GM Wants People to See the Car as a "Hero"

Bob Lutz, General Motors's marketing chief, demanded advertising agencies the company is currently working with to come up with a new ad plan that could repair GM's severely damaged image after operating for 39 days under bankruptcy protection. But what exactly is Lutz looking to tell buyers through the new campaign?

"I don't want happy employees on the screen saying how much they enjoyed building the car," Lutz told Autonews. "I want an interesting ad that's memorable. I want people to have a positively changed perception after viewing the ad."

Additionally, the GM official denied rumors that he could fire some of the advertising agencies, after the company was criticized for the new Buick ad campaign. However, he admitted that, after setting up the new strategy, some of the agencies who are now showing positive ideas might get reviewed. Lutz expects to roll out an ingenious advertising campaign for the new GM in the next three to six months, as the company urgently needs an image makeover.

"If after strong senior management direction, the agency, for some reason, repeatedly fails to come up with a product where the customer says, "Yes! That's exactly what I want' and fails to move the needle, then obviously you start reviewing the agency," Lutz said.

"But to come into a job and not look at the way the company has approached marketing and the way the company has directed its marketing and just fire agencies and keep your internal system in place - the new agency will give you exactly the same advertising that your old agency did."