Who was one of the best marketers of the last couple of years? Hyundai. Not even just the best car marketer. What they have been able to do is nothing short of miraculous. It was a sound long term strategy that was made successful through smart, effective marketing. And now GM has gotten its hands on Joel Ewanick, former marketing head of Hyundai. It also looks like he held out until he got the control he needs to actually be successful. Something tells me that GM is a company to look out for in the next 18 months. ewanick From Forbes.com
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GM Scores A Marketing Coup
Joann Muller, 05.05.10, 1:55 PM ET General Motors' revolving door of management continued Wednesday with the naming of a new vice president of U.S. marketing, but this one ought to be a keeper. GM snatched Joel Ewanick, Forbes' CMO of the Year in 2009, from Nissan North America, which had just hired him away from Hyundai two months ago. He's being handed perhaps the toughest job in marketing: resurrecting GM's Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands after a decades-long slide capped off by GM's 2009 bankruptcy. GM’s cars are greatly improved, but old perceptions die hard. GM’s government-sponsored bankruptcy only made the job tougher. “People are angry with GM for taking a lot of government money and they won't even consider buying a GM vehicle,” said John Wolkonowicz, automotive analyst at I HS Global Insight. “And there’s nothing they can do about it until the time is right to do an IPO [initial public offering] and they can pay the taxpayer back.” Ewanick, who will report to GM's North American president, Mark Reuss, will start May 24. He replaces Susan Docherty, whose star seemed to have fallen as quickly as it rose under new chief executive Edward Whitacre Jr. But that's the way it is at GM these days. Whitacre is pressuring executives to perform, and if they don't, they're out. In April GM's sales rose 7.2%, well off the industry's growth pace of 19.8%. So Docherty, who'd already been stripped of her sales duties, is now out as chief marketer too. (GM said Docherty's future role will be announced later.) It was Reuss who decided to replace Docherty with Ewanick just two months after he reorganized GM's sales and marketing leadership, including Docherty as vice president of marketing, declaring, "This is the winning team." Reuss was not available Wednesday to talk about his change of heart. In a statement, Reuss said, "Susan has been deeply involved in GM's sales and marketing initiatives for many years. With her drive and focus, she has laid the groundwork for solid plans and rejuvenated our agency relationships, placing us in good stead for the future. We look forward to her contribution across the business moving forward." Outside marketing experts, though, called the move long overdue. "They had their backs against the wall and they absolutely had to do this," said Peter M. DeLorenzo, a 22-year automotive marketing veteran who now runs Autoextremist.com, a blog devoted to the auto industry. Ewanick made his mark at Hyundai, where he is credited with developing last year's "Hyundai Assurance" program, which guaranteed customers could return their Hyundai purchases with no credit implications should they lose their jobs. In an interview DeLorenzo said GM had tried to hire Ewanick before he went to Nissan, but the deal fell apart because GM wanted to protect its old guard. He wrote on his blog: "Ewanick is smart enough to know that without the CMO title, and without absolute control over GM's marketing efforts, he wouldn't stand a chance to make an impact, so he walked away. Finally Mark Reuss stepped in and made it happen." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The timing isn't ideal, however, DeLorenzo pointed out. Chevrolet is about to launch an advertising campaign created by its new agency, Publicis Worldwide, reportedly featuring the tagline "Excellence for All." Cadillac's new agency, Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty, is also working on a new campaign. Ewanick will have to decide quickly whether the ads can match GM's iconic campaigns of the past--like "See the USA in your Chevrolet"--or he won't last long either. /
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GM Scores A Marketing Coup
Joann Muller, 05.05.10, 1:55 PM ET General Motors' revolving door of management continued Wednesday with the naming of a new vice president of U.S. marketing, but this one ought to be a keeper. GM snatched Joel Ewanick, Forbes' CMO of the Year in 2009, from Nissan North America, which had just hired him away from Hyundai two months ago. He's being handed perhaps the toughest job in marketing: resurrecting GM's Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands after a decades-long slide capped off by GM's 2009 bankruptcy. GM’s cars are greatly improved, but old perceptions die hard. GM’s government-sponsored bankruptcy only made the job tougher. “People are angry with GM for taking a lot of government money and they won't even consider buying a GM vehicle,” said John Wolkonowicz, automotive analyst at I HS Global Insight. “And there’s nothing they can do about it until the time is right to do an IPO [initial public offering] and they can pay the taxpayer back.” Ewanick, who will report to GM's North American president, Mark Reuss, will start May 24. He replaces Susan Docherty, whose star seemed to have fallen as quickly as it rose under new chief executive Edward Whitacre Jr. But that's the way it is at GM these days. Whitacre is pressuring executives to perform, and if they don't, they're out. In April GM's sales rose 7.2%, well off the industry's growth pace of 19.8%. So Docherty, who'd already been stripped of her sales duties, is now out as chief marketer too. (GM said Docherty's future role will be announced later.) It was Reuss who decided to replace Docherty with Ewanick just two months after he reorganized GM's sales and marketing leadership, including Docherty as vice president of marketing, declaring, "This is the winning team." Reuss was not available Wednesday to talk about his change of heart. In a statement, Reuss said, "Susan has been deeply involved in GM's sales and marketing initiatives for many years. With her drive and focus, she has laid the groundwork for solid plans and rejuvenated our agency relationships, placing us in good stead for the future. We look forward to her contribution across the business moving forward." Outside marketing experts, though, called the move long overdue. "They had their backs against the wall and they absolutely had to do this," said Peter M. DeLorenzo, a 22-year automotive marketing veteran who now runs Autoextremist.com, a blog devoted to the auto industry. Ewanick made his mark at Hyundai, where he is credited with developing last year's "Hyundai Assurance" program, which guaranteed customers could return their Hyundai purchases with no credit implications should they lose their jobs. In an interview DeLorenzo said GM had tried to hire Ewanick before he went to Nissan, but the deal fell apart because GM wanted to protect its old guard. He wrote on his blog: "Ewanick is smart enough to know that without the CMO title, and without absolute control over GM's marketing efforts, he wouldn't stand a chance to make an impact, so he walked away. Finally Mark Reuss stepped in and made it happen." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The timing isn't ideal, however, DeLorenzo pointed out. Chevrolet is about to launch an advertising campaign created by its new agency, Publicis Worldwide, reportedly featuring the tagline "Excellence for All." Cadillac's new agency, Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty, is also working on a new campaign. Ewanick will have to decide quickly whether the ads can match GM's iconic campaigns of the past--like "See the USA in your Chevrolet"--or he won't last long either. /
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