“Consumers don’t buy General Motors. General Motors sells nothing.”

Those are the words of General Motors vice president of U.S. marketing Joel Ewanick, and they speak directly to the overall direction in which he is taking The General’s marketing department. Ewanick’s current focus is to build up the prestige and quality that lies within the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands instead of boasting that there’s a big sale every month to clear inventory.

“We’re moving sheet metal instead of telling our story. We’ve got to get back to telling our story. What do we want to tell people about Chevrolet?”

Ewanick’s plan is to have each GM brand tell a story of its own, establishing a clear-cut identity for each marque. He uses the example of him watching auto auctions on TV, explaining that TV auctions bring out an emotional connection for a specific brand of a vehicle.

“We’re going to remind you from time to time that we’re part of the fabric of society,” Ewanick said.

The first brand to undergo this change is Chevrolet. In the last 13 months, Chevrolet has gone through three marketing directors. The latest is Chris Perry, Ewanick’s right hand man at Hyundai. Ewanick is staying quiet on what his plans entail for Chevrolet, but expect the Camaro, Equinox and Chevrolet’s Chevy nicknane to be featured.

Ewanick also said that he will bring in new people to help get the message out:

“My boss, Mark Reuss, asked me to bring people into the organization that will challenge the way we look at things.”

That makes us wonder who else will join GM’s marketing team in the coming months.

The GM Authority Take

We would like to applaud Joel Ewanick for nailing the one thing that the GM Authority crew has been criticizing for quite some time. That one thing is the lack of brand identity.

If you walked up to someone and asked what Cadillac’s identity was, you might get different answers. Ask the same person what BMW represents as a brand and you’ll most likely hear something along the lines of “the ultimate driving machine”. It’s good to see someone within GM taking the reins of the marketing department. The question now is what will happen and will they succeed. Only time will tell…

[Source: Automotive News, AutoObserver]

The "Mark Of Leadership" slogan is on its way out, but what will replace it?

Joel Ewanick is proving to be quite the mover and shaker. Since his recruitment at GM this past May, he has been working on hitting the restart button on the entire marketing strategy for each General Motors brand. For example, when Ewanick shifted Cadillac’s $270 million account from the esteemed British ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty to Minnesota-based Fallon in July, he made a statement of the change that would certainly not stop there. Currently, Fallon is busy with launching an all-new campaign for Cadillac. But it already has the new slogan in place: “The New Standard For The World”.

The new slogan pays direct homage to the classic Cadillac “Standard Of The World” tagline that the brand has become accustomed to.  Ewanick would not mention just how different the new Cadillac ads will be from the clips created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty. If you’re wondering on just what makes Fallon the ideal advertising agency, consider the following quote from Ewanick:

“We picked an agency like Fallon because Fallon has 17 years of luxury-car experience. There’s not an agency in America that has 17 years of luxury-car experience in the United States. Look it up. They had 10 years with BMW and six-and-a-half, seven years with Porsche — some of that with me… so I know what they’re good at, I know what they’re strengths and weaknesses are, and Pat Fallon is a great advertising person.”

[Source: Automotive News]

According to Automotive News, Joel Ewanick, The General’s U.S. Vice President of Marketing, plans on spearheading the mission of promoting Chevy’s new products. He has taken measures to recruit an all new ad agency that has taken steps to develop a new slogan.

“Yes, we will be in the Super Bowl, I won’t tell you how much or what we’re doing, but I will tell you it will all be about Chevrolet.”

Conveniently, the Super Bowl takes place just after the debut of two critically vital Chevy models here in North America: the Cruze global compact and the Volt plug-in Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV). However, Ewanick did not comment on just which models will be featured in the Super Bowl Ads (or if Howie Long will accompany them). It is still safe to bet that GM wants to market these new vehicles as much as possible and – if the timing is right- it may want to include the all-new 2012 Aveo as well.

The agency now in charge of Chevy’s $600 million account is the San Fransisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners rather than Publicis Worldwide, which operates out of Paris, France. Ewanick made the switch just this past May, negating the decision to give the account to Publicis made by Susan Docherty, who has moved on to GM International.

Oh, and “Excellence For Everyone” (or “Everyone Deserves Excellence”) is out the window, as Ewanick wittingly states:

“‘Excellence for all’ — it’s a great title for Stephen Covey’s next book. It’s also something I could find on every one of our competitors and one that I could put on every airline and everything else,” he said. “It’s not specific to who we are and where we’re taking Chevrolet, and I thought that was important. We took a step back and said, ‘What do we have? We have a soul.’ People have deep feelings and passion about that.”

Lastly, the Chevy Camaro will have its own advertising campaign debut in September. Ewanick added that GM plans on pushing the bow tie pony car to elevate the brand and show that Chevy is more than just a docile lineup of Toyota-fighting sedans. Take that, Toyota.

[Source: Automotive News]

“I look at it and say with a federal tax credit, it is $33,500. We think there will be a plentiful supply of customers at that price.”

