Awarded Best In Canada by the Canadian Marketing Association.
Chrysler. Founded by Walter Chrysler in 1925. One of the best known automotive brands in the world.
My Challenge: Re-create the perception of an automotive giant to appeal to a younger market.
1998 – 2001
In the Fall of 1998, I was hired as Creative Director for a division of BBDO in Windsor Ontario with a mandate of changing the perception of Chrysler Canada.
I remember Yim and I had just started dating and I flew to Windsor for my job interview.
A week later I was asked to return and was asked to join the company. They would arrange all moving expenses for us.
I was excited and flew back home and took Yim out for dinner. This was a pivotal moment in our lives because at dinner, I asked her if she would come with me if I said Yes – and she said Yes, she would.
I believe had she said No, my life would have been drastically different than the life we have now.
One weekend, we traveled to Windsor and along the way, I asked Yim to point out the Chrysler cars since I had never owned or driven one. I had always been a VW Guy and she would point out the wing badge saying… ‘There’s one…’ and then ask me which model it was. I had no idea… which in retrospect was quite possibly the best possible way I could have gone into taking on this challenge because I had no pre-conceived notions on Chrysler. I had no idea they were considered a dodgy old guys car and I was successful in bringing my European aesthetics to their 1999, 2000 and 2001 marketing materials.
I remember my first few weeks being there. It took a bit of settling in because here I was treated well. I had a very nice office, with a 9 foot door, shades on my windows, a small couch and two chairs, a great desk and a hot shot Mac with all of the software I could have possibly wanted.
I started to get to know the group and George Chang, who was the Creative Director when I arrived, called me into his office and told me that the first annual meeting for the development of the Chrysler brochures was set for the following week. That I should spend that time reviewing old materials and photo files on hand to see how I felt about what was available and how I may approach the next generation of brochures.
At that meeting, I was informed that my first project was to be the design of the 10 annual Chrysler automotive brochures. The first review of my concept was to be in May and the meeting was to be held in the main boardroom. ALL senior staff will be present.
“We look forward to seeing what you present”, they said, and left the room.
My initial concept for the 2000 Chrysler 300M Brochure
I remember that next meeting like it was yesterday.
I felt my concepts were progressive and a really nice shift for the company and, to my surprise, my concepts were accepted across the board.
Just to put this in perspective, these were massive brochures to develop and produce. Each was at least 24 pages and several were 28, 32 and even 36 pages. Multiple that by 10 brochures and even if the standard size was 28 pages, it meant designing, writing (both the general brochure copy but also the technical specs), photographing and then producing 250 pages in total for all the brochures.
Of course, a big part of these brochures was due to the exceptional copywriting skills of my partner at the time, Matt Daley.
There were hundreds of photographs taken and hundreds other available for different ad agencies and groups within BBDO and Chrysler who also had available photography.
We had an in-house production department so I could go and sit behind one of the production staff and see how the copy was fitting as we went along. WE could pull proofs out at the end of the day and adjust as we went along. I loved it.
There were so manny good people working there – Sylvain Cote, an exceptional technical writer. Julie Simpson, who’s sense of humour and production skill made every piece of work I conceived look great. Bill Rowe, an account guy who had a gruff manner but a great big heart. Jason Chang, who could create anything I asked him to in photoshop. George Chang, the Creative Director who hired me to eventually take his place and passed away far too soon. Jack Daley, the GM of BBDO who was my biggest supporter.
I’ve forgotten the names of more people than I remember now but nearly all my memories of working there are good.
On at least one occasions, I remember Yim calling me at 1 AM after I had left for work that morning at 9 am and asking if I was coming home. I would completely lose myself in the process.
Then there was the printing specs, which was my speciality and to Chrysler’s credit, they allowed me to produce a brochure which was four colour process plus a special gold, which you can see above on the bounding boxes of the photographs, plus a spot matte and spot gloss varnish.
It was the highlight of my creative career.
It was my privilege to have worked with Steve Roper when I was General Manager of BBDO Canada’s dedicated automotive unit.
Mr. Roper was Creative Director at the time, and his experience in multi-channel communications, combined with a visceral appreciation for client relations and consumer ‘triggers’ made him a highly valued member of the team, as we endeavoured to build the first truly integrated, multi-disciplinary communications services consultancy in the Canadian industry. Without his help, we could not have made that happen.
Most importantly, he was eminently successful in delivering results.
In addition to raising our creative standards, he engineered one of the most well recognized new vehicle launch efforts in the history of Canadian automotive marketing… the 2000 Chrysler PT Cruiser.
-Jack Daley. President. General Manager BBDO Canada
The Full Line Brochure
Each year, a brochure which featured the entire Chrysler line-up was released.
I treated each page like it was an advertisement, featuring a large beauty shot with a single bold headline emblazoned across the double page spread with minimal copy on the right.
