BROADVIEW, Ill. – Building on the success of its "How Storm Chasers Clear the Way" campaign introduced last year, Bosch has once again partnered with Discovery Channel for the popular Storm Chasers series to launch a dynamic new advertising campaign for the premium ICON beam wiper blade. A combination of broadcast and digital elements, together with new social media components, is intended to drive awareness and purchasing consideration for the Bosch ICON brand and drive traffic to ICON retailers offering special deals on the product, the company says. 
Storm Chasers, which airs on Discovery Channel on Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST/PST provides a front row seat to nature’s fury in the heart of "Tornado Alley" as scientists, researchers and weather enthusiasts gear up and hunker down in their pursuit of the ultimate tornado footage.
Two brand-new 30-second TV spots featuring extreme meteorologist and storm chaser Reed Timmer and his new Dominator 2 armored tornado-chasing vehicle were created for the new campaign. More than 400 spots will air nationwide on the Storm Chasers program and other Discovery and Science Channel programming through February 2012. An additional 1,400 spots will run on a variety of cable networks in 34 key retail markets. Other broadcast elements include in-program messaging on Storm Chasers and tagged tune-in messages on Discovery Channel.
"The new spots really gave us the opportunity to communicate not only the Bosch brand, but also the specific technical features that make ICON the most advanced blade available in the aftermarket," said Pam Krebs, director of advertising and sales promotion for Bosch. "ICON’s dual rubber technology delivers up to 40 percent longer life compared to other premium beam blades, and its dual precision-tensioned internal steel springs provide a contoured fit for full contact across the curvature of each side of the windshield."
The company added that digital advertising banners will be deployed on Discovery.com as well as on selected weather and auto enthusiast sites. Behavioral targeting techniques will be employed to ensure that ads reach wiper blade shoppers at the right time in the right environment, according to Bosch. In addition to product information banners, retailer-specific offer banners will drive consumers to a newly redesigned www.boschcleartheway.com microsite for information on special ICON deals at various automotive retailers. The microsite also will feature product information on the Bosch wiper blade line along with new video webisodes and a photo gallery featuring Reed Timmer. Social media activity can also be tracked and shared from the site.
Brand new to the campaign this year will be wiper blade engagement on the Bosch Auto Parts pages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Wiper blade information, tips, videos and contests/giveaways will be employed to stimulate conversation within the Bosch social community.
"We’re very glad to be partnering with Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers for our ICON campaign again this year," Krebs said. "The success of last year’s campaign proved that we made the right association with ICON and Storm Chasers. This year we plan to re-engage in a new way with our consumers, and grow our base even further with the new campaign and the inclusion of social media elements."
