The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer has been named MotorTrend SUV of the Year.
Steve Majoros has been involved in Chevrolet marketing for 35 years, and now he's finally taking the reins. He has some ideas about where he wants to take one of America's most iconic brands from here.
“As Chevrolet gets bigger, we're facing some interesting dilemmas as a brand,” Majoros, who has been the brand's chief marketing officer since last year, told me. “We're positioning ourselves for a pretty dynamic future.”
These choices for Chevrolet include, for example, how hard to push the brand and its lineup in the transition to an all-electric future. Chevrolet has added the ubiquitous Equinox compact SUV, the revived Blazer SUV nameplate, and, perhaps surprisingly, an EV version of its Silverado pickup truck, making the brand more popular in spreading technology to General Motors customers. gave it an important position alongside Cadillac.
At the same time, GM has decided to scrap the current version of Chevrolet's truly pioneering all-electric vehicle, the Bolt. The Bolt hasn't gotten much attention in the few years it's been on the market.
“We, Bolt, and [the previous plug-in EV] Volt and Spark EV,” Majoros said. “We're not the forgotten kids in the GM portfolio. We've made GM a name for itself in EVs for over a decade. We're not just arriving at the EV party.”
Majoros pointed out that the 2024 version of the Blazer EV was named this way. motor trend This year's SUV. “EVs are among the three fastest-growing segments of the market,” he said. “So they're a big part of GM's future. But that doesn't mean we're going against the pace that the market wants. We're putting our foot down on both sides. [EV and ICE] camp. We will respond according to your wishes. ”
How to market Chevrolet's lineup and brand is an interesting question for Majoros. He started working on brands at ad agency Campbell Ewald, which had a Chevrolet account for decades, before making the jump to GM about 10 years ago after 25 years.
Majoros was indeed part of “Chevrolet's Progress,” which included themes such as “The Heartbeat of America” and “Like a Rock.”
“Having that kind of history is important to our company and to a true and deep understanding of Chevrolet and its culture and role in America,” Majoros said.
A more recent part of that legacy was a multi-year marketing campaign called “Find a New Path.” This included many advertisements in which real car consumers were “amazed” by all the great features they were led to understand as part of Chevrolet. Car and brand suggestions.
“We launched these ads during a time of product transformation,” Majoros said. “We needed to get people's attention. Chevrolet offers some of the best high-tech, safe, cutting-edge new products on the market. Internally we call this 'perception disruption.' I was calling.”
But while the campaign was “factually correct, it lacked emotion in some ways,” Majoros said. “It did the job it needed to get Chevrolet on the table. It was modern and progressive. But it didn't translate into understanding the culture and Chevrolet's role in it.”
Chevrolet's new tagline, “Let's Drive,” “expresses a very powerful emotion,” he said. In our consumer research, we hear over and over again that people are tired and exhausted. They want to feel like there's something good out there. And Chevrolet is one of the brands that people respect for their health. ”
“Let’s drive,” he said, “to unite and to the people. [advanced] Providing transportation that makes them feel that way will make them feel proud of your brand and what you can accomplish with it. It’s a powerful combination.”
Exhibit A is Chevrolet's wildly popular TV spot that aired during the holidays, which the brand titled “Family Reunion,” in which an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease is left alone and dazed by her caring granddaughter. It was a story about being rescued from a child and a Christmas outing. Antique Chevrolet Suburban memory lane.
“We don't want to take over a brand like Chevrolet and move away from its dynamic history,” Majoros said. “There's something special about cars.” [brands]. Times are different now, but you'll never forget when you got your driver's license. Or memories with friends or schoolmates, road trips, or when you brought home your first child.
“These are real moments, they matter, and the cumulative buildup of these moments is important, and when your brand is associated with that, it's a very powerful position.”
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