Advertising agencies

Data companies help automakers reduce digital guessing games

9:29 am U.S. ET | Dec. 23, 2012
Automakers have fewer reasons to wonder whether online marketing blitzes are translating to sales. With an estimated 90 percent of people starting the car-buying process online, data companies are providing automakers and their advertising/marketing agencies with an arsenal of information to help them capture those consumers and better understand their behavior.... Read More »

 

Silverado ad work being switched by GM to Leo Burnett agency

5:22 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 19, 2012
GM is switching creative advertising agencies for the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado ahead of the highly anticipated launch of the next-generation pickup next year. GM has assigned Silverado creative duties to Leo Burnett, which now handles advertising for Buick and GMC, including the Sierra pickup, a GM spokesman confirmed.... Read More »

 

Lexus bankrolls extra episode of Food Network's 'Restaurant Impossible'

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 8, 2012
Viewers of the special airing Sunday of "Restaurant: Impossible" on the Food Network will see two chefs with ties to Lexus alongside muscle-bound host Robert Irvine. Toyota's luxury brand helped pay the production costs for the episode, which was not part of the show's normal season and would not have existed without the automaker.... Read More »

 

LINDSAY CHAPPELL

They slip by fast, but not all TV spots are so simple

3:36 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 6, 2012
The old rule of thumb in design is the KISS principle: “Keep It Simple Stupid.” Or, as some people write it, “Keep it simple, Stupid.” Either way. The advertising business long ago adopted the adage. The newspaper business tries to adhere to it as well. But we're living in complicated times. And apparently some things require a little more explanation.... Read More »

 

How Olivier Francois restored Motor City pride in a bankrupt Chrysler

10:46 am U.S. ET | Nov. 26, 2012
Chrysler Group's turnaround since Fiat rescued the automaker out of bankruptcy in 2009 has been punctuated by an advertising strategy led by Olivier Francois and his team. The advertising message draws parallels between the comeback of a gritty, tough city and the once-troubled automaker. This week Chrysler is being honored as the 2012 Marketer of the Year by Advertising Age, an affiliate of Automotive News.... Read More »

 

Chevy delays verdict on 'Runs Deep' tag line

10:14 am U.S. ET | Oct. 31, 2012
Chevrolet is still pondering the future of its “Chevy Runs Deep” advertising tag line as the brand extends an internal deadline for a decision.... Read More »

 

Cadillac, as it goes global, shifts more ad dollars to digital

12:10 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 25, 2012
As General Motors attempts to take the Cadillac brand global, its ad spending is going digital.... Read More »

 

Suit against GM for using Einstein image dismissed by U.S. judge

2:20 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 18, 2012
A federal judge in California tossed out a suit challenging the use of Albert Einstein's image in a General Motors advertisement, a Detroit newspaper reported today.... Read More »

 

BRADFORD WERNLE

Ford's C-Max goes for laughs to dethrone Prius in 'Hybrid Games'

5:57 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 4, 2012
When Ford and its Team Detroit ad agency were creating a campaign for the new C-Max Hybrid, they had one clear target in their sights: the undisputed champion of the hybrid world, the Toyota Prius.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

Scion veers to older target with new campaign

12:37 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 27, 2012
After marketing itself to just about the youngest driving demographic possible, Toyota's Scion brand today announced a new campaign -- a mea culpa of sorts that its advertising might have actually aimed too young in the past -- just as the brand is now starting to show signs of life after years of declining sales.... Read More »

 

Toyota introduces new U.S. advertising tag line

3:05 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 11, 2012
The Toyota brand is changing its advertising tag line to “Let's Go Places,” replacing “Moving Forward,” its slogan since 2004. At Toyota's national dealer meeting today in Las Vegas, Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda said the new tag line reflects the company's commitment to more exciting products, and a promise to invite customers to take part in shaping Toyota's future.... Read More »

 

JAMIE LaREAU

LaNeve at Ford: A culture clash? Only when you talk pigskin

12:01 am U.S. ET | Aug. 27, 2012
Mark LaNeve and his new boss, Satish Korde, already have a big-league conflict. “I follow football,” says Korde, CEO of Team Detroit, Ford's advertising agency. But former GM ad boss Mark LaNeve played the game. He was a linebacker at the University of Virginia in the late 1970s.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

