Chevy picks 'Find New Roads' as tag line in global push

DETROIT -- General Motors plans to roll out a new Chevrolet advertising tag line next month, replacing the "Chevy Runs Deep" slogan with "Find New Roads."

The new theme will underpin Chevrolet marketing around the globe -- likely for many years -- as a unifying message for GM to expand its largest brand deeper into international markets.

GM will launch the tag line in the United States next month and later spread it to the other 140 markets in which Chevys are sold, the company said today.

While "Find New Roads" will be used ubiquitously in Chevy advertising, executives say it's also meant to be a guiding principle for GM's core brand, one meant to inject innovation and fresh thinking into the company's historically hidebound culture.

"It's a signature for what we are going to stand for," Alan Batey, GM's U.S. sales chief and interim global chief marketing officer, told Automotive News.

'Pushing ourselves'

"'Find New Roads' is about being innovative and pushing ourselves," Batey said. "It will drive our behavior and the way we go about our business. It's meant to challenge ourselves every day in meetings. Where is the ingenuity in this product? How are we finding new roads?"

Since spring, GM has been mulling a replacement for "Chevy Runs Deep," which was adopted in 2010 under former marketing chief Joel Ewanick. It has been criticized for failing to strengthen Chevrolet's identity and for lacking a clear translation in some languages, which limited its use in many overseas markets.

GM wanted to adopt the new global marketing strategy in time for the launch of about 20 new or significantly refreshed models this year, including 13 U.S. debuts, Batey said.

Batey's baby

Batey led the effort to develop the "Find New Roads" theme along with Chevy's creative ad agency, Commonwealth, which was formed last spring as a joint venture of Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group of Cos. The theme was well received in consumer testing in key global markets, Batey said.

Because GM intends for the tag line to be an internal vision for the brand, it got unusually close scrutiny, even receiving the blessing of GM's 16-member executive committee, Batey said.

In a statement, GM global product chief Mary Barra said: "'Find New Roads' embraces the spirit of ingenuity that has been in Chevrolet's DNA since the beginning, and it will continue to guide every aspect of our business moving forward. This is the first time we have aligned behind one global vision."

GM CEO Dan Akerson told The Wall Street Journal that the tag line "offers a challenge to people, which will give the tag line longer legs." He said: "It will also mean different things to different people because the car represents different things to different people."

The Journal reported the story earlier today. For Chevy's YouTube channel showing many of the Chevy Runs Deep television ads, click here.