Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois is so obsessed with getting the automaker’s vehicles in music videos that he has a special arrangement with the nation’s largest record labels. The deals, codified in contracts, give him first dibs on putting an FCA brand in music videos whenever the need arises for a vehicle.
“When there is a car, call me,” Francois said, succinctly describing the deals during an interview on the sidelines of the Association of National Advertisers “Masters of Marketing” conference in Orlando. In exchange for the placements, Fiat Chrysler often chips in to help cover music video production costs.
In the video interview above, Francois dishes on what he looks for when connecting a Fiat Chrysler brand—which includes Jeep, Fiat and Ram—to songs and bands. He also talks about the automaker’s decision last year to sit out the Super Bowl for the first time since 2009. And he gets into the company’s ad agency strategy, which often leads to multiple shops working on the same brand at once.