• Detroit Free Press, Tuesday, October 26, 2010 11:06 AM

Chrissie Thompson reports that Joel Ewanick, General Motors' U.S. marketing boss, threw the heads of his four ad agencies together in a room last Thursday to talk about their campaign ideas for Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC respectively, and then the "marketing board of directors" engaged in an exercise in ... let's call it "constructive criticism." An arbitrator was present to help them decide who could use what idea.

The board consists of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (Chevrolet), Leo Burnett (Buick-GMC), McCann-Erickson Worldwide (GM corporate) and Fallon (Cadillac). Ewanick says GM needs to return to the vision of "a car for every purse and purpose" held long ago by hallowed chairman Alfred Sloan. Under that model, consumers graduated to more prestigious brands as their tastes changed and buying power increased.

The new marketing theme, "Chevy runs deep," won't appear in every ad for a Chevrolet product. Ads for the Volt extended-range electric vehicle, for example, will use the "It's more car than electric" theme, Ewanick says. The company relented on its injunction for employees to stop using "Chevy" after widespread consumer reaction.

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