Alfa Romeo is getting ready to launch a TV advert blitz for the Tonale compact crossover, the Italian model’s first plug-in hybrid automobile.

The Tonale has been making the rounds in an outreach tour highlighted by a show at a Formulation One race in Montreal, varied auto reveals and an April 2022 look on “Dwell with Kelly and Ryan.”

Now, with it arriving in dealerships this month, Alfa Romeo desires to make the crossover’s presence identified on a broader scale with a big funding in TV promoting.

Stephanie Goldstein, the model’s head of North America advertising, stated the TV marketing campaign has the potential to spice up Alfa’s different choices, the Giulia sedan and the Stelvio crossover, as nicely. Shoppers heading on-line to seek for the Tonale might maybe discover these nameplates to be extra interesting, she stated.

The Tonale is the model’s final new automobile with an inside combustion engine. Alfa Romeo — which reported a 30 % U.S. gross sales decline in 2022 and a 27 % drop within the first quarter of this 12 months — plans to go all-electric by 2027.

“We’ve got an incremental spend of hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands of {dollars} via the steadiness of the 12 months,” Goldstein advised Automotive Information. “Sure, it would concentrate on Tonale. However I am going to inform you, individuals are going to go surfing and so they’re gonna be like, ‘Oh, shoot. I just like the Giulia higher or the Stelvio.’ So model protection like you have not seen. We’re saying it is like unprecedented spending, and we’re thrilled.”

Alfa Romeo is shifting ahead with a two-pronged advertising technique because it prepares to debut 5 new fashions over 5 years. One side focuses on its current client base, whom the model can attain via automotive publications and conventional media equivalent to TV.

The subsequent focuses on attractive new prospects. Alfa Romeo formulated a profile of potential consumers that it dubs “Sydney.” Sydney is a 35-year-old man or girl, making round $135,000 per 12 months, single however in a dedicated relationship, and residing in a thriving metro space. This individual has a ardour for the humanities, tradition and the well being of the planet, Goldstein stated.

To draw this demographic, the TV push will embody Bravo, HGTV and Meals Community. Alfa Romeo has additionally aligned with social media influencers, and is displaying content material on EV charging stations to get this crowd acquainted with the model.

The Tonale is available in three trim ranges, with the bottom Dash model beginning at $44,590 together with transport. The Ti opens at $46,590 and the line-topping Veloce begins at $49,090, each together with transport.

This worth level is not a serious consideration for the brand new prospects Alfa Romeo is courting. Goldstein stated that pricing is “down like three or 4 notches from styling” with this goal purchaser.

Whereas the persona Alfa created may very well be both gender, the model has expressed hope that the Tonale will assist draw in additional ladies.

On the 2022 New York auto present the place the Tonale made its U.S. debut, Larry Dominique, Alfa Romeo senior vp of North America, talked about how the automaker has been carried by a performance-driven heritage over time, with a macho really feel extra conducive to a male viewers. Alfa skews 70 % male, he stated.

Now, with the Tonale, the model is trying to convey it is greater than that.

Sure, the peppy spirit is there. The Tonale combines a 15.5-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery with a 90-kilowatt electrical motor and 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that delivers 285 hp, 347 pound-feet of torque and an electrical vary of greater than 30 miles. It zips from 0 to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds to finest its competitors.

The Alfa’s worth proposition reaches past fleetness with expertise and design choices. The purpose, stated Goldstein, is for it to face out in a sea of grey utility autos on the street at present. When folks see the emerald inexperienced Tonale, she hopes they may say, “I wish to know extra about that.”

If every thing goes based on plan, the customer Alfa Romeo is focusing on will respect the styling and the expertise options out there, equivalent to Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa which can be extensions of their life-style.

The Tonale has a ten.25-inch heart touchscreen and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

Following in depth session with potential consumers, Alfa got down to create the picture of a well-off, mid-30s client.

“We knew that we wanted to department out as a result of we have already got our buyer base,” Goldstein stated. “We’ve got to promote extra vehicles, and to have any such a [crossover utility vehicle] come to America with the [plug-in hybrid electric] expertise, that in itself goes to draw new prospects, so we went all-in on Sydney.”

Vincent Noirbent, Alfa Romeo’s vp of product planning for North America, stated the compact crossover phase the place the Tonale slots in presents alternatives to choose up consumers the model hasn’t had earlier than.

“We have not been into that phase earlier than; it is new terrain, it is white house. It offers us the chance to convey new prospects into the model,” he stated.

“What’s attention-grabbing is that that feminine viewers will develop within the subsequent three, 4, 5 years’ time, after which that turns into your reservoir in your next-generation Giulia, Stelvio, no matter,” Noirbent added. “I believe it is tremendous vital that we seize that market and seize these new prospects.”