But the price has been torn to shreds on the Volt Facebook page, media personalities, and competitors. Barb Samardzich, Ford’s vice president of global powertrain engineering, said the following about the price:

“Our perspective is we want to be able to provide a solution that works for all of our customers, and at $40,000 or $41,000, you are taking a lot of customers out of that equation,”

Nitz argues that the Volt is in a class of its own because its uses a gasoline engine to extend the vehicle’s range by another 300 miles once the 40 mile battery range is used up.

“It’s in a market of its own. Where else are you going to go to get one of these things? There is no other choice.” Nitz said.

The GM Authority Take

When GM announced the Volt’s price, one of the following two things could have ensued: either consumers, the press, and the media would cheer… or they would object. Guess which one transpired!

Most consumers (as well as the majority of the media) don’t realize that GM’s decision to price the Volt at $41,000 is a result of the vehicle’s components. Let’s put this into perspective: how much does the Volt’s battery pack cost? What about the engine-generator and the transmission?

Not to sound unnecessarily naive, but it seems that the Volt’s critics are of the opinion that GM took a trip to the local auto parts store and bought the EREV’s components at the parts desk. Needless to say, this is not so. GM had to design, engineer, and produce the unique parts to meet the intricate specifications of the Volt. How unique? Well, the Volt is as unique as you get. There’s nothing else like it.

As for other manufacturers (read: Ford) – the boys and girls at Dearborn decided to take advantage of the Volt’s public perception issue. You see, Ford understands that the public (wrongly) compares the Chevrolet Volt to the Nissan Leaf, even though the two vehicles are completely different. In fact, the upcoming Ford Focus EV will be very similar to the Leaf in that it will be a purely electric vehicle. In this case, Ford is leveraging as much negative Volt PR as it can to push its own product (even if it’s a more distant reality that the Volt).

In the end, a whole slew of misinformation and not enough understanding have people in a frenzy about the Volt’s price. It looks like the Volt marketing team still has some work to do in informing the public at large about the Volt and its unique benefits.

PS: most recently, we discussed the Volt’s price tag on the GM Authority Weekly podcast that you can listen to right here.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

The site includes YouTube videos (tagged with MOT Regal), Flickr photos, Twitter tweets, comments left on Buick’s Regal tab on Facebook, as well as automotive reviews and consumer blogs.

According to Buick, anyone can contribute to Moment of Truth by sharing their stories related to the Buick Regal and posting them on the web. The website (pictured above) has a very modern look and makes perfect use of an animated user interface to create a superb user experience.

The GM Authority Take

As more Regals make their way to dealer lots across the U.S. and Canada, Buick is doing a fine job spreading the word about the Epsilon II-based vehicle. But as you may well know, Buick’s biggest challenge is the perception of being “your grandfather’s car.” While new (and exciting) product such as the Regal and LaCrosse go a long way towards changing public opinion, they still need to be reinforced by a solid marketing campaign.

As such, Buick is taking advantage of both traditional and unconventional marketing approaches in transforming the public’s opinion about itself and its vehicles. It has already launched two Regal television commercials (here and here), is hosting Remix parties throughout the U.S. featuring the Regal, LaCrosse, and Enclave, and has now added the Moment of Truth website to its arsenal of marketing instruments. However, the Tri-Shield brand faces a certain danger with the Moment of Truth and the site’s openness.

General Motors has already seen the danger of completely opening the tubes when Chevrolet asked the public at large to create an ad for the 2008 Chevy Tahoe SUV. Within days of the contest, YouTube became filled with anti-Tahoe clips, calling out the SUV for its gas guzzling and non-green nature. These anti-Tahoe clips are still around today. Buick faces a similar hazard with Moment of Truth, although with a different set of characteristics (the Regal is by no means a gas guzzler).

We’ll see the way the (social media) cookie crumbles this time around, but I think it’s safe to say that the Buick Regal is a hot car… just take a look at all those user-generated reviews, first impressions, and pictures at the Moment of Truth.

View Press Release

Called Moment of Truth, the campaign will give party attendees Flip cameras to record their impressions (positive, negative, or otherwise) of the all-new Buick Regal.

The resulting videos will be posted to Buick’s Moment of Truth website for the whole wide world to enjoy. Buick will engage in an aggressive marketing push targeted at 35-40 year olds the purpose of which is to drive web surfers to the site.

According to Brand Week, the objective of the Regal Remix parties is to help car shoppers become aware of exactly what the Buick brand means today. Automotive News says that car buyers on the West Coast have little to no idea of what Buick is while Mid-Westerners remember the Tri-Shield’s melancholy better than most.

The campaign is expected to kick off later this month.

[Show as slideshow]

Vivian Pickard, President of the General Motors Foundation explained how GM was helping out:

“At the GM Foundation we encourage employees, dealers and customers to give back to their local communities and to promote 100 Black Men of America’s message of mentoring the young minds to become our future leaders.”

During the conference, Buick hosted a test drive event for attendees and the general public. The Enclave, LaCrosse, and Regal were all available to drive.  After driving the new LaCrosse, Al Dotson, president of 100 Black Men said:

“It was highly technical, had a smooth ride and was very comfortable.”

