Joel Ewanick Has Left GM
Automotive News is reporting that Joel Ewanick has left General Motors. Ewanick was hired away from Nissan (who had just hired him away from Hyundai) to bring fresh thinking to GM’s marketing and advertising efforts.
Ewanick led a major consolidation of agency work at GM and stated that he wanted to make Chevrolet more like Apple (perhaps not his most original thought). He was credited for Hyundai’s job loss protection program, and Chevrolet’s latest fixed price and return guarantee programs have his fingerprints all over them (though GM has tried both in the past). At the Cadillac ATS drive a few weeks ago the marketing people claimed that he was a major force behind their work (which anyone watching the Olympics has now seen many, many times).
So, why is he gone? AN’s Mike Colias blames GM CEO Akerson, who has replaced (or driven away) many high-level executives during his two years at the top.
Michael Karesh lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan, with his wife and three children. In 2003 he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. While in Chicago he worked at the National Opinion Research Center, a leader in the field of survey research. For his doctoral thesis, he spent a year-and-a-half inside an automaker studying how and how well it understood consumers when developing new products. While pursuing the degree he taught consumer behavior and product development at Oakland University. Since 1999, he has contributed auto reviews to Epinions, where he is currently one of two people in charge of the autos section. Since earning the degree he has continued to care for his children (school, gymnastics, tae-kwan-do...) and write reviews for Epinions and, more recently, The Truth About Cars while developing TrueDelta, a vehicle reliability and price comparison site.
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I cant believe that we've heard the real reason yet. The WSJ reporting on the soccer deal, just doesnt make sense. He may not have been everyone's favorite but the 'Chevy Runs Deep' thing wasnt bad enough to get him the axe and he was on the way to cutting more than his target from the ad budgets. If I had to guess my feeling is that he tried to move the old girl too much too fast for the tastes of some. Remember there isnt a smiling Mulally anywhere around the place to change the culture for him. Nothing adds up to me yet. I wonder if Nissan wants him back?
let's make some changes that will yield results. your friendly Buickman has the answers, for example: let's begin August with the GM Extra Mile Program. first step is "America went the Extra Mile for GM, Now GM goes the Extra Mile for America". 1.) take delivery of a new GM vehicle and if the rebate/incentive goes up in the next 30 days, you get the money. Don't be afraid to buy a car today!". like it? let's do it. then we do step two. "All it takes is a good car and someone to sell it" J Flint
knowing how to ask for the dance increases the chance you'll head for the floor, even the door. :)
The guy couldn't move the GM metal, so he got canned. I don't think you necessarily need to have a good product, or a good price, to sell cars. What you need is good brand image, and GM doesn't have that except in their line of pickup trucks. Their car lineup is OK, but they aren't flying off the dealer lots. This guy did a good job at Hyundai creating brand image, and couldn't do the same for GM. Toyota is eating GM's lunch this year, even with all the accelerator and earthquake problems they had, they are back in a big way.