For a tiny car, the Fiat 500 is telling a big story. And it says a lot about how to create multiple brand narratives around a new product.
Fiat 500
Since its creative splash during Super Bowl XLVI, Fiat has given us two sequels that speak to different audiences highlighting unique product attributes to each one. The brilliance of the Super Bowl Abarth ad is that it took the age-old “love affair with a car” metaphor and made it real. The woman seductively bending over at the curb wasn’t just any kind of sex symbol; she was an Italian sex symbol. It was the embodiment of lust and bust. “Che cosa guardi?” she screams in Italian. The translation is simple, “What are you looking at?” The answer is just as simple–a brand new sexy-hot Italian sports car.
Fiat has since followed with two more ads that stretch the storytelling for different audiences. The latest incorporates another babe–this one in a car seat. The ad follows two family guys with tickets to the big game and extra baggage strapped into the back seat. But they get caught behind a grey-haired senior citizen in his vintage Chrysler Imperial. (Think Clint Eastwood) But the speed of the Fiat shows this is clearly not Halftime in America–it’s full throttle. The message: drive the kids in the fast lane.
Then there’s the House Arrest ad once again featuring the Abarth, but this time in bad boy black. The car races through the hallways of a mansion stocked with booze and babes. When the car finally screeches to a halt in the ballroom, the driver climbing out is none other than Charlie Sheen. The tag line is “Not all bad boys are alike.” The message: have fun on your terms.
They are three ads with three distinct stories about a new product. It’s sexy. It’s practical. And, it’s fun. Can’t wait to see what else Fiat has up its sleeve.
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