While I was watching my tragic Vikings lose yet another game this season, my wife and I started talking about the general quality of advertisements that have been filling the channels lately. Although there were some disagreements (as usual) we both could agree on one thing. The following Chevy commercial is pretty much one of the greatest commercials ever.
Apparently this commercial was a winner in a short film contest.
Despite the success of the commercial, Chevy has apparently been reviewing the "Chevy Runs Deep" campaign based on concerns that it doesn’t sufficiently "resonate" with consumers. (See here and here.) Personally, I love the "story" aspect of the campaign and the efforts to make people think of Chevy as something other than a way to get from point A to point B. However, does this actually sell more product? It seems that in a saturated market where competitors are constantly touting features, an ethereal approach such as Chevy’s has the strong potential to miss the mark.
I think an emotional response is a good component to have in a branding campaign, but there’s a fine balance that needs to be attained between emotional response and actual information. After all, if I’m going to be dropping tens-of-thousands of dollars on a vechile, I want to know what my money is getting me. The commercial, while entertaining, doesn’t necessarily make me want to buy a Chevy. So, if you were Chevy, where would you go from here?