Desperate Ad Wars - GM Fights back at VW and Chrysler Success

[Drew Dowdell]

Desperate Ad Wars

GM Fights back at Volkswagen and Chrysler Success

February 15th, 2010

Op Ed - Drew Dowdell - Chief Editor, CheersandGears.com

The Wall Street Journal yesterday noted that GM's marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, acknowledged that Chrysler and Volkswagen had won "the buzz war" during the Superbowl last week with their "Imported from Detroit" and Mini-Darth Vader ads respectively. Not one to simply acknowledge defeat, Ewanick sent an email back to the crew manning the GM Marketing Mothership to start buying up keywords on Google's marketing system. The idea being if someone searched for "Imported from Detroit" on Google, instead of getting the Eminem ad they were looking for, one of GM's own advertisements would appear at the top of the list before the results the user was looking for.

Is there anything wrong with this? Not in the slightest. In fact, such moves are quite typical and expected in the Google advertising game.

To Mr. Ewanick's credit, the move worked. The Chevrolet "Miss Evelyn" commercial popularity soared online. However, the Darth Vader and "Imported from Detroit" spots remained the most talked about.

Apparently, the strategy at GM was to keep the ads low-key in order to focus on the product. This strategy reeks of "Old GM". Instead of coming up with something creative, playful, and memorable, GM ran a few "Ok" ads and then bought up keywords so that people searching for the "OMG AWESOME!" ads would see the GM ads again. Super Bowl advertising requires a different type of commercial than one being run between segments of CSI: Miami reruns on a Wednesday afternoon. They need to be memorable. They don't need to be high budget (a Pug knocking down a glass door to get to a bag of Doritos anyone?), and they need to be "On Brand".

Ask a typical Super Bowl watcher (who isn't also a car fanatic) what the Darth Vader spot was advertising and they'll likely tell you a Volkswagen. They won't mention a Passat or even get the model wrong and call it a Jetta. It is just a Volkswagen ad. The same goes for Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" ad. Chrysler's commercial was supposed to highlight the new 200 Sedan, but the message taken away by most viewers what "Chrysler is back" or even more generally "Detroit is back".

Contrast that with the "Miss Evelyn" spot: Random images of a babe driving a Chevy that's flying through the air....like that's never been done before..... while two guys narrate a typically bad action movie plot. It tells you nothing... leaves you with no feeling.. and doesn't even get you to laugh.

What bothers me most about this whole thing is that GM really does have some great product now. They can afford to be more creative and witty in their advertising instead of seeing what the cool kids are doing and saying "Oh yeah!!! ME TOO!!". What makes that extra bad is that 3 out of the 4 Chevrolet spots featured during the Superbowl appeared to be fairly high budget. "Miss Evelyn" and "Lassie" both appeared to use a lot of digital special effects. The Glee-Chevrolet tie in was great to connect with the younger crowd, but I'm sure the Glee cast doesn't come cheap these days. The one spot that didn't seem high budget, didn't make up for it by being memorable.... a bunch of hard of hearing elderly people sitting around talking about the new Cruze isn't exactly something that will light up the Twitterverse. To make the creativity deficit worse, Cadillac announced a new Black Diamond edition Cadillac CTS-V just a few days before the Superbowl. Joel clearly would have known about this well in advance, so how is it that his first instinct is not to go for a Darth Vader tie in for that vehicle? After all, GM already has used that in the past.

Volkswagen's Darth Vader spot was CHEAP to produce compared to the Chevrolet ads. Chrysler, other than paying for Eminem to appear, just followed a Chrysler 200 sedan around Detroit with a camera for the better half of an afternoon. No leaping Challengers, no helicopter chases, no high end computer generated imagery.

I have to credit Joel Ewanick for his fast reaction to getting his butt kicked. However, I hope that his long term reaction is not just to buy up more Google keywords for better placement in front of his competitors, but instead to actually produce some memorable advertising. GM's advertising has been scattershot for years with many more bombs than wins. Instead of linking to the latest Super Bowl ads (which you can search for your self... just scroll down below whatever keywords Joel bought), I'm going to list some of the advertisements that GM got right over the years... hopefully they can look to their own past for some inspiration.

