kansaiwalker1

Chevy gears up for revolution

Ad blitz kicks off effort to introduce 10 new vehicles in 20 months and boost annual sales

By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News

FARMINGTON HILLS — “We’ll be there” won’t be there much longer and the “Like a Rock” will roll off to the side in a supporting role as General Motors Corp.’s Chevrolet division launches a new TV advertising campaign on New Year’s Eve with the tagline “An American Revolution.”


The new slogan replaces “We’ll Be There,” and the catchy “Like a Rock” will be used only in advertising for the Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup, GM announced Thursday.

The major shift in marketing and advertising comes as Chevrolet gears up for a crucial period — the introduction of 10 new vehicles in the next 20 months and an ambitious plan to boost annual U.S. sales to more than 3 million units.

Chevrolet has sold 2.4 million vehicles this year in the United States, up 1.3 percent from 2002 in a flat market. Only Ford Motor Co.’s Ford brand sells more cars and trucks in the United States.

“Our new Chevy lineup brings us to a critical crossroad,” Gary Cowger, president of GM’s North America operations, said Thursday.

“Do we stay the course with the way we go to market or do we break with the status quo with new advertising? We’re going to break the rules and polish the golden bow tie,” Cowger said.

Outdoor advertising with the new slogan starts today, and the first commercial in the “An American Revolution” campaign hits the airwaves Jan. 31 during the television broadcast of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in New York City.

The first commercial — titled “The Car Carrier” — shows several new Chevys driving onto a moving car carrier truck as it travels across the country. The spot features Steppenwolf’s midtempo classic track “Magic Carpet Ride” from 1968.

In the latest effort by an automaker to tap the talents of Hollywood, the commercial was directed by Michael Bay, whose latest feature film credits include “Pearl Harbor,” “The Rock” and the “Bad Boys” series.

“It’s a bold, confident, clean approach that lets the vehicle dominate the message,” said Kim Kosak, general director for Chevrolet advertising and sales promotion.

Subsequent commercials will feature the Colorado midsize pickup and the Malibu Maxx.

If successful, the new ad campaign could provide Chevy with some momentum to regain long-lost superiority in the U.S. car market and a new entree into other market segments.

“The combination of awareness and strong product is what’s going to drive consumers back into Chevy seats,” said Michael Robinet, vice president of forecasting at Farmington Hills-based CSM Worldwide, a consulting firm.

Relegating “Like a Rock,” one of the most recognized advertising slogans for any product, to a secondary role may not be as risky as it sounds, analysts say.

“Keeping it attached to a pickup like the Silverado is fitting, but getting a fresh ad campaign in there with all the fresh product is logical if consumers embrace it,” said Jeffrey Schuster, director of North American forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates.

Dealers still will have access to the “Like a Rock” slogan for use in local advertising, but the 13-year-old tagline will only be used nationally by GM for the Silverado, Kosak said.

“If you remember, full-size pickups was the only place we ever used it,” Kosak said. “So we’re really bringing it back to where we started. It’s still going to have a major presence.”

The latest vehicles in Chevrolet’s roster include the Aveo, an entry-level, small car built in Korea; the Cobalt, a planned replacement for the Cavalier; the Equinox, a small SUV; the HHR crossover vehicle; the Malibu Maxx hatchback; and an all-new Corvette sports car. This fall, Chevrolet started selling the SSR, a roadster pickup. A new minivan, the Uplander, will go on sale next fall.

GM plans to replace 90 percent of its car lineup over the next four years, while dropping some car brands, Cowger said.

Chevrolet accounts for 56 percent of GM’s car and truck sales, and the automaker wants the division eventually to sell at least 3 million units a year, a feat last accomplished in 1979.

On a retail basis, Chevrolet is within 40,000 units of the best-selling brand, Ford, said Chevrolet general manager Brent Dewar. Cowger expects Chevy to overtake Ford at some point, but didn’t specify when.

Surpassing Ford next year doesn’t seem likely, and 2005 doesn’t look promising either, according to Schuster.

“The gap continues to close,” Schuster said, “but 2005 looks like more of a Ford year than ’04 when Ford will have some new product out.”

Separately, Chevrolet announced that pricing for the Equinox, which arrives in mid-March, will run from $21,560 to $23,275.


