Advertising

NICK BUNKLEY

Buick, attacking dinosaur image, now dodges them in ads

3:58 pm U.S. ET | March 14, 2013
Buick has come a long way in the last decade, but ask anyone who doesn't work for GM or one of its dealerships to describe Buick customers, and you'll probably hear two words: "old people."... Read More »

 

LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE

The car salesman and the faux test drive from hell

2:49 pm U.S. ET | March 13, 2013
I admit it: I was initially fooled by an online video making the rounds online that allegedly shows a used car salesman from North Carolina taking the test drive from hell in a hot Chevy Camaro, courtesy of four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.... Read More »

 

BILL SHEA

'Cadillac deserves better,' says ad veteran Gary Topolewski

11:03 am U.S. ET | March 13, 2013
Detroit advertising industry veteran Gary Topolewski knows a little something about Cadillac's advertising, which appears to be on the verge landing at Campbell Ewald. Topolewski is credited with helping revive the General Motors luxury car brand with Led Zeppelin-pumping television commercials in the early 2000s in a campaign called "Breakthrough."... Read More »

 

GM marketing shakeup may end joint venture that handles Chevy advertising

9:02 pm U.S. ET | March 12, 2013
GM is considering another shakeup in Chevrolet marketing that would end a joint venture created last year between two large agencies to handle Chevy's creative advertising globally. Discussions are underway that would consolidate most of Chevrolet's creative work under Interpublic Group's McCann Worldgroup, one half of the 50-50 venture called Commonwealth that was formed nearly a year ago with Omnicom Group Inc.'s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, according to a person familiar with the talks.... Read More »

 

Lexus to launch global brand campaign in May

3:23 pm U.S. ET | March 12, 2013
Lexus, aiming to reach consumers who have not considered the brand in the past, will launch its first global advertising campaign in May.... Read More »

 

GM considering Campbell Ewald for Cadillac ad work

8:02 pm U.S. ET | March 11, 2013
Cadillac is considering naming a longtime General Motors partner, Campbell Ewald, to become its new advertising agency of record in a deal that could be worth about $244 million in media billings annually, sources have told Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News.... Read More »

 

Hyundai Europe doubles ad budget to fight image problem

March 7, 2013 11:36 CET
Hyundai plans to double its advertising spending in Europe in a bid to build on market share gains at a time when struggling rivals like Opel and Peugeot are becoming more aggressive in cutting prices.... Read More »

 

MIKE COLIAS

Here's the deal behind Shaq's Buick commercials

10:54 am U.S. ET | March 4, 2013
You might have seen the new commercial over the weekend that has Shaquille O'Neal's 7-foot-frame folded into a Buick LaCrosse. The 15-time NBA All Star appeared last year in another LaCrosse spot. But no, he's not Buick's first official celebrity endorser since parting ways with Tiger Woods in 2010.... Read More »

 

GM hires VW's Mahoney to steer Chevy global marketing

12:29 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 25, 2013
GM named Volkswagen of America executive Tim Mahoney to the newly created post of global chief marketing officer for Chevrolet. Mahoney also will carry the title of global GM marketing operations leader, reporting to Alan Batey, vice president of U.S. sales and service and interim global chief marketing officer.... Read More »

 

GM hires VW's Mahoney to steer Chevy global marketing

Feb. 25, 2013 18:29 CET
GM named Volkswagen of America executive Tim Mahoney to the newly created post of global chief marketing officer for Chevrolet. Mahoney also will carry the title of global GM marketing operations leader.... Read More »

 

Zipcar taps ad agency Campbell Ewald, hires new CMO

2:01 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 22, 2013
Hourly car rental firm Zipcar, in the process of getting a new parent company, has selected Interpublic Group's Campbell Ewald, the former longtime Chevy ad agency, as its new global creative and brand strategy agency, the company said in a statement.... Read More »

 

Ford dusts off Fiesta Movement to pitch refreshed subcompact

4:30 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 19, 2013
Ford is again calling on Web-savvy millennials to help launch its Ford Fiesta subcompact.... Read More »

 

Mitsubishi to double marketing spend this year, return to prime-time network TV

3:39 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013
Mitsubishi Motors North America executives told dealers at a standing-room-only make meeting here today that it will double its marketing spend this year and return to prime-time network TV after a long absence.... Read More »

 

FINAL ASSEMBLY

Chrysler's Super Bowl 'Farmer' spot seem familiar? Well ...