"Bump"

"Fanfair"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuqEyGHiq6g

"Then and Now"

"Roll"

[ocnblu]

Good article, Drew. I liked the Chevrolet ads this year, it's just that the Passat ad pulled on heartstrings most effectively, while highlighting a feature of the car. I guarantee you more non-owner people know about Volkswagen's latecoming remote start button than they do about GM's long-running use of the feature. In a way, little Darth could be seen as Everyman going through his day, enduring tiny failures, until he encounters the Passat. Suddenly, he is successful in his endeavors. Volkswagen has always had good advertising, going way back to the 60's with their self-deprecating Beetle stuff.

The Camaro ad was dryly clever, two guys fantasizing stream of consciousness about a chick in a Camaro. But it ended awkwardly and didn't really present any specific features about the car (OK, the last line of the voiceover "426 horsepower" could be construed as a "feature" I guess). The static shot of the silver Camaro at the end showed the car in too mundane of a setting, in too mundane of a color, imo. Silver was perfect for the Passat, but not for a Camaro, which is supposed to be an attention-grabbing vehicle.

[Turbojett]

I absolutely agree. I only saw the "Miss Evelyn" ad when it aired (I didn't watch the game because I don't particularly care for either team); it started out attention grabbing enough but it just died at the end with the anti-climactic ending (one of my biggest peeves). And Blu's right, silver is boring on a Camaro (and any car, really IMO). I saw the "Lassie" Silverado ad the next day on the internet (along with the Bumblebee ad) and I thought it was pretty funny. And though I didn't see it, the Glee ad sounded like it had the biggest budget and was the most extravagant.

But I also saw The Chrysler 200 ad, and the Mini-Vader ad, and they were both far more memorable. The Chrysler ad in particular stirred up some good ol' "Detroit, f*** yeah!" feeling.

Bumblebee suddenly showing up at a Chevy dealer's "Cheap" commercial, was more of a short "WTF moment" that faded almost as soon as the commercial ended. GM can do better than this, and they have. They just need new advertising people with...well, more imagination.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Turbojett

[Turbojett]

Yeah, and remember this one? This was creative. This was awesome. This was legendary, even...I mean before the uppity types complained and had it pulled...

they should do more like this.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Turbojett

[Intrepidation]

Its a good strategy when your own ads are completely forgettable. All I remember from them was the Volt was in an ad, and the Cruze had something to do with eco and old people.

Now these were clever commercials. Some of my favorites.

[hyperv6]

GM is doing better and lets just hope it continues. Like the ones above they were good but then if some group complained the ads were pulled. I have seen GM promote proformace like they have not done in years the last 6 months. Lets hope it continues.

The Chrysler Imported from Detroit do nothing for me but if they are working more power to them.

I too thought the VW spot was cute but two commercials later the Chevy is started from the airport by a woman on the airplain. There was not a man watching that did not say cool and then when she locked and unlocked the doors felt like they have been there before.

[§carlet §wordfish]

My favorite Cobalt ad was the one with the Cobalt and the Corvette playing ball in an alley, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.

Edited February 16, 2011 by §carlet §wordfish

[Intrepidation]

I as looking for that one too. I'll see if it can hunt it down.

I loved the "commotion" series. One of GM's best advertising series that I can remember.

Edit: found it.

[vonVeezelsnider]

I want to see more ads that are about what cars "feel" like rather than what they are like. Modernista! Cadillac ads were actually (I felt) very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyYq4_3fw2s

[daves87rs]

I can agree....

[Turbojett]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bksCIsjPGiE&feature=player_embedded

[knightfan26917]

Desperate Ad Wars

GM Fights back at Volkswagen and Chrysler Success

February 15th, 2010

Op Ed - Drew Dowdell - Chief Editor, CheersandGears.com

...

However, I hope that his long term reaction is not just to buy up more Google keywords for better placement in front of his competitors, but instead to actually produce some memorable advertising.

Great article, Drew.

This sentence, though, sums it up perfectly. Before when GM tried to do "memorable advertising", the product wasn't that great ... and was rather boring, too. NOW ... they have better and a bit more exciting product to showcase, so the creativity people should be in full swing to create some of the most memorable ads yet.

That means NOW.

Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic | * meet_05.21.11_FrnkGrv.IL *

MCs.CC + CHD.models.HO.legos.RadioShows + RoadTrips.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot where I was" __ Patty Loveless __ 'I Try To Think About Elvis'

[Chevy Nick]

Good article, I have nothing further to add in regards to video advertising. GM's print media could use a little more of this: