Upstart automaker Ineos has ambitious marketing plans, Super Bowl a possibility

Ineos Automotive, hungry to formulate brand recognition as an upstart automaker, plans a multipronged marketing campaign, largely centered around popular sporting events, to introduce itself and the Grenadier SUV in what is the company's first major advertising effort. The campaign, called "Built for More," will spotlight the Grenadier, which was announced in 2017 by Jim Ratcliffe, founder of British chemical conglomerate Ineos Group. Output began in 2022 for select markets. Production and deliveries for the U.S. began in the fall of 2023. The SUV is now available in 45 markets globally. Ineos launched the campaign in the U.K. first, on June 17, to be followed by Germany on June 20, said Matt Dunnakey, the automaker's global head of marketing. The campaign will launch June 24 in the U.S., the automaker's largest market. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder called it "a big part of us growing up." "We're not just an auto manufacturer," Calder said. "We're trying to build a brand, and for that, you need to build a brand campaign, and you need people to know about you." Ineos will highlight the ruggedness of the body-on-frame Grenadier through TV and video-streaming commercials, print ads, social media and prominent billboard placements including in New York's Times Square, which will go up in October. Ineos Automotive's creative agency is Wonderhood Studios, of London. Ineos begins the TV spot by addressing viewers directly and asks whether they can see themselves reflected on the screen. Another message appears and asks viewers whether they're becoming one with their couch cushion before sharing that the average person spends nine years of their life on a sofa. As a Grenadier comes into focus with a rainy, off-road backdrop, the words, "But you're not the average person, are you?" appear. The camera then moves around and ultimately under the SUV. The scene transitions to the Grenadier in a city with the "Built for More" tagline. The TV commercial will run initially in a 60-second format and then eventually 30 seconds, Dunnakey said. "We don't hide the fact that a lot of people haven't heard of us," Dunnakey told Automotive News. "That is a challenge. The more people have heard of us, the more people potentially we want to convert, we want to sell more cars. It's as simple as that. It's a commercial reality." With the base price of the Grenadier set at $73,100 and Trialmaster and Fieldmaster trims priced from $80,790, the brand is targeting more affluent households. Both prices include shipping. "We don't want to sell to everybody," said Dunnakey. "We're not a mass-market brand; we're never going to be volume. We're still pretty niche. We want the marketing to look cool, but it is going to probably only talk to a certain type of person." Dunnakey said the commercial was filmed in Chile in April. Ineos started formulating the campaign, with customer insight and research, around a year ago, Dunnakey said, noting that Ratcliffe was involved and gave it the green light. Calder said the campaign and establishing the brand's tone has been her biggest corporate priority in the last six months. Cannes Lions coverage See all of the Grand Prix winners here Top 5 Grand Prix campaigns Big-ticket events Calder declined to specify a price tag for the campaign but said Ineos has so far invested tens of millions of euros in it, with the bulk of the outlay on TV ads during popular sporting events. Ad placements include the UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournament, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Formula One races and PGA golf events. Calder said Ineos would love to advertise during more sports programming such as MLB and NFL games and even the Super Bowl, the preeminent U.S. sporting event. Calder anticipates the campaign will run for the next four months. Ineos will then reassess its plans, which could include another burst of advertising this year, as well as figure out its 2025 marketing, Calder said. Ineos plans advertisements on over 1,000 billboards in the U.S., Calder said, with placements largely corresponding with the brand's U.S. retail footprint of 18 dealerships. Ineos also has two dealerships in Canada. Calder said U.S. dealers have pressed Ineos to invest in marketing and build brand awareness. Greg Clark, Ineos' executive VP for the Americas, hopes the marketing spurs enough demand that Ineos can "deliver more than 10,000 units this year" in the U.S. and Canada. Calder anticipates Ineos will enter five more markets in the second half of 2024, most notably China and Mexico. China, which is the world's biggest market and tilting decidedly toward EVs, will help expand reach but also prove challenging, as the Grenadier is exclusively an internal combustion engine vehicle that will meet intense competition from legacy automakers and rising Chinese brands. Calder spoke at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Frankfurt on June 12 and said she met an attendee who had been in the auto industry for 30 years but hadn't yet heard of Ineos. The interaction, she said, convinced her the brand still has work to do. "There's a whole world out there of people who haven't heard of us yet," Calder said.

Upstart automaker Ineos has ambitious marketing plans, Super Bowl a possibility

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