A man is driving through dark city streets, turning around tight corners and dodging other cars before pulling a u-turn, backing into an alley and turning off the car. There’s a twist at the end of Mitsubishi’s latest TV spot, of course, but the Mitsubishi Lancer gets some sexy nighttime chase scenes before the screen darkens and a slogan appears: “Must be the Mitsubishi.”
The automaker’s new slogan centres on the idea that a Mitsubishi can change you. The spot – and its French-language counterpart – are meant to build the company’s overall auto brand, not the Lancer in particular.
In the past, the company tended to do a lot of “one-offs,” said Peter Renz, director of national marketing for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada. “Consistency is what we need now.”
Stephen Jurisic, co-creative director and partner at John St., the agency behind Mitsubishi’s new campaign, describes its direction as “bold, spirited, and youthful… We need to get people thinking about [Mitsubishi] as a brand image, not as a car,” said Jurisic, “because people fall for brands, not for the car.”
Along with their current television ad “Tail,” the new campaign consists of print ads and an online video, all pushed out through social media. (The automotive brand has only been in Canada for 10 years, but has had a strong online presence from the start; the Lancer Evolution Facebook page has over 868,000 “likes.”)
