Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. highlighted its increasing focus on the Latino-American market with Super Bowl ads slotted for the Spanish-language telecast of the game on NBC Universo.
“This is a great opportunity for Mitsubishi Motors to speak directly to a consumer base that is important to the brand,” said Mitsubishi Director of Marketing Francine Harsini.
The Cypress-based automaker purchased three 30-second game-time slots at approximately $40,000 each, according to sources, with another that will run if the game goes into overtime. It also bought spots on the pregame and postgame shows.
Mitsubishi’s media budget for the game is a bargain considering Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc. paid nearly $9 million for a one-minute ad during the English-language broadcast on NBC, and Tustin-based Mophie Inc. is in for at least $4.5 million and 30 seconds.
The price of the ads reflect the size of the audiences—the Spanish-language telecast of last year’s big game drew 561,000 viewers on Fox Deportes, compared with 111.5 million for the English-language version on Fox.
Mitsubishi will not have ads on the English-language telecast this year.
Its Spanish-language ads were created by Huntington Beach-based agency Grupo Gallegos. Founder and Chief Executive John Gallegos said the automaker’s efforts demonstrate its “commitment to the Hispanic market in a big way.”
The campaign, which kicked off in October, was built on the insight that Latino-Americans grow up in a large network of friends and family who want to help with every decision, according to Grupo.
The ad encourages Latino consumers to “find their own lane” by selecting their own car from Mitsubishi’s lineup, which currently includes the Outlander, Mirage and Lancer.
Family
A young man shares anecdotes about his family’s input on what is the best car for him—his dad says it has to be a red one, while his cousin is all about European wheels—as colorful 2015 models zoom through various urban and rural settings.
The narrator confirms “my car is my decision” as the ad wraps up.
Latinos “have a large network of family and friends, many of whom are gathering to watch the game,” Grupo Gallegos’ Chief Creative Officer Marty Orzio said in a news release. The ad agency wanted to show “what it’s like to assert one’s own aspirations among all those influencers, to pursue a car that is equally individualistic.”
The Super Bowl spot was an extended version of an ad Grupo Gallegos initially created for the ongoing Spanish-language campaign.
Mitsubishi didn’t overlook general market consumers for this year’s Super Bowl, but it concentrated those efforts on social media.
‘Protect the Pie’
The automaker found that insurance industry studies show there are more pizza-related car accidents on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year. It arranged for a Boston pizza delivery worker to use a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander for this year’s game. The vehicle, which the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named Top Safety Pick, also carried a Mitsubishi film crew to document and tweet about the experience, dubbed “Protect the pie.”
Mitsubishi last advertised during the Super Bowl in 2004, with “Accident Avoidance Test,” created by Mophie’s agency of record, Deutsch LA, and featuring the now-discontinued Mitsubishi Galant GTS. Viewers were directed to SeeWhatHappens.com, where a digital campaign took over.
The automaker sold 77,643 vehicles nationwide last year, a 24.8% increase from 2013.
Its marketing budget, estimated at about $80 million, will likely go “up a bit” this year, Harsini said.
Mitsubishi doesn’t disclose spending for the various segments of its advertising but remains “committed to (the) Latino consumer,” she said.
The automaker also plans to continue to work with Grupo Gallegos in 2015, when new Spanish-speaking ads are expected.
