Jeep's Jeff Bell jumps in with both feet

Four years ago, DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group was like most major marketers and brands. Its presence in the game space was zero. Broadcast, print, outdoor, and radio were still king when it came to targeting its messaging and advertising dollars. Today, the auto maker is singing to a different tune. With vice president for advertising and marketing Jeff Bell leading the charge, the car maker who counts Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge among its major brands is reportedly spending 10 percent of its overall marketing budget on advertising in video games.

The payoff? So far, so good. Bell says that out of 3.5 million people who registered and played a small interactive game built around the DaimlerChrysler brand, more than 7,000 have actually purchased a car. "We believe all of our efforts should be directed toward interactive," Bell said, reacting in part to these impressive figures.

But Bell isn't keeping his little gold mine a secret. With a jump on the business model, Bell is evangelizing the benefits of advertising in games--the higher the quality of integration, the more receptive and intelligent the game industry will become.

"We know we're not going to be able to do that alone, so we would like to see the Proctor and Gambles or the Reeboks or the Ray Bans or even the Toyotas get more involved."

Read the article: www.gamespot.com