You can reach Ed Garsten at (313) 223-3217 or egarsten@detnews.com.

kansaiwalker1

December 19, 2003

NY Times:

A New Campaign From Chevrolet

By ELLEN PILIGAN

Detroit

WITH 10 new vehicles coming to the market over the next 20 months, Chevrolet knew its advertising would have to depart significantly from what had been done in the recent past. There would need to be less attention paid to lifestyle and feeling good and more to its new cars and trucks.

So on New Year's Eve, Chevrolet will introduce a multimillion-dollar campaign, with the tagline "An American Revolution," that intends to make the vehicles the stars. The campaign is significant because it covers both cars and trucks under one umbrella. Before this, Chevrolet ran a truck campaign, "Like a Rock," and a car campaign, "We'll Be There."

Developed by Chevrolet's longtime agency, Campbell-Ewald, a unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies, under the leadership of its chief creative officer, Bill Ludwig, the effort will be Chevrolet's first full-vehicle-line campaign since the "Heartbeat of America" in the mid-1980's.

It was, according to Gary L. Cowger, president of General Motors North America, a critical crossroads for the automotive company.

"Do we stay the course with the way we go to market or do we break with the status quo in our advertising?" he asked.

Executives chose innovation, he said. "With 10 new products, if not now, when?" he said. "This is more than just an advertising message. 'An American Revolution' is a state of mind, an attitude. It's a commitment to break the rules if you have to in order to get the best results. It describes Chevy's culture."

The company will introduce "Car Carrier" - an ad directed by the feature film director Michael Bay ("Bad Boys II," "Pearl Harbor," "Armageddon") - as the sole advertiser on "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve" with six 60-second spots. The newlyweds, Jessica Simpson and Nicholas Lachey, hosts of the Los Angeles portion of the show, will arrive in an SSR, Chevrolet's new pickup roadster.

In addition, five 60-second spots will be shown during MTV's "New Year's Eve Pajama Party," and there will be spots on the David Letterman and Jay Leno late-night talk shows, along with two electronic billboard ads in Times Square.

"We wanted to be where the action was," said Kim Kosak, Chevrolet director for advertising. "And if you're going to pick New Year's Eve as your launch date, you better be in Times Square."

There was also a challenge with 10 vehicle introductions. "I don't know if it's ever been done," Ms. Kosak said. "I think it's unprecedented."

The 10 vehicles are the Malibu Maxx, Aveo, SSR pickup roadster, Colorado pickup truck, 2005 Equinox crossover, Cobalt premium small car, Corvette C6, Uplander, HHR crossover and the new Impala.

Every vehicle introduction will bear the "American Revolution" theme but with different taglines and different tones. "Aveo and Colorado are more youthful, Malibu Maxx is more sophisticated and SSR is a little bit more ruckus," Ms. Kosak said. "You have to find that balance of cohesion but individuality for the individual products."

Beginning today, the outdoor board campaign begins in 34 major markets on about 250 boards across the country featuring a yellow SSR.

The "Car Carrier" ad, which was unveiled yesterday, will run exclusively until Jan. 12, when individual vehicle spots will begin. The spot will also run nationwide in movie theaters beginning Jan. 1 and will appear for that day only on Yahoo.

"Car Carrier" has the feel of an action film. It begins with scenes of the new Corvette intercut with a car carrier to a remix of "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. The Corvette loads itself up the ramp of the car carrier as other new vehicles including the Colorado and SSR come into the picture from various settings.

They each take a turn making an entrance, the SSR dramatically backing its way on. At the end, a classic Chevrolet rolls up beside the car carrier with the six new vehicles. "It's a nod to the heritage," Ms. Kosak said. "Just a little nod because it's not looking back, it's about looking forward."

Ads that will begin after Jan. 12 include "Soap," featuring the SSR, "truly the poster child for 'acceptable rebellion,' " Ms. Kosak said. The ad was inspired by experiences of people who drove the vehicle early on, she said. "They'd go into a town and people would go, 'Holy Cow,' and you'd literally be swarmed at a gas station. The challenge was to capture that awe."

For the Colorado, whose message is that "it's the biggest, baddest truck in its class with plenty of room, but with attitude and a smile," Ms. Kosak said, the ad "My Man," one of four, features five young men riding in the truck blasting "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" by Shania Twain.

One man becomes caught up with the song - not to the appreciation of his buddies. The punch line is, "If you're ever uncomfortable in the new Chevy Colorado crew cab, it won't be because of lack of space."