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013
"God Made a Farmer," Ram's 2-minute Super Bowl commercial, warmed the hearts of viewers, got high marks from critics and racked up millions of views on the Internet after the game. No big surprise, and a bit of deja vu: A remarkably similar YouTube video posted last summer by farms.com also had a big impact.... Read More »

 

BEST PRACTICES

'Huge!' commercials get into people's heads

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 9, 2013
Just try to get away from Billy Fuccillo in Florida's Fort Myers-Cape Coral market. He won't let you. In an era that is tilting toward soft-spoken sales pitches and Internet-based social-media relationship marketing, Fuccillo is blowing it out like a brass band.... Read More »

 

Chevy to kick off 'Find New Roads' campaign at Grammys

8:28 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 9, 2013
Chevrolet will launch its "Find New Roads" global advertising campaign with two lengthy anthem commercials that will air Sunday during coverage of the Grammy Awards, General Motors' top marketer said.... Read More »

 

Lincoln kicks off media campaign at Grammys

4:51 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 9, 2013
Lincoln will kick off a multimedia campaign called “Hello Again” with two commercials Sunday night during the Grammy Awards telecast. The campaign “is really a celebration of the re-emergence of the Lincoln brand,” Matt VanDyke, Lincoln’s director of global marketing, sales and service, said in an interview at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention.... Read More »

 

NICK BUNKLEY

Comics get last laughs with auto industry's Super Bowl ad blitz

3:45 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 7, 2013
Automakers dominated the commercial breaks during the Super Bowl, so they were prime targets for the inevitable parodies that have shown up on YouTube this week. Chrysler Group's nostalgic Ram ad, which was highly rated by many viewers and marketing experts, quickly generated several less heartwarming variations.... Read More »

 

RYAN BEENE

Sorting the winners, losers in Super Bowl commercial derby

4:28 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 6, 2013
Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week, you know the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl. But which automakers’ commercials won the battle for the most eyeballs?... Read More »

 

Chrysler takes patriotic road with popular Super Bowl ads

10:48 am U.S. ET | Feb. 5, 2013
Chrysler was once again one of the big winners in the Super Bowl ad battle, scoring with a military-themed spot narrated by Oprah Winfrey and another highlighting farmers that underscored the automaker's attempts to rehabilitate its image by playing to viewers' patriotism.... Read More »

 

VINCE BOND JR.

How Twitter-verse viewed the auto industry’s Super Bowl spots

3:12 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 4, 2013
Automakers spent millions of dollars last night to be memorable. Automotive News’ 30,000-plus Twitter followers were eager to praise some commercials, while shredding others like wild dogs on fresh steak.... Read More »

 

2013 SUPER BOWL ADS - WINNERS AND LOSERS

Auto advertisers hit it big in Super Bowl; Chrysler stands out

8:56 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 3, 2013
Auto advertisers were back in force in the 2013 Super Bowl with commercials that were funny and touching -- with a few that just fell flat. Chrysler stood out -- yet again -- despite not running with the pack online in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.... Read More »

 

NICK BUNKLEY

Lincoln's Super Bowl sign of the 'alpacalypse'

10:13 am U.S. ET | Feb. 1, 2013
Last year, General Motors ran a Super Bowl spot asserting that the Chevrolet Silverado is the only truck strong enough to survive an apocalypse. Now, Ford is showing us what happens when its Lincoln MKZ encounters an "alpacalypse."... Read More »

 

Automakers' Super Bowl spots rule YouTube

5:08 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 31, 2013
Carmakers' Super Bowl commercials so far are dominating viewership among the big game's ads on YouTube, the social-media video site.... Read More »

 

GM, in more marketing shifts, names new ad boss for Cadillac, report says

9:39 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 30, 2013
General Motors said it has appointed a new director of advertising for the Cadillac brand. Craig Bierley will succeed Molly Peck, who is becoming director of Chevy advertising. Peck replaces Kevin Mayer, who left GM last year to become vice president of U.S. marketing at Volkswagen, the company said today.... Read More »