The Detroit Free Press
Move is latest creative shift for automakers
In another painful blow to Detroit's advertising community, Chevrolet is ending its 90-year relationship with Campbell-Ewald, the agency that drummed "See the USA in Your Chevrolet," "Baseball, Hotdogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet" and "Like a Rock" into the national consciousness.
Chevrolet is shifting its truck advertising to Publicis Groupe offices in Dallas and Seattle four months after that agency took over the account for Chevy's passenger cars and crossover vehicles. Chevrolet's creative account is estimated at $30 million a year, according to trade publication AdWeek.
"This is a big deal, another cultural shift for this town that's been rocked by a number of them over the last five years," said Peter DeLorenzo, a former Campbell-Ewald creative director and founder of Autoextremist.com.
Earlier this year, Chrysler ended a 65-year relationship with Troy-based BBDO as part of a strategy to choose separate agencies for its four brands.
"This was the knockout punch," said Mike Bernacchi, a University of Detroit Mercy marketing professor. "It goes to prove that it's a business, period. Relationships today unfortunately don't mean that much."
Jim Campbell, Chevrolet marketing vice president and no relation to the agency's founder, issued a statement thanking Campbell-Ewald for "their many years of dedicated and loyal service."
Bill Ludwig, Campbell-Ewald CEO, said the agency will continue to diversify its portfolio, 75% of which comes from clients other than Chevrolet.
Among those clients are GM's OnStar, Ghirardelli chocolates, Minneapolis-based Medtronic, Kaiser Permanente, a major health insurance company on the West Coast, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Wyndham Worldwide hotel and resort operator.
Campbell-Ewald has about 1,100 employees working in Warren, Los Angeles and San Antonio. A company spokeswoman said it was too soon to know how many jobs might be lost as a result of the Chevrolet decision.
Less than a year after their historic bankruptcy restructurings, General Motors and Chrysler have reached out to new agencies to reinvigorate brands that suffered through the uncertainty and shrinking market share that was part of their reinvention.
In January, Cadillac selected Bartle Bogle Hegarty of New York and London to succeed Modernista, a Boston-based shop that took over the account in 2006. Chrysler selected Fallon of Minneapolis to craft ads for the Chrysler brand and Portland-based Wieden and Kennedy to resuscitate Dodge's brand image.
Whether agencies from outside Detroit can change perceptions of domestic carmakers remains to be seen.
"Clients inevitably get the advertising they deserve," said Autoextremist's DeLorenzo. "It's only as smart and visionary as they are able to muster. It's easy to find fault with the agency, but it's much harder for any company to transform itself."
Chevrolet is shifting its truck advertising to Publicis Groupe offices in Dallas and Seattle four months after that agency took over the account for Chevy's passenger cars and crossover vehicles. Chevrolet's creative account is estimated at $30 million a year, according to trade publication AdWeek.
"This is a big deal, another cultural shift for this town that's been rocked by a number of them over the last five years," said Peter DeLorenzo, a former Campbell-Ewald creative director and founder of Autoextremist.com.
Earlier this year, Chrysler ended a 65-year relationship with Troy-based BBDO as part of a strategy to choose separate agencies for its four brands.
"This was the knockout punch," said Mike Bernacchi, a University of Detroit Mercy marketing professor. "It goes to prove that it's a business, period. Relationships today unfortunately don't mean that much."
Jim Campbell, Chevrolet marketing vice president and no relation to the agency's founder, issued a statement thanking Campbell-Ewald for "their many years of dedicated and loyal service."
Bill Ludwig, Campbell-Ewald CEO, said the agency will continue to diversify its portfolio, 75% of which comes from clients other than Chevrolet.
Among those clients are GM's OnStar, Ghirardelli chocolates, Minneapolis-based Medtronic, Kaiser Permanente, a major health insurance company on the West Coast, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Wyndham Worldwide hotel and resort operator.
Campbell-Ewald has about 1,100 employees working in Warren, Los Angeles and San Antonio. A company spokeswoman said it was too soon to know how many jobs might be lost as a result of the Chevrolet decision.
Less than a year after their historic bankruptcy restructurings, General Motors and Chrysler have reached out to new agencies to reinvigorate brands that suffered through the uncertainty and shrinking market share that was part of their reinvention.
In January, Cadillac selected Bartle Bogle Hegarty of New York and London to succeed Modernista, a Boston-based shop that took over the account in 2006. Chrysler selected Fallon of Minneapolis to craft ads for the Chrysler brand and Portland-based Wieden and Kennedy to resuscitate Dodge's brand image.
Whether agencies from outside Detroit can change perceptions of domestic carmakers remains to be seen.
"Clients inevitably get the advertising they deserve," said Autoextremist's DeLorenzo. "It's only as smart and visionary as they are able to muster. It's easy to find fault with the agency, but it's much harder for any company to transform itself."
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