Chevrolet’s ‘Find New Roads’ Marketing Message More Global, GM’s Akerson Says
The executive says “Chevy Runs Deep” worked well for the brand as it celebrated its centennial, but GM now wants to emphasize Chevrolet’s future as it expands into more markets worldwide.
DETROIT – General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson says a new marketing message for the auto maker’s Chevrolet brand will help propel worldwide sales by speaking to more consumers in more regions than previous efforts.
GM’s volume global brand changed marketing shifted gears earlier this year, dumping its “Chevy Runs Deep” tagline for “Find New Roads.” The new tagline comes from Commonwealth, a Detroit-based advertising conglomerate also responsible for “Chevy Runs Deep.”
“‛Find New Roads’ is a statement about the culture of Chevrolet,” Akerson tells WardsAuto at the North American International Auto Show. “It challenges people to go out and make that part of their life.”
Akerson says “Chevy Runs Deep” worked well for the brand as it celebrated its centennial in late 2011 and into 2012. But GM now wants to emphasize Chevrolet’s future as it expands into more markets worldwide.
Last year, Chevrolet set a record with 4.95 million sales and pushed GM’s total global deliveries to 9.2 million, a gain of 2.9% compared with 2011. It sells cars in more than 140 countries, and 60% of sales occur outside the U.S.
Unlike “Chevy Runs Deep,” “Find New Roads” also goes further than a typical advertising campaign by merging Chevrolet’s global engineering, design and retail efforts into one vision.
“And it’s underpinned by American ingenuity and American technology,” Akerson adds, claiming “Find New Roads” will speak more clearly to international markets.
“‛Chevy Runs Deep’ did not translate all that well in some markets,” he notes.
Speaking with journalists just 90 minutes after GM won North American Car of the Year honors with the ’13 Cadillac ATS and some 12 hours after the celebrated unveiling of the new ’14 Chevrolet Corvette, Akerson says the auto maker is hitting its stride on the product front.
GM also shows its redesigned fullsize pickups in Detroit, which reach dealerships later this year. Chevrolet alone will bring 13 new or redesigned models to market in the next 18 months.
“It’s been an interesting couple of years since bankruptcy,” says Akerson, who joined the GM board as it exited Chapter 11 protection in 2009 and took over as chairman and CEO in 2011.
“We had to hold the line while we kind of recharged our products, and what I think you are seeing is the emergence of a new day in (GM) product.”
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