BrandMatters

General Motors Leverages Back to When the Brand Was Really Iconic

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Everything that is old is new again. General Motors is now reminding Baby Boomers and newer generations what a real icon GM was … and is. These billboards present GM as an icon of American style, 50’s rebellion, and the freedom that a car provided in times before environmental concerns and sky-rocketing fuel prices.

Chevy used those billboards at the Woodward Dream Cruise – a temporary classic car show in Detroit.

In these depictions, GM are energising their brand as a heritage icon, and nostalgia for a carefree youth. GM owners are appealing to their core audience, reminding them GM represents something cool. The ads also embrace their audience with a self-conscious irony, reminding them that they too are cool for choosing and loving GM.

These demonstrate that GM has plenty of power to appeal to it’s mainstay audience, while also speaking to younger audiences who also resonate with the American heritage GM is presenting as their own. Think how the Gen X’s and Y’s loved the movie Grand Turino. They also evidence a period when American motor vehicle design stood out and was at its absolute best.

The world’s strongest brands build an emotional connection with their customers – both prior and future. Anyone who ever owned one of these cars would have a very warm glow. The extent to which they would move prospects to the Showroom for a 2011 Chevy is an entirely different question. But creating relevance and an emotional connection with a new sector and drawing from the past is not a bad start.

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