• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 23, 2014

Video content provides brands with storytelling opportunities that allow consumers to discover much more about products and services than what is found in search engine page query results -- so Chrysler devised a marketing strategy that takes consumers to the beginning of the marketing funnel.

Since not everyone can visit the new manufacturing plant, Chrysler worked with brand agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Google's technology to open the doors to those who want to get a view inside. "Just as we pioneered a completely new Chrysler 200, we are pioneering a new way for consumers to research a vehicle," per Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer, Chrysler Group, in a prepared statement.

The brand agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland created an interactive experience that gives consumers an inside look at how the Chrysler 200 is made. With help from Google Maps Business View technology, the agency and brand put together a virtual tour with 360-degree interactive films and photography that allow site visitors an insider view of the newly renovated Sterling Heights facility. The agency will also launch the Chrysler brand's social media strategy on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

A series of 12 videos take site visitors on a tour of the 5 million-square-foot facility and production process of the Chrysler, where 3,260 workers and 1,214 state-of-the-art robots build the cars. The videos chronicle production, from assembly to building the frame to painting the cars and the final quality checks.

The tour begins in the plant's 1 million-square-foot body shop where the frame and body panels are assembled in a process Chrysler calls "butterfly assembly." Consumers can view the videos on desktop or mobile devices running Android and Apple operating systems.

The videos also take viewers through an advanced system in the body shop where lasers seal each edge of the roof with one long weld, a metrology center where welds are checked, and the paint show that gives the cars their color.