• by Karl Greenberg , January 8, 2016

Chevrolet is extending its real people — actually, “Real People, Not Actors” to be correct — campaign, centering on ads featuring folks who may or may not own a Chevrolet, but always get some surprises and perception adjustments about a brand and its vehicles that they only think they know. The most recent of these involved the new Silverado pickup. A new campaign is all about the new, redesigned 2016 Malibu sedan. 

The first spot, “Unbranded,” is what the title describes: consumers are brought together in a luxury setting in a vineyard to admire and evaluate a car, whose nameplate has been removed. As in prior ads from the campaign, viewers get the catharsis of seeing their reactions when they discover it is a Malibu.

“With the Malibu launch, we will continue to engage in authentic conversations about the product and truly surprise consumers with the exceptional design, features and technologies that they would never expect from a midsize sedan,” said Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet Marketing, in a statement.

Although there is the “Wannamaker" question about which 50% of your marketing works, Chevrolet notes that since the campaign debuted last spring, retail sales of its vehicles have increased every month — which, per the brand, gives it the biggest market share increase of any full-line brand. 

The Malibu work will be technology-focused with Apple CarPlay, Low Speed Front Automatic Braking and Teen Driver getting call-outs.

The campaign, launching the evening of Jan. 8, includes :45 cinema ads in 1,200 theaters nationwide — just before movie previews and after the lights have dimmed, per Chevrolet, which says the campaign will continue with  broadcast, digital, print and radio through the year.