Strategy matters

Fiat seems to belong to the "Throw it onto the wall and see what sticks" school of advertising.

So far none of the spots they've done have anything to do with one another.

Their first effort was this attempt to position their micro car as a cultural icon with the likes of Elvis and rock and roll, and drive-in movies...



Okay.

Their next campaign was an epic exercise of advertising cliches, hiring the oh so irrelevant J. Lo to pitch a car that she would never drive to a place she rarely visits, delivering a message that makes no sense.



Right.

And now we get this. A little bit of sex with your latte for their performance model, the Abarth.



Of the three the last feels closest to right to me. Italian, a little sexy, and a bit more fun. But it shouldn't take millions of dollars of wasted spots, over a year, and what appears to be blind luck to get this right.

A bad launch can hamper a product's success for years, just ask Infinity. There are too many good agencies, too many smart people in this business for Fiat to have botched it this badly. Hopefully, it's not too late, but after a start like this, you never know.