Chrysler Revs Fiat for Multi-Screen Campaign with Microsoft

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Chrysler is gearing up to launch a series of ads and a unified campaign built on Microsoft's Polymorphic Ad platform. The automaker will be the first advertiser to pilot Microsoft's new multiscreen ad technology, enabling it to cut back on the development cycle and eventually reach four screens in a single creative framework. Chrysler expects to launch the new pilot campaign for its Fiat brand in the coming weeks.

"What we see from our trends is that consumers are engaging in content across multiple devices," said Neville Manohar, digital media manager at Chrysler. "Given the challenge of reaching these consumers across all these channels, when I execute an ad I want to have the same look and feel across all these devices. This enables us to give them the same rich, creative experiences."

While Manohar said the automaker is aiming to "push the envelope in terms of the richness of the ad," the more immediate benefit Chrysler gains from the Microsoft platform will be a "huge efficiency gain and tremendous time savings."

In today's fragmented media landscape, brands like Chrysler have to design creative ads many times over to meet the requirements and needs of each channel, said Manohar, adding that the strategic advantage of Polymorphic Ads is the flexibility it provides brands. The platform will serve ads across multiple screens, including desktop (MSN), Windows 8 apps, Xbox and mobile.

"Right now marketers spend a disproportionate amount of their resources managing their digital plans. CMOs of leading companies tell us they spend almost half of their time for just 10 percent of their current spend," said Jenn Creegan, GM of display advertising at Microsoft Advertising. Creegan and her team are working on an initiative to cut ad production costs by half over the next three years and the new multi-screen platform is part of that mission, she said.

Microsoft will also provide advertisers with reporting metrics and the option to include third-party tracking tags to prioritize specific ads across their mix of channels.

Manohar said the automaker will continue to revise its strategy and innovate within the platform to reach consumers on the variety of devices.

"We seek to be in the innovative spectrum," said Manohar. "In the digital environment, the change is immense and it is rapid. So companies such as us are always trying to get that solution to get that engaging experience."