cuñado (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Agency Producer: Federico Puricelli (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Agency Producer: Francisco Tanto (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Web Designer: Alejandra Bravo (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Digital Creative Director: Max Soria (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Digital Manager: Gaston Filardi (Leo Burnett Argentina)
3D Designer: Federico Gonzalez Bosque (Leo Burnett Argentina)
Director: Mariano Llinas (Argentinacine)
Executive Producer: Nano Tidone (Argentinacine)
Media placement: Campaign - Open TV Channels, eg Station 13, Telefe, America - July 2009

Describe the brief/objective of the direct campaign.
Fiat was returning to the diesel engines market with a piece equipped with the best technology. And the brief was intended for the greatest possible number of people to learn about that. The strategy was not aimed at a very clear-cut target but rather that everybody got interested in the launching of a new engine.

Explain why the creative execution was relevant to the product or service.
We believe this idea is unconventional in many aspects. First of all because people only realised it was an advertisement after watching the 24-minute video telling the research and its results. Secondly, because each media (streets, radio, TV, etc) was made available to start the rumour and raise a fuss. Furthermore, who better than an agile, fast, reliable and tireless football player as the captain of the Argentine national football team to convey his qualities to the new engine.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective with reference to the projected response rates and desired outcome.
First he engine was launched through a traditional campaign and 10 days after it, we started a rumour telling that an independent journalist discovered that there was a hidden plot behind the engine where the football player Javier Mascherano was involved. For this end, we created a journalist and prepared his blog. The video of the investigation was uploaded there, which claimed that the captain of the national Argentine team was the result of an alleged test run by Fiat through which a Multijet had been installed in his body.

Describe the results in as much detail as possible with particular reference to the RESPONSE of the target audience including deliverability statistics, response rates, click throughs, sales cost per response, relationships built and overall return on investment.
The campaign had the same impact as a real gossip and some people even believed the rumor was true. The blog received 4,600,000 visits and almost 100,000 comments. The average time people stayed on the page was five times the Internet media (18 minutes). And on Facebook the journalist added 4,700 friends before the social network deactivated the profile. During the first three weeks Fiat sold what it expected to sell in 3 months.