How Audi scored a sexy starring role in '50 Shades of Grey'

11:06 am U.S. ET | Aug. 14, 2012
If you've read the "50 Shades of Grey" erotic trilogy, then you know that Audis make an appearance throughout the books. Given that few other brands appear in the books, Audi's feat of securing a starring role for not just one of its models, but for several different cars is pretty astounding. Even better, it was all for free.... Read More »

 

BMW brings home the gold with Olympic advertising

4:02 pm U.S. ET | Aug. 14, 2012
It's safe to say the London Olympics were a success for the United States, which won 104 medals, the most of any country. But the games also were a triumph for BMW of North America and GM, which, driven by record ratings on NBC, experienced measurable buzz among consumers as a result of advertising.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

Akerson: GM's marketing approach not the result of 'one individual'

2:06 pm U.S. ET | Aug. 2, 2012
GM CEO Dan Akerson, referring to the impact of Joel Ewanick's exit, told analysts and reporters today that the automaker's marketing is a group effort, not a one-man operation. He stood by the company's position that no changes are planned in GM's marketing strategies.... Read More »

 

Former GM exec LaNeve to join Ford ad agency Team Detroit as COO

2:54 pm U.S. ET | July 31, 2012
Former GM U.S. sales and marketing boss Mark LaNeve will become COO of Team Detroit, Ford Motor's advertising agency, the agency said. LaNeve is expected to start within the next two weeks at Team Detroit headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. He will report to CEO Satish Korde at Team Detroit, a subsidiary of global media giant WPP based in the United Kingdom.... Read More »

 

GUEST BLOG

What GM and Akerson should do now in marketing

11:22 am U.S. ET | July 31, 2012
After two years that were marked by a tremendous amount of upheaval, including coast-to-coast agency shuffling and a long game of musical chairs in the marketing department, it's time for GM to focus and get back to business.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

GM interim marketing boss springs into action, touts soccer deal

10:00 pm U.S. ET | July 30, 2012
Joel Ewanick is barely out of the door after a tumultuous two years with General Motors, and interim CMO Alan Batey is already jumping into action, attempting to steer the conversation about GM's marketing activities to a positive place.... Read More »

 

GM dismisses global marketing boss Ewanick

July 30, 2012 08:22 CET
GM has dismissed global marketing chief Joel Ewanick two years after hiring him. Ewanick was removed for failing to adequately appraise the financial details of a recent sponsorship deal with Manchester United, a popular U.K. soccer team, reports said.... Read More »

 

THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

The auto industry and the Olympics

11:56 am U.S. ET | July 26, 2012
Hundreds of millions of people around the globe are expected to watch the London Olympic Games Friday through Aug. 12, and automakers are taking advantage of that massive audience to market their vehicles and sponsor athletes and teams.... Read More »

 

Chevrolet to become sponsor of English soccer's Liverpool

7:34 pm U.S. ET | July 24, 2012
General Motors, which dropped Super Bowl advertising in May because it's too expensive, has become a sponsor of signing English Premier League soccer's Liverpool two months after signing Manchester United.... Read More »

 

Auto advertising vets Jackson, Topolewski open office in Detroit

3:12 pm U.S. ET | July 17, 2012
Jackson and Partners, a newly formed advertising firm started by industry veterans Michael Jackson and Gary Topolewski, opened a new location last week in downtown Detroit.... Read More »

 

JAKE LINGEMAN

Buick Verano pitched by Peyton Manning

9:51 am U.S. ET | July 11, 2012
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will appear in a new spot for the Buick Verano this evening during ESPN's Espys Awards show.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

Chevy's 'Love It or Return It' campaign echoes similar programs in 2009

3:57 pm U.S. ET | July 11, 2012
To use a football metaphor, trick plays are great but how many times can you go to the same playbook? General Motors is about to find out.... Read More »

 

Dodge Dart TV spot to debut Tuesday during MLB All-Star Game

1:38 pm U.S. ET | July 9, 2012
Chrysler Group's first TV commercial for the 2013 Dodge Dart will debut Tuesday during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and will feature a rapid-fire video montage of how to design, make and market a car.... Read More »