Chevrolet’s innovative advertisements have resonated to consumers for many years and continue to bring their brand to life. The article features retired ad executives looking back on some of Chevy’s greatest hit ads and reflecting upon the company’s growth throughout the years. The article introduces five great campaigns: The Heartbeat of America, Genuine Chevrolet, Like a Rock, Malibu, and An American Revolution.
Each of these campaigns has contributed to Chevrolet’s success and has made their brand renowned in the consumer eye. The article relates to the text through a variety of ways.Foremost, the article demonstrates how the markets are concentrating on a more emotional appeal to build relationships with their consumers. Advertising appeals are very important in regards of attracting the attention of a target audience. Likewise, the executing style of the message is equally as important.
In the first campaign that is featured in the article, “The Heartbeat of America”, Chevrolet uses audio as a creative tactic to draw in their consumers. According to our textbook, music can be central to the message the ads are trying to send (Belch). This concept is exactly what Chevrolet employed in The Heartbeat of America campaign.The music embodied the campaign. It would have been good, but not great, without that music,” Dannielle Hudler expressed (Halpert).
Similarly, the Like a Rock campaign used Bob Seger’s song to emphasize the brand’s attributes and connect to the target consumer. According to Chevrolet General Manager, Kurt Ritter, “Like a Rock captured the physicality of the truck, the independence of the truck buyer, and the vehicle’s durability” (Halpert). Not only did the song embody the brand benefits, but the potential owner benefits as well. Although music can add great power to campaigns, achieving the rights to a specific song can be difficult.In class, we learned that a company must be licensed to use Mac for months to give permission to use the song.
It was a tough process, but the manager finally granted permission and the ad was a hit. The way a marketer positions a product is a strategic process that is essential for an effective ad. The position of a product or brand is the key factor in communicating the benefits it offers and differentiating it from the competition. Chevrolet’s “Malibu: The Car You Knew American Could Build” campaign took hours upon hours of researching their customer, as they wanted to develop a success tagline for their brand.
It is evident that developing a positioning strategy involves a lot of time and thought. “There are a number of positioning strategies that can be employed in developing a promotional program. For example, positioning by product attributes and benefits, price/quality, use and application, class, user, and competitors” (Belch). The Malibu campaign was extremely powerful, focusing on messages of dependability, reliability, styling and price. They used these positioning strategies to establish their brand and attract more segments of the broad market.We also saw brand positioning in the “Like a Rock” campaign.
“It was a strategic brand positioning campaign about a man and his truck and the bond between them” (Halpert). Her words demonstrate the importance of positioning a brand in a way that will connect with the target consumer’s needs. As a consumer in the high-tech world we live in today, I have high expectations when it comes to advertisements. It is not difficult to set the effective ads apart from the ‘duds. ’ Although I do not recall seeing a couple ads mentioned in the article, the “Like a Rock” campaign sparks a past association.As mentioned earlier, the ad contains Seger’s “Like a Rock” song and embodies the message Chevrolet intended to send.
Every time the infamous commercial aired on the screen while watching a program, I found myself always singing along. Not only did the song used for this campaign represent the brand’s benefits, but caught my attention every time, which formed my association with the Chevrolet truck. This creative tactic they used is very effective considering it acts as the central message and has quite the catchy lyrics. My major—Apparel Merchandising—and marketing relate to each other in many ways.Throughout the past apparel courses I’ve taken, I’ve learned a lot about brands and how company’s market these brands in the most beneficial way for them and their customers. There is one major similarity with apparel merchandising and marketing that stands out—that is the focus of each business.
The focus has shifted from the desire of gaining short-term financial returns to the desire of building long-term relationships. Companies seem to be working towards this long-term goal by taking a more emotional approach with their business.For example, Chevrolet takes an emotional approach in almost all of their ads—especially the ones the article reflects upon. They have moved beyond the rational appeal to achieve a more emotional bond with their consumers. In the retail industry, businesses build a promotional plan through appealing to their customer’s feelings.
For instance, the store I worked for this past summer promoted and advertised their products through personal fitting cards, special loyalty programs, and superior customer service that always exceeded the customer’s expectations.These tactics allowed employees to connect with customers on a more personal level, which they always appreciated. Chevrolet’s ad strategies have been extremely effective for their business. Appealing to their customers emotionally and positioning their brand in the most effective way has allowed their business to be successful. The first discussion question that comes to mind is, who has seen any of the Chevrolet commercials and how does the music choice appeal to you? My second question is, in what areas do you think Chevrolet needs to improve in with their ads?
