The New Dodge Sub-Brand: "My Name Is Ram"

"Be fruitful and multiply" seems to be the auto industry's new motto. No sooner did we report that Toyota's Prius may become a sub-brand than this announcement surfaces: Chrysler's Dodge division has spun off their Ram truck as a sub-brand, according to Marketing Daily.

New ads proclaiming "My name is Ram" -- with the Dodge name conspicuously absent -- began running last night. Fred Diaz, president and CEO of the new Ram brand, says:

First we will create a Ram brand identity; second, we will focus on truck customers and emphasize trucks and commercial vehicles.

The Dodge brand itself will be reoriented towards youthfulness and fun, according to Ralph Gilles, Dodge president and CEO. The Ram spinoff is designed to separate the Dodge brand from its long association with trucks. Gilles says 2010 will bring a "complete rebranding and new marketing" for Dodge. The strategy, says Gilles, will center around "packaging based on personality types like 'Uptown Luxury' and 'Cool and Extroverted.' "

The flurry of activity stems from a strategy plan that troubled Chrysler laid out yesterday. The Dodge announcement shows American automakers have gotten the clear message that they must update their marketing tactics. Their "vehicle packaging" approach is not unlike that taken by consumer packaged goods and mail order marketers, who have long identified and marketed to lifestyle segments. In a similar vein, General Motors recently introduced a satisfaction guarantee on its cars -- another borrowed marketing technique.

Sadly, it took American automakers this long to figure out how to apply the basics of modern marketing to their products, even as their sales plummeted. It might very well be too little too late.