Selling Accessories with Passion

CATEGORY: Brand & Design

The brief

When Mercedes-Benz bought Chrysler, high-end tuning company BRABUS were presented with an opportunity for two new brands to augment – Chrysler and Jeep. Well used to converting Mercedes cars, BRABUS created a new brand – STARTECH – and a range of exciting accessories which Engage was asked to launch in the UK.

The work

We refused to accept that accessories were normally low budget ‘afterthoughts’ in the dealership and set about creating a suite of compelling materials for STARTECH with the same gusto (but far smaller budget) than was normally reserved for new car launches. We took Chrysler and Jeep models to our favourite photographer (Ramon Wink) and created a film shoot for our ‘star cars.’ Not just the usual close-ups of the alloy wheels, grilles and spoilers. Oh no, we created lifestyle collateral showing off how STARTECH accessories created the most desirable Jeep and Chrysler models available.

The outcome

The results surpassed all expectations, and propelled STARTECH accessories to a must-have for all new models. On our modest budget (well below £100,000) we were able to generate first year sales close to £2 million, with almost every Chrysler 300C sold leaving the showroom with a plethora of additional touches, from full make-over to the odd flourish. Still one of our favourite campaigns.