Marketing boss Ewanick: 'We've got to get back to telling our story'

DETROIT -- Joel Ewanick, General Motors Co.'s new marketing chief, says he'll keep bringing in new blood until the automaker gets its marketing messages right.

"My boss, Mark Reuss, asked me to bring people into the organization that will challenge the way we look at things," Ewanick said, referring to GM's president of North America.

"As you go through a war and you get too close to things, you forget. You forget to see things through the eyes of the consumer."

Ewanick's message is a complicated mix of change and restoration of the themes and strategies that made GM great.

For instance, he wants to tap into the deep connection between Chevrolet and American car buyers. All of GM's brands must relearn how to tell their stories in advertising to establish strong identities, Ewanick said.

First, though, GM must end the bad habits that thrived in the years leading up to last year's bankruptcy. Marketing, he said, cannot be dominated by eight to 10 sales events a year to clear vehicle inventory. The culture must change to avoid slow, data-soaked decision-making. And GM executives must learn that what sells cars is talking about the brands, not GM.

Ewanick predicted that more staff churn would occur in GM marketing as he brings in fresh eyes to find the themes that will sell a product lineup he found to be surprisingly strong when he came to the company 90 days ago.

Ewanick, 50, already has lured to GM two of his top marketing lieutenants at Hyundai Motor America: Chris Perry and Liz Boone. Perry is leading Chevrolet marketing, while Boone is responsible for all brand advertising.

In an interview with Automotive News last week, Ewanick said his team at Hyundai came up with its Hyundai Assurance program by listening to consumers air their fears about buying any vehicle in a job-searing recession.

Ewanick said that among his biggest challenges is moving GM to a systematic strategy of promoting brands instead of rushing from one sales event to another.

"We're moving sheet metal instead of telling our story," Ewanick said. "We've got to get back to telling our story. What do we want to tell people about Chevrolet?"

Ewanick said that to relax, he likes to watch auto auctions on cable TV. The shows reinforce for him the visceral connection that millions of Americans feel for specific brands of automobiles.

He said he noticed that most of the cars auctioned are GM products, and a lot are Chevrolets. He said he was surprised that one Chevrolet station wagon from the '60s sold for $35,000. That's the kind of feeling that GM's four brands must tap into.

"We're going to remind you from time to time that we're part of the fabric of society," Ewanick said.

While working in California, he occasionally hung out with friends in Nevada who worked on ranches and loved their pickups.

"It's fun to observe them and how trucks fit into the culture of people -- and the banter that goes back and forth between real truck people," Ewanick said.

Ewanick said the GM name is being erased from ads and marketing to allow each of the four brands -- Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac -- to shine.

He said the chances are "remote" that the GM name will appear in any future ads.

"Consumers don't buy General Motors. General Motors sells nothing," Ewanick said.

He said GM is questioning 8,000 people in a study to help position the four brands. The marketing department is trying to replicate the discipline that he has seen in engineering and product development to systemically move the brands forward.

GM's marketing budget will rise 3 to 5 percent next year, he said. But with four fewer brands than in 2009, the money will go much further.

Ewanick said GM is re-evaluating how much, if any, additional money will flow to local marketing groups of dealers that pool money from retailers and the factory to market brands in specific metro areas.

He said GM dealers just went through a process of determining their strategies and allocation, and he wants to be careful not to upset existing plans.

But Ewanick added: "My guess is yes, we'll be looking to allocate those dollars differently."