For about a week, the Detroit-based automaker has given consumers a glimpse of some of those roads with the ''Find New Roads Anthem'' ad which debuted Feb. 10 during the 55th annual Grammy Awards.
DETROIT- As General Motors Co. overhauls its Chevrolet lineup this year, consumers should expect the vehicles featured in the brand’s new ad campaign to not just "Find New Roads," but pave their own.
From an exciting speed race with the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stringray sports car to upbeat, high-energy ads for smaller passenger vehicles like the Sonic and Spark, Chevy’s "Find New Roads" global ad campaign looks to separate the vehicles from their competitors, as well as each other.
“It is the start of a new campaign and a new direction for us,” said Chris Perry, Chevrolet vice president of global marketing, during a phone interview with MLive.com/auto. “We see it as kind of the evolution of Chevrolet moving forward.”
For just over a week, the Detroit-based automaker has given consumers a glimpse of some of those new roads with the “Find New Roads Anthem” ad that debuted Feb. 10 during the 55th annual Grammy Awards.
The 90-second commercial (embedded above) is the first television spot of the campaign and is comprised of parts of upcoming 60-second ads for each vehicle featured.
“The whole campaign was put together into that Anthem spot,” Perry said. “Over the next several weeks and months, you’ll see each of those individual model spots being revealed on TV and online.”
Chevy is set to launch 13 new or significantly redesigned models in the U.S. in 2013.
Perry would not release exact details of any advertising plans for the future releases, but said each vignette in the new ad portrays a different personality for each of the vehicles.
“That’s the great thing about the Chevrolet lineup is it’s not a set of Russian dolls,” he said. “We have a variety of vehicles that fit the needs of a variety of different consumers with their own personality.”
A 60-second version of Anthem is continuing to air on television. As of Friday, the 90-second version will run on thousands of theater screens across the country before the start of movies, according to Perry.
Anthem and a new 30-second spot for the 2013 Traverse both feature the new voice of Chevrolet, actor John Cusack. The 46-year-old Evanston, Ill. native -- known for movies such as “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “High Fidelity,” “Being John Malkovich” and “Identity” -- replaced funnyman Tim Allen as the brand's voiceover talent.
Robert Kolt, a Michigan State University advertising instructor, said he feels Cusack could be a good fit as Chevy redevelops its image with the new campaign.
“It seems like a logical, fresh approach,” he told MLive.com. “The Tim Allen campaign got a lot of play, and you just look to the next step."
Kolt, also president and CEO of Okemos-based advertising and public relations firm Kolt Communications Inc., said it’s not necessarily the voiceover that makes an ad, it’s the product.
Perry said the switch was just part of the brand transitioning from the “Chevy Runs Deep” campaign to "Find New Roads."
“Tim has done such a great job for us with the new campaign, we appreciate that relationship we had,” he said. “As we went to this new campaign, we though to freshen it up, we opted to get a new voice as well.”
Even the new billboards for the campaign, which can be seen in cities nationwide, including Detroit, are attempting to take Chevy's vehicles in a new direction.
Each billboard has a standard design, but features different characteristics of each vehicle.
The billboard for the Corvette Stingray, which can be seen driving down I-75 Southbound toward downtown, is dark, almost evil looking and features a hard up angle shot of the front of the vehicle. While a billboard for the Sonic RS, which is up on I-94 Westbound heading toward Detroit, is light, colorful and features a close up of a taillight.
"We really want to highlight the design elements of our products and bring out the beauty of each of the models," Perry said
When announcing "Find New Roads" in January, GM officials said the campaign is meant to resonate with Chevrolet customers and employees alike in the brand’s more than 140 countries.
About 63 percent of Chevrolet’s sales last year came from outside of the U.S., and the new campaign and tagline are simple, flexible and understood around the world, according to GM Vice President of U.S. Sales, Service and Global Marketing Alan Batey.
“What we want this to be is something that really becomes a north star, a rallying call, for all of our internal staff every day,” he told MLive.com in January. “It’s what we do -- it’s 'Find New Roads,' and use the power of ingenuity to really inspire us.”
Email Michael Wayland: MWayland@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeWayland