• by Karl Greenberg , October 12, 2007

Chevrolet, General Motors' largest division, is introducing what may be General Motors' most critical car launch on Wednesday, when it kicks off the campaign for the 2008 Malibu. The company will position the redesigned car, which carries a suggested retail price of $19,995, as an aesthetic tour de force and a value: a high-end ride at a mid-range price.

The campaign, under the "American Revolution" Chevrolet brand banner, will be a tripartite effort beginning with a one-day roadblock of Web portals, as well as automotive, sports and lifestyle Web sites. Part one will also include Malibu ads online and during broadcasts of MLB 2007 League Championships and World Series, plus prime-time network and cable television. Outdoor and print ads will accompany.

Kim Kosak, general director of Chevrolet advertising and sales promotion, says that while the campaign includes one of the larger interactive pushes for Chevrolet, there's no getting away from TV. "These people watch a lot of TV," she says, explaining that both Internet and TV will be hallmarks within the first of the three phases comprising the campaign.

The theme line for the effort, via Troy, Mich.-based Campbell-Ewald, "The car you can't ignore," reflects both the media strategy--particularly during the initial "disrupt" phase on Wednesday--as much as the reality of the segment, says Kosak. "We want to get to [mid-sized-sedan buyers] who haven't been paying attention to domestic automakers, shock the system and tell them we have a vehicle to compete with Camry and Accord."

The portal takeover, she says, aims to deliver 800 million impressions, reaching 80% of the online Web users. "Normally on Chevy.com, we have about 5 to 5.5 million unique visitors per month. We anticipate 4.5 million on the day we launch the portal roadblock," she says.

Kosak says that the challenge when launching a car in the mid-sized sedan market, the largest segment of the auto market, is that marketers can perceive consumers as a homogeneous mob. "So our challenge was, how do you dissect this market and have media approaches that speak to the unique segments within it?"

She says the company did more research than it ever has prior to launching a car into the mid-sized area of the market. The company wound up with four generally defined segments within the market. "Then," says Kosak, "we developed media plans and creative plans."

For example, while Chevrolet will tout Malibu through an association with MLB, the details of which are still being ironed out, the company is also launching a multi-platform program with Conde Nast Publications. The promotional relationship is aimed at giving women a look at the vehicle through magazine inserts, co-branded promotional and grassroots activity, and fashion events.

The Conde Nast effort for Malibu, which began when the car was displayed at its Media Group's 4th Annual Fashion Rocks concert, includes a fourth-quarter mall tour that brings the car to 10 markets. That deal also gets Malibu involved in Lucky magazine's "Lucky Shops," a sales event this month for readers in New York, offering products from advertisers at discounts, free cocktails, gift bags, music, and giveaways.

Chevrolet, says Kosak, will promote the car with a branded "Malibu-tique," at which the car will be displayed and Malibu-themed items--purses, clutches, watches and the like--designed by Filipino-American designer Rafe Totengco, will be on sale.

MalibuShops.com will be the destination for an insert, with a four-season theme, in nine Conde Nast titles, per Kosak. The site includes a sweepstakes, dangling a chance for a winner to get a shopping junket to New York that includes tickets to a concert by Mary J. Blige.

Kosak said the partnership with Conde Nast was a team project, with the magazine developing the program for Chevrolet. "What we did was go to New York and brief Conde Nast. We felt that if Malibu is about exquisite design, who do we want to market with? We'd had a relationship with Conde Nast, so they were in at the ground floor. We met with Richard Beckman; he assembled his team, and we briefed them.

The second phase, says Kosak, is aimed at debunking skepticism by building credibility through third-party endorsements. More traditional advertising won't kick off until the first quarter next year. Noteworthy will be a TV spot during that period, which does something new for Chevrolet: use Chevy trucks and SUVs as halo vehicles for Malibu. Traditionally, Chevrolet has kept its truck marketing distinct from cars. But next year, Chevy will leverage its truck equity to tout Malibu, with ads that assert that Malibu comes "From hands and minds that develop the longest-lasting trucks on the road."

Kosak says the approach makes sense because vehicles like Chevy Tahoe, Suburban and Avalanche tend to share the garage with imported mid-sized sedans like Camry and Accord. "So we have a chance to reach these people."

The broad objective, says Kosak, is to project the car as "flawlessly aspirational. Think of Target," she says. "They compete with Wal-Mart but act like Nordstrom. Yes, this is a skeptical audience. It's not a silver bullet, it's not 'here's the new Corvette.' But you have a group of people who are looking for an alternative. Chevrolet is a strong brand, and there's a tremendous value story."