Malibu Maxx's campaign will run in January with "Chain Reaction." The spot shows a handoff from one buyer group to another, using the different features that work for that customer, beginning with a woman in workout clothes at a gas station who hands off the car to some guys in a band heading to an airport. Flight attendants take it next to unwind at a beach and a family gets in and takes it to a mountain, where fly fishermen get in.

Despite the new umbrella campaign, "Like a Rock" is not going away. "That's been very successful for us," Ms. Kosak said, adding that it will be dedicated exclusively to Silverado, which she said had an older market than the Colorado. "Colorado is much more youthful. It's play first, enjoying the ride."

The biggest challenge in coming up with the campaign? "It's a daunting task to find something that can bear everything from an Aveo to an SSR," Ms. Kosak said. "That's why we needed to have individual expressions. You can't cookie-cutter Chevrolet. It's too big."

cusdaddy

I glad they are starting to focus more on cars instead of almost solely on trucks. They have a long way to make up, but I'm glad they are at least making the attempt again

kansaiwalker1

Some of the new ads are here:

http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosins.../a01-13577.htm

heyitsme

Infamous425

^ looks like a beefed up PT Cruiser/Durango

Chaptorial

Is that gonna see production?

charliemike

GM's problem is not marketing. It's crappy cars and a reliance on rebates to sell their cars.

Again, they should just price them cheaper and not offer rebates and get people out of the mindset that they expect $4000 rebates and/or 0% financing.

Joe5.0

I've seen the new Equinox on the road and it looks pretty nice. WTF were they thinking with the Malibu though?

kansaiwalker1

New ads begin rolling earlier


By Theresa Howard / USA TODAY



NEW YORK — Several big advertisers plan to ring in 2004 with new marketing gimmicks, hoping to take advantage of New Year’s TV events to get attention.

New Year’s hasn’t traditionally been a big occasion for new marketing. While many big brands still will wait to kick off ads around the Super Bowl, Academy Awards or later, others this year are looking at New Year’s to start something fresh.

And one trend expert thinks that’s appropriate. “This is a country in which we are about change,” says Tim Malefyt, director of cultural discoveries at ad agency BBDO. “People are always looking for the new, the different. And any sense of change, especially the New Year, is an invitation for something new and different.”

While the Super Bowl provides a big-ticket event for advertising, New Year’s TV events include college football for a week and New Year’s Eve programming.

“A lot of special events in the media can gain larger viewership and give marketers a chance to get in front of consumers in a new place,” says Matt Williams, senior vice president and group planning director at The Martin Agency.

The new mind-set has resulted in more and better advertising aimed at the Bowl Championship Series college football games. “Increasingly for BCS, advertisers are more interested in the ads, the ads become part of the story and people will stick around to watch the ads,” says Ed Erhardt, president advertising sales at ESPN/ABC sports. “It’s a great place to break new advertising.”

In the New Year’s ad lineup:

New look. The Aflac insurance duck pops up as a cartoon in an ad with classic Looney Tunes characters. The ad by the Kaplan Thaler Group first airs today and will run heavily during BCS games.

“We start a new sales year on Jan. 1, and we like to have some pizazz to kick it off,” Aflac CEO Dan Amos says. He expects the cartoon ad to contrast the “macho things” that typically air during football games. “We think it will catch people off guard and make them watch.”

In the ad, the Aflac duck reminds Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck about the value of Aflac insurance in times of need — as cartoon chaos sends Wile E. Coyote and the Aflac duck over a cliff.

“The whole shtick is perfect for Aflac and perfect for us,” says Jordan Sollitto, Warner Bros. head of worldwide marketing and consumer products.

New strategy. Bally Total Fitness shifts from ripped bodies to more “real people” in ads by Foote Cone & Belding in Chicago, that begin today.

“The thrust will be a lot less of the hard bodies and $29 down,” says Bally spokesman Jon Harris. “This is the first time we are going outside the traditional format to really talk about what’s important to people. It’s about diet, nutrition and exercise.”

New life. Chevrolet rolled out an ad campaign on New Year’s Eve that will help introduce 10 vehicles in the next 20 months. The theme, “An American Revolution,” will replace the company’s three-year “We’ll Be There” ads for cars and longtime “Like a Rock” ads for trucks and SUVs. The January timing was driven by new vehicle production schedules but also provided a good launch period.

“Once we looked at it, we thought, ‘This is perfect,’ ” says Tom Wilkinson, a Chevrolet spokesman. “We’re starting a new year with a new look. The timing worked beautifully.”