Auto retailer DriveTime is highlighting two 'almost geniuses' to promote the ease of buying a used car by using its online tools and simple processes.
The new brand positioning and creative by San Francisco agency Duncan Channon has fun with the idea that buying a car can make even the smartest people feel stupid.
National TV spots in the auto seller's $50m-plus campaign showcase two fictional brainiacs: marine biologist Dakota Isaacs and mathematician Gunter Zoolof, who claim remarkable academic and scientific achievements. Isaacs discovered medicines developed from bioluminescent squid, but apparently wasn't genius enough to use DriveTime's tools to buy a car. Zoolof suffers a fate of having his giant math equation erased by a janitor while also failing his true genius because he didn't outsmart the notoriously unpleasant car buying process by using DriveTime.
The 'Almost a Genius' campaign is part of a larger strategic pivot for DriveTime to introduce the brand to new customer segments with near prime and prime credit, and its use of humor and straightforward messaging found it as the top vote getter from our readers to be named the US Creative Work of the Week.
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