Chevrolet has scored a winner with its latest advertisement touting the 2016 Silverado’s pickup bed over a certain blue oval branded competitor.
The ad, which features the advantages of the Silverado’s roll-formed, high-strength steel bed, has placed at the top of iSpot.tv ratings for the second week straight, according to WardsAuto.
Last week, the ad decimated the internet with just over 50-percent of digital share of voice. This week, it’s shared with competitors, but still leads by a far margin at 16.79-percent.
The ad has grabbed the attention of competitors, notably Honda, which put together its own demonstration to show off its composite truck bed.
Comments
Engagement ratings. That’s a start.
How are they going to backtrack on all this when in all likelihood the next generation of GM truck will also be all aluminium?
Look at the CT6 material architecture. It seems that GM is planning to continue to incorporate high strength steel at some level.
I believe they will still use a bed with a steel floor, we shall see.
Ed GM is going this path as they have other plans as why would they chose to go the path of Ford as they have shown the picture of a Tank means little in their commercial. Military Grade does not mean tank grade as they elude to.
The new trucks till do like most GM cars now and use good engineering and a combination of materials not just Aluminum to make their trucks.
I also expect them all to raise the weight ratings on the full size and class them all as 3/4 ton and make the Mid size the half ton. As it is now even the Ford with the aluminum and V6 is still not good enough for the coming regulations. That is why that GM did the Colorado and we will soon see the return of the Ranger.
This was very compelling marketing here as it is something most truck owners have done with a brick and box. If that had happened to any of us and it produced a hole it would piss off most owners. Contrary to popular belief not all truck owners have bed liners and even then not even half of them have plastic ones. Most anymore are doing spray in and or carpet in some cases. The spray in will still produce a hole. I would never own a plastic one as everything slides around and I don’t carry dirt or gravel.
I was even at a NHRA race and they were playing the spot on the big screens all day.
Fords response has been extremely poor. All they could say is that this was not fair but they had nothing to offer to counter it. They would be best left to remain quiet.
What many do not realize is this marketing was started the week the Fleet buyers were invited to Detroit to get Ford to market them their trucks. GM made sure that this spot was up everywhere and bought prime advertising to the Free Press and made sure all hotel guest had a copy.
That was pure genius. I am not sure who is behind this but they have more work at GM to do and they need to show no mercy.
Ford had done a great job marketing the Ecoboost and Aluminum. Both have convinced Ford invented the DI Turbo and that they originated the idea of an All aluminum truck [Grumman My not agree} GM called Ford here and raised them in the Pick up truck market. So many people assume GM was just going to match Ford for what they have but the truth is they will take this to the next level. This will be a fun but bloody battle here to watch. GM is no where out of this like some want you to think.
Ford add aluminum military grade ,they forget it was air plane grade ,it’s Ford fault to use aluminum in the floor bed ,,,Ford problem they over advertising is product and somebody will find a problem and us it like gm did it’s the same whit the super duty,,
Military grade! Let’s not forget the 30 years plus of the Humvee (Hummer) with an all aluminum body. Seems it can handle extreme service. Class 7 & 8 trucks have used aluminum cabs, and trailers for over a half a century. Seems it can handle extreme service. Let’s face facts when you are in a catch up mode you take pot shots at the leader. Hard to argue about the statement ” it’s rust or us”.
The point is that the aluminum on the truck is not the gauge or standard of a Hummer or any of their trucks.
Ford tells you military grade and shows a picture of a tank? Misleading by all means it plants that seed that this is bullet proof when the truth is a tool box will take it out.
Military grade can mean many things and not always better in some applications in some gauge of material.
As for rust watch going there Mr Ford. I have plenty of friends with Ford SUV models with aluminum rear doors where the paint has fallen off and door is corroding from winters as badly or even worse than steel. Replacement is the only options.
The fact is most trucks show rust in about 12 years even in the worst conditions not counting Toyota. By then most are worn out as it is with nearly 200-300K miles. Most are used up. So rust today on steel is not the factor it was when the Ford Hoods were rusting off the hinges back in the 60’s and 70’s.
The whole truck market is stick your chest out and blow hard with all the companies. For once GM provided a valid point and it was one that anyone could reproduce on any GM or Ford in your driveway.
I would love to ask a Ford salesman if the bed floor is safe and when he says yes I would pull out a tool box and ask him to prove it. It bet you would get few takers.
Now if you built a Ford truck with Hummer quality aluminum things may be a little different. The fact is the bed is thin gauge and GM found a flaw and is using it.
If they had used Hummer gauge aluminum the weight savings would never amounted to much.
I just tire of truck commercials where they are pulling space shuttles, boats and driving up ramps with them on fire and proving so little as that means nothing to a real truck buyer. In this case this was a valid point and a valid concern if you are buying a truck to work with.
I am sure Ford is looking for a point on the GM and if they find it that will not be on the bed. That is why Ford is so upset they have nothing to answer this with.
I would not be surprised if they go quietly back to a boron bed floor in their trucks. That is about the only way to fix it unless they make plastic bed liners standard.
The truth is everybody is taking shots at the Ford, ecoboost won’t last past 200K, aluminum cost two much to fix, it’s not safe in a crash(wrong)….. so far they keep selling trucks while GM was losing sales. GM finally ditched the goofy commercials and made a good one.
Time will tell if it worked, they spent a crap load in advertising it. All while advertising the Ford at the same time, people google it and see the crash rating the payload and all the other good stuff and go from there. I think they might of got it right but might have poked the bear at the same time. Ford has had top quality advertising lately that could turn this around on GM.
I myself would have no problem buying any of these trucks. We deal with pickups at work everyday, the Ford seems more popular in our field of work but GM really popular too. The only truck I would steer from now is the Titan and Ecodiesel.
If Ford didn’t cheap out and made the bed as thick as it should’ve been to be equivalent to steel in strength (Chevy’s steel bed floor is roughly 1.1mm thick; the aluminum equivalent is about 1.5-1.6mm, Ford’s is only 1.2mm), it would have likely not had these issues, while still remaining lighter. But they didn’t. What GM really should be focusing on is not the use of aluminum – but rather, the incorrect usage *of* aluminum – that being a material gauge that puts its strength/stiffness below that of the Silverado’s steel part.