A Chevrolet advertising campaign is dropping its long-standing tag line - like a rock.
Chevrolet no longer will market the full-sized Silverado pickup with the slogan "Like a Rock." The automaker first used the tag line, which is taken from a song by Detroit rocker Bob Seger, 14 years ago.
Instead, advertising for the Silverado, like that for other Chevrolet trucks, will come under the umbrella of the division's "An American Revolution" campaign, says Kim Kosak, Chevrolet's director of advertising and sales promotion.
"We will not be using ("Like a Rock") again going forward in this body of work," Kosak says. "We still have the right to use it … but the Silverado will be under 'American Revolution.' "
Automakers such as Chevrolet are using a so-called umbrella marketing of brands in response to the proliferation of nameplates and marketing messages in the industry.
Chevrolet launched "An American Revolution" late last year to prepare for 10 vehicle launches in 20 months. The division has broadcast 21 new national TV commercials as part of the effort.
Kosak says 98 percent of Chevrolet's local marketing groups have adapted the "American Revolution" theme for their advertising efforts.
"The support gives us a one-voice message," she says.
Chevrolet says visits to its Web site have increased by 40 percent since the "American Revolution" campaign began. The site attracted 500,000 visits the day after the Dec. 31 launch of its "Car Carrier" TV spot, which featured several Chevrolet vehicles.
Among individual nameplates, Chevrolet says Web site traffic has increased 500 percent for the SSR, 400 percent for the Corvette, 280 percent for the Aveo and 200 percent for the Equinox. Chevrolet launched the Aveo small car as a 2004 model and the Equinox entry-level sport wagon as a 2005 model.
The research group Millward Brown of Southfield, Mich., calls the "American Revolution" tag line the eighth-most-recognizable auto advertising slogan. It compared the Chevrolet campaign to other long-standing automotive campaigns.
In a new commercial, a car carrier hauling 10 new Chevrolets breaks down in the desert. A Silverado shows up and tows the car carrier away.
Chevrolet is broadening the "American Revolution" campaign in other media.
In September the automaker will team up with Conde Nast magazines to sponsor a concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Beyonce, David Bowie, Outkast and Black Eyed Peas are scheduled to perform.
Chevy is launching an advertising and marketing campaign in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco aimed at Asian-American shoppers. The campaign carries the tag line "New Era Revolution."
Chevrolet also plans a campaign targeting Hispanic customers. It is called "Subete," Spanish for "come on board."
