Chevy Ad Budget Moving Again?
Nearly a month after ditching Chevy’s longtime ad agency Campbell-Ewald in favor of Publicis, GM management is said to be eying another change in strategy for its most important brand, as new Marketing boss Joel Ewanick begins making his presence felt. Sources tell AdAge that Ewanick is considering moving creative responsibilities for the $600m Chevy account from Publicis to Omnicom Group’s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, although GM has not yet confirmed any such move. Anonymous GM execs tell AdAge:
They told him he could have virtual carte blanche in decision-making, and he’s already exercising his power to do so. He’s surrounding himself with people he feels most comfortable with and trusts… He didn’t pick Publicis, he inherited it.
Focusing on Chevy, and not being afraid to shake things up are two very encouraging signs from Ewanick. Having inherited former Marketing boss Susan Docherty’s gestating campaign centered around the line “Excellence for Everyone” and some intensely unmemorable Publicis ads, Ewanick clearly needs to bring the thunder, and according to AdAge, all of GM’s agencies are in a tizzy over the shake-up.
…and though it’s not necessarily the worst ad ever, here is proof of just how unoriginal it is:
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
I recently saw a Top Gear episode where Jeremy Clarkson and James May attempted to come up with a new VW commercial, in collaboration with VW's marketing company. May asked, "Why can't we just show the car zooming around on country roads?" The marketers responded by saying something along the lines of, "Every Volkswagen product advertisement must communicate some sort of universal truth about the product. It must speak to the consumer, not at them. It must demonstrate precision and efficiency. We don't do cliche things like show cars driving around on country roads." Very philosophical, very focused. VW always has had the best car advertising. Maybe GM should pick a company like that. Trouble is, they'd be hard pressed to find any "truths" about most of GM's lineup.
My girlfriend works in post production, and from little I've seen, the client (company itself) as well as the agency both directly sign off on any spot. So when you see a cheap/unoriginal ad whoever commissioned it is getting exactly what they wanted to pay for. I'm sure that any agency knows who to go for director/editor wise if they want a significant "wow" factor. Hell, I could easily figure that out, and it's certainly not what I do for a living. So basically I'm guessing that this isn't really Publicis wanting to be boring so much as it is Chevy marketing either not wanting to pony up dough or wanting to play it conservative during a leadership switch.