“This is not my grandfather’s vehicle anymore,” said another conference attendee.

The GM Authority Take

Good stuff, Buick, good stuff. Doing a good deed while promoting your products is, well, what that magical thing the big boys call a “synergy.” In all seriousness, though, this is just the kind of effort Buick needs to give its “grandfather’s vehicle” image a kick in the pants!

View Press Release

Our favorite automaker’s market share was a measly 9.6 percent in New York City last quarter compared to 18.7 percent nationwide. According to Experian Automotive, GM held 10 percent of the market in 2009 and 13 percent in 2008. The problem stems from the fact that analysts, portfolio managers, and potential investors – all (arguably) crucial for the success of GM’s IPO – aren’t big customers of The General’s products.

Since holding a weekly business meeting showcasing its newest product is rather difficult and time-consuming, a showroom that would display certain GM vehicles has been brought up. The concept involves getting GM’s best models in front of high-rolling investors, tourists, and trend-setters in a high-fashion New York City environment.

Audi has set up a similar display called Audi Forum on the corner of 47th and Park Ave. The Forum showcases the brand’s models and hosts events (such as keeping the facility open to allow Audi fans to watch the entire 24 Hours at Le Mans last year).

The Audi Forum in Manhattan

The GM Authority Take

This is a great idea, but GM could draw criticism for buying or renting (GM is considering both) pricey New York real estate. GM took some heat a few months ago for giving a Chevy Corvette to Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga after a near-perfect game.

Should GM listen to such opprobrium? In the humble opinion of yours truly – absolutely not. If GM feels that the New York showroom will be an effective way of reaching its target demographic in the area, then it should absolutely go ahead with the plan. The question now shifts to the specific products GM should display at its Big Apple super lounge.

[Source: The Real Deal]

The parties, called “Regal Remix” give guests a chance to look at the Buick lineup (all of its three vehicles!), have some drinks, and enjoy a live band performance. A video of one of the events show attendees checking out the Tri-shield’s new lineup and changing their perceptions on the fly. One person said,

“I thought it was a BMW when I walked up to it. So, it’s beautiful, beautiful.”

Buick product marketing director Roger McCormack said about the parties:

“Ultimately, we want to sell cars, but the immediate return is buzz. It’s positive consumer opinion, awareness and buzz. The long-term payoff is to “get us in the stream of consciousness of some consumers who hadn’t considered us before.”

Will this help Buick’s quest to welcome younger buyers? Time will only tell us that, but you can tell us what you think in the comments without so much as a waiting period.

[Source: Brandweek]

Communication

For starters, Cadillac is cutting all ties to General Motors in its corporate communications structure by changing email addresses from @gm.com to @cadillac.com. This will ensure that Cadillac customers – current or potential – will not see GM anywhere in their communications with Caddy.

Branding

Cadillac is also erasing the GM name and logo from marketing, promotional, and dealer materials. This means that the base signs of dealerships selling other brands will no longer carry any traces of GM.

Dealer And Buying Experience

What’s more, Caddy will no longer participate in GM-wide promotional events such as the Red Tag clearance event (as we learned late last year when Cadillac introduced its Season’s Best event).

Ads

Cadillac will also launch an all-new ad campaign later this month. According to GM spokesman Nick Twork, it will come before a model introduction at the New York International Auto Show on March 31. The ads will be the first from Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the New York agency GM hired in January to replace Modernista! of Boston. And to get it out of the way, we’re just as unsure about the new model introduction as you are… perhaps it will be the production version of the XTS flagship sedan?

“We’re in the process of revamping all the things that face the customer,” Twork said. “The Cadillac brand is best communicated as Cadillac without GM.”

Research

According to Susan Docherty, Vice President of Marketing for GM North America, the automaker is poised to begin research on how customers perceive the company. This may coincide with the long-awaited customer and sales retention tool spearheaded by Docherty.

“Consumers, in their minds, can separate out the corporation versus the brands,” Docherty said in an interview. “They can separate ‘Hey, I can still fall in love with a CTS coupe, but I may not necessarily be happy with the fact that General Motors had to go through bankruptcy.”

Big Change

For 2010, GM is looking to increase Cadillac sales by 28 percent to 140,000 units. The most loyal GM fans will realize that all this is in stark contrast to the strategy undertaken by The General five years ago, when the company decided in favor of unifying its brands under a single/central GM brand. That was also when GM added its mark of excellence to all vehicles, a move that the company reversed in mid 2009.

The GM Authority Take

The GM Authority Team welcomes this change with open arms. What matters is that people are buying Cadillacs, not GMs.

There are also those who don’t even know that Cadillac is a General Motors product. By distancing itself from GM, Cadillac will be following the most successful luxury brand in the United States – Lexus – which cut all obvious ties to parent company Toyota in early and mid-2000s.

Add the fact that not everyone agrees about GM’s $50 billion government-backed bankruptcy last year, and this is good news all around! The next step for Caddy is to become the status symbol brand it once was.

[Source: Bloomberg]