Maserati Gets a Global Boost from Heidi Klum, New Alfieri Coupe

Maserati made a bang with its surprise ad during the Super Bowl, and now the Fiat-owned superluxury brand is following up with a couple of splashes.
The brand, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, introduced a coupe concept at the Geneva International Motor Show this week that could be added to its sparse but oh-so-desirable product lineup. Named Alfieri, the first name of Maserati's founder, it is a homage to the brand's racing heritage, Harald Wester, the brand's head, said as he presented the two-door coupe at the show.
Reporting strong sales of its recently updated Quattroporte sedan and smaller Ghibli, Maserati is on the rise. Overall sales increased by 148 percent last year, to 15,400 vehicles; an SUV is on the way next year; and the brand's goal is to reach 50,000 sales in 2015.
If it succeeds in doing so, Maserati likely will end up owing a big part of the success to its efforts to beef up its presence in the US market, where it sold some 2,000 cars last year.
The Super Bowl commercial was leg one of that effort, as it introduced the $68,150 Ghibli to a worldwide audience as well. That commercial, called "Strike," was a surprise entrant in advertising during a Big Game for which most other brands—except Maserati's sibling brands at Chrysler—fully telegraphed their presence and even their ads ahead of time. The Maserati ad has reached over 11.5 million views on YouTube.

Maserati has followed up that coup with a new campaign featuring Heidi Klum, the Germany-born supermodel who keeps upping her already high profile and building up her portfolio of businesses with lots of ties to American television. In a pictorial in the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Klum is featured in various poses and outfits with Maseratis. Klum exemplifies what Wester called a "Maserati-type woman" because she's got more than just good looks.
Overall, Maserati is trying to become far more accessible than its six-figure automobiles might suggest. It isn't going "mass," but it wants to make sure that everyone with the wherewithal to afford a Maserati decides that they want one.

Source: www.brandchannel.com