Frankfurt Show: Tattoos, Models and Strudel at the Dodge Journey Debut

By Pablo Cuevas
Senior Manager, International Marketing

FRANKFURT, Germany — Well, it’s been a whirlwind of activity here in Frankfurt the last couple of days. The Dodge Journey had a very successful global reveal yesterday morning, led by Mike Manley and Thomas Hausch and aided by a couple of “quick change artists” who, in what seemed to be mere blinks of an eye, changed from formal wear to casual clothing to sports outfits, demonstrating by analogy how Journey’s style and features fit in with the challenges and needs of daily life – be they work, play, social or family activities.

It was quite an amazing performance and, dare I say, enthusiastically received by the large crowd which came to the reveal. Access to the Journey was quite difficult immediately following the reveal, with people gathered 2 and 3 rows deep not only around the vehicle, but also inside. Even hours after the reveal, when I walked past the display stand there were a lot of people looking at the vehicle. That’s what we like to see.

As far as the surprise I mentioned in my previous blog, our display area also made quite an impression. Bucking the trend of the usual backdrop imagery of automotive “beauty shots” seen in most auto shows, we decided to focus on the Dodge lifestyle and featured a very large image of a stylish lady with a large tattoo on her back which of course included the Dodge logo. Riding on the tremendous success of the “Ram Rash” viral campaign we used when we introduced the Dodge brand in Europe, the connection was immediately recognized by several people with whom I spoke. The fact that we also had two live models in the display area who actually had these same tattoos on their backs only reinforced our Dodge way of making a statement! Definitely fun to see how people not only understand, but also enjoy what we are all about.

Frankfurt is a huge show, the displays occupying space in nine distinct buildings - many appearing to be comparable in size to Detroit’s Cobo Hall. (Comfortable walking shoes are definitely recommended.) This year, the overriding theme of most of the displays seems to be the environment. Auto manufacturers from all corners of the world are competing for “green” supremacy. Everywhere one looks, vehicles boast about how few liters of fuel they consume per 100 kilometers or how few grams of CO2 they emit into the atmosphere. It feels a bit like a modern déjà vu version of the 1970’s ecology movement. While I was at the Journey’s stand, I heard several favorable comments regarding our 2.0 liter Diesel engine. It seems that even though we are known for our red color, Dodge can be green, too.

Just outside the Dodge display area, we are displaying a competition coupe Viper as well as a model of the flying Dodge vehicle featured in the Fantastic Four movie this past summer. As I was leaving the building this afternoon, an Italian journalist asked us to allow him to get inside the “Fantasticar” so he could be filmed doing a commentary on how Dodge is leading the way to the future. Not a bad endorsement at all for our young brand (at least in European terms)!

Oh yes, I also finally found a restaurant serving original German Apple Strudel! (Surprisingly, it turned out to be tougher than I anticipated.) Having met with both business and culinary success, this has certainly been a wonderful trip. Thanks for listening.