Chevy to launch Traverse ads during Olympics
Chevy to launch Traverse ads during Olympics
Automotive News | June 30, 2008 - 12:01 am EST
ENLARGE
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| To generate buzz, Chevrolet will advertise the new Traverse two weeks before production starts. |
DETROIT — Chevrolet plans to launch its new Traverse crossover in a TV commercial during the summer Olympic Games in August.
The commercial, which is being created, likely will be 30 seconds.
Chevrolet’s marketing plan for the Traverse bucks tradition. Typically, an automaker waits until it has about 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles on dealership lots before advertising it, said Don Butler, executive director of Chevrolet truck marketing.
This launch comes two weeks before the Sept. 2 start of production but is necessary to create buzz, Butler said.
"We’re introducing an all-new vehicle for Chevrolet — a new name: the Traverse — so we really think it’ll be important to kind of get out of the gate quickly," Butler said during an interview with Automotive News.
While saying Chevrolet’s advertising budget is "competitive," Butler declined to disclose the amount.
"We need to spend enough to get our message out, which we think we’re going to do," he said.
"But we’re also going to be clever in terms of how we do that so that we make noise beyond the budget that we’re spending."
General Motors is advertising the Traverse on Chevrolet’s Web site this month. GM will ratchet up digital advertising into July, Butler said.
As for TV commercials and print ads, Chevrolet’s agency, Campbell-Ewald, is developing the creative content, Butler said.
"The fuel economy story will be one of the main components of our messaging," Butler said.
"But our messaging will be about a vehicle that can do everything that you need it to do and even a little bit beyond what you expected."
GM executives hope the Traverse will sell 100,000 to 150,000 units annually.
The two-wheel-drive base LS model is priced at $28,990, including shipping.
The crossover will be built on the Lambda architecture in GM’s plant in Spring Hill, Tenn. GM’s three other Lambda-based crossovers — the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook — are assembled at GM’s Lansing Delta plant in Delta Township, Mich.
Butler said the Traverse is targeting families and couples in their mid-40s.