Throughout the brochures, I added live drawings of the mechanical drawings for pistons, valves, design elements etc which were to be printed in a fifth colour and spot gloss varnished..
I will admit one thing here… I was much too cocky at this stage of my life. This job made me feel like I could do whatever I wanted to do and it made me feel value in my skills. After my first year in Windsor, I felt like I could carry Chrysler in a new direction, nit by myself but by the synergy and camaraderie that existed within the group I was working with. They all made me feel like we could do cool stuff too.
The Photography & Photoshop
I wanted to create a sense of speed on the main photos for the 2001 series of brochures.
Initially, Curt Clayton and I tried to get this by pulling the vehicles and setting up a gyro-controlled camera on a tripod but technology won out and photoshop achieved what I had conceptualized much more effectively.
The Fun Part
When it came around to photographing the cars, Chrysler was exceptionally good about this. We were allowed to do (just about) whatever we wanted to try.
Yim and Lorene Clayton got the chance to go out into the Ontario countryside together and scout locations for us to shoot the cars.
They found a local park with great twisty roads, which they felt was exactly was we needed.
On this particular shot, which we shot late in the fall had a perfect windy corner where we wanted to shoot but there was a park speed limit sign right where we all thought the best location was and we tried to jiggle the pole out so we could put it back but when I hip checked it, it was rotten and broke off at the base.
We ended up having to replace the pole 🙂
The Advertising
Here is an example of how closely I followed my own branding guidelines – using clean bold square sections with minimal text and a large beauty shot as a featured image.
My goals were to shift the existing old style of Chrysler to a much more European style of design and the timing was right as Daimler Benz had become involved a year or so earlier and approved of the design.
The Photography
Apart from being beautifully photographed, our use of progressive printing techniques added a sense of exclusivity to the brand.
The brochures themselves were excellent takeaways for interested parties to leave on their coffee tables as reminders of something which appealed to them.
The 2001 Brochures
In 2001, the basic design concept continued as I used boxes within the pages to create a visually interesting mixture of descriptive text and compelling snippets of images focused on certain features which were unique and beautifully styled.
The Gold Key Program
Although the 2001 line up was photographed in the desert, several of the models were only available in Canada and we photographed those in Windsor at very carefully selected locations and worked very hard to match the angles and lighting which would allow us to integrate the Canadian vehicles into the photo… it turned out seamlessly.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Chrysler Canada and BBDO but after we had bought the property in Belize, my focus had shifted to completing my PADI Open Water Instructor Certification so I could build and operate a Dive Shop in Belize and for that, I required the certification and I wanted to continue working while I completed it so we relocated to Vancouver Island where I did work for several clients including The Port Angeles Department of Tourism in Washington State, before moving down to Belize, as you can read in subsequent posts.
I suppose I could have stayed and found a way to complete the certification in Windsor but one other key reason helped me make this decision.
During negotiations for my annual review, I was told that in 2001, upper management had made a decision to work with Foote, Cone and Belding in the US and allow them to take the creative lead, which meant I was not going to have much creative input any longer. I would be ‘adapting’ the US creative for Canada. I think that information considerably tipped the balance on my decision.
Plus, management had offered me a 3% increase in salary after I had just launched the PT Cruiser and I wasn’t going to accept that and they knew that. I was very vocal with them that if they did not re-negotiate, I was going to consider other options.
After the offer from Copeland came in, I went in to see the Managing Director and gave him my decision and at that point, he offered me a guaranteed ten year contract at $100,000.00, which was a 35% increase in what they were paying me and I went home to talk to Yim. I told her they had offered me a million dollars to stay and she asked me if I wanted to spend the rest of my life selling cars and I said “No”.
Having made the decision, I then went to see management and was very honest with them. I said, “I don’t accept your offer and here’s why. I wanted to be a part of the team, someone who was respected but your offer of a 3% raise, followed by a 35% offer leads me to believe that you had that money in the budget all along. Had you offered me half that during our negotiations, I would not be leaving so this result is on you”.
As I have stated above, this was the best group of people I ever worked with.
I was sorry to leave them and I miss the days we spent together and the work they helped me achieve.
Steve oversaw every element of the pre-launch activities. In the early days of internet marketing (1999), his wild-postings (dedicated ‘funky url’s) and on-street vehicle displays, drove more that 650,000 online requests for information prior to product launch… a resounding success, even in today’s terms… which was further enhanced by dealer events (tail-gate parties) that zeroed in on target, while demonstrating product versatilities.
As one might gather, I have great respect for, and confidence in, Mr. Roper’s craftsmanship and marketing savvy. I have no hesitation in recommending him as a valued addition to any team, in meeting any challenge that requires excellence.
I would be pleased to handle any and all enquiries about Steve. He is, without doubt, a credit to our craft.
-Jack Daley. President. General Manager BBDO Canada
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