Hasta La Creative!

Despite predictions from advertising experts that deploying Ron Burgundy to help sell Dodge Durangos wouldn’t work, we now have compelling evidence (a healthy increase in sales) to the contrary. Upon the launch of the campaign, one of those skeptics, a marketing professor, wrote, “I could not, in good conscience, advise any of my clients to invest their promotion dollars in this type of approach. About the only thing that advertisers can count on to work reliably is communicating the unique benefits of the vehicle, and translating those benefits into time and money savings for the buyer.” Ouch.

It looks like the good professor is wrong, and an idiot like Ron Burgundy is, well, “right on.” Here are eight lessons to learn from this campaign (with some clips from it for good measure).

1. Stop trying to convince your audience that you’re better than the other guy. Instead, be more culturally relevant than your competitors. A brand isn’t so much competing for attention within its category; it’s competing for attention, period. As much as we like to think that people make rational, well-reasoned decisions, especially with durable goods, they’re actually more apt to make decisions non-rationally. Cultural relevance makes your brand current and gives it life. Remember, in most cases, it’s more about how they feel about the brand and how it reflects on them, not what it does for them.

Continue reading at AdAge.com