Advertising
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One of the biggest concerns among electric-car advocates is GM's ability to create and sustain a smart, coherent, clever, and explanatory marketing campaign for its new 2016 Chevrolet Volt. The plug-in hybrid with a 50-mile range will arrive on the market in the second half of this year, but Chevy just released its first commercial for the car on YouTube yesterday. DON'T MISS: 2016 Chevrolet Volt: 50-Mile Range, 41 MPG, Five Seats, All New (Photos) The ad has music--with an inoffensively techno sound--but no voiceover, which is refreshing. More than half the minute-long ad is simply shots of...
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Top Electric-Car Advertisers: Nissan And, Surprise, Kia--Chevy Not So Much
Nissan and Kia are big spenders on electric-car advertising, but not Chevy.
Stephen Edelstein -
Lexus CT 200h Hybrid Ad Slams Electric BMW i3: Gloves Come Off: FURTHER UPDATE
A new Lexus hybrid ad depicts electric cars as woefully inconvenient.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Fuel-Cell Ad Asks: Are You 'The Bold Few' Or A 'Handbrake'?
The piano music is somber, the announcer's voice well modulated and filled with gentle concern. Over the next year, we'll be faced with a decision to support, oppose, or even ignore the future of hydrogen-fueled propulsion. Indeed, and most likely the discussion--whether it's a flat decision is...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid Ad Shows Driver...Not Plugging In (Video)
Toyota has been quite upfront about its belief that plug-in electric cars are not the technology of the future. (It says hydrogen fuel-cell cars are.) And now this belief has appeared in the advertising for its Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid. That car is the third or fourth best-selling car with a...
John Voelcker -
2015 Kia Soul EV: Animals, Electrons, Maroon 5 (Video)
Well, it's about time: An electric-car maker is using straight-out sex appeal to market a new electric car. Even if it is, errrmmmm, rodent sex appeal. A new video posted last Wednesday uses Kia's now-familiar supersized hamsters to market the new 2015 Kia Soul EV. DON'T MISS: 2015 Kia Soul EV...
John Voelcker -
It's no secret among owners of the Chevy Volt range-extended electric car that the innovative car's advertising and marketing has been muddled at best. Now, with a new 2016 Volt to be unveiled next January, Chevrolet's recently-arrived global chief marketing officer promises that a thorough overhaul is coming. DON'T MISS: Three Years Later, Most Consumers Don't Understand The Chevy Volt That executive, Tim Mahoney, may be best-known in the business for creating the memorable campaign, "Love. It's What Makes A Subaru A Subaru." Owners to evangelize He told trade journal Automotive News that...
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Lexus Ad Not Only Sneers At Plug-Ins, But Gets Charging Wrong
Few things make electric-car advocates as cranky as criticism of their vehicles. But when the criticism is factually wrong, and comes from a carmaker that has resolutely said it doesn't think plug-in electric cars are "ready for prime time," the howling gets harsher. Perhaps Toyota's Lexus luxury...
John Voelcker -
Three Years Later, Most Consumers Don't Understand The Chevy Volt
Chevrolet's range-extended electric vehicle, the Volt, has been on sale for more than three years now. Its sales of 58,000 units so far are still small compared to more conventional vehicles, but many people will have seen one on the road by now--and seen TV ads or information on the internet. Even...
Antony Ingram -
Ford Parodies Divisive Cadillac ELR Ad With 'Upside' C-Max Video
Why do we work so hard? Because hard work means "anything is possible"--and maybe you'll get a nice pool and a fancy car out of it. At least, that's the answer if Cadillac's "Poolside" ad for its ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe was to be believed. MUST SEE: Tesla Model S To Get Titanium...
Antony Ingram -
Cadillac ELR Wasn't Originally Used In 'Provocative' Ad
In general, getting people talking about your ad is a good way to get people talking about your car. In the case of "Poolside"--an ad for the 2014 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe aired during the Oscars and the Sochi Olympics--however, not all the talk has been favorable. MORE...
John Voelcker -
2014 Cadillac ELR Ad: What Does It Say About Who Buys Electric Cars? (Video)
Well, if this is the guy who's actually going to buy a 2014 Cadillac ELR, there may be some interesting conversations to come with Nissan Leaf owners. This ELR driver is a hard-charging, self-assured, contemptuous-of-vacations, modern-home-owning middle-aged white male, as portrayed in a recent...
John Voelcker -
The Winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, are now underway, and official partner BMW is using the games to promote its two plug-in offerings, the i3 and i8. Three different commercials will be broadcast during NBC's coverage of the games, focusing on different aspects of the BMW-i lineup. One spot, 'Hello Future', will cover the BMW-i brand itself. Another, 'SHHH', focuses on the i3, the automaker's recently-launched electric and range-extended city cars. The third spot carries the name 'Sightings' and advertises the eagerly-awaited i8 plug-in hybrid sports car. 'Hello Future' is a...
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2013 Toyota RAV4 EV Ads: Narrow Focus To Reach Electric-Car Buyers
Ads for the RAV4 EV will target specific, tech-savvy buyers in the California cities where the car is sold.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan Leaf Ad Crosses A Line: 'Not Why Electric; Why Gas?'
The question isn't, "Why electric?" It's, "Why gas?" And with those eight words, Nissan marketers crossed a line that no other established carmaker has dared to cross. In a 20-second ad for the 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car now running on television--you may already have seen it--Nissan said it out...
John Voelcker -
Hey, Electric-Car Fans: Are You 'The Electric Generation'?
Marketing plug-in electric cars isn't all that easy. There are many different reasons people buy electric cars, and for the mass market, the high prices against gasoline cars of the same size can lead to sticker shock. So among the many efforts to put a little muscle behind explaining why plug-in...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Auris Ad Complains About Auto Emissions, Doesn't Mention Electric Cars
By now, you've probably seen it: the new ad for the Toyota Auris Hybrid. But on the off chance you haven't, here's the Cliffs Notes version: Sometime in the future, a man and woman awake in their stylish apartment. It's got enough bells and whistles and Roombas to give Michio Kaku a heart attack...
Richard Read -
Is Buying A Fiat 500e Electric Car 'Environmentally Sexy'?
We liked the 2013 Fiat 500e electric car, a lot. It may be the best of the low-volume compliance cars, in fact--though the 2014 Chevy Spark EV and 2013 Honda Fit EV are pretty great too. We're less sure how we feel about the ad campaign Fiat is using to pitch the car, under the tagline...
John Voelcker -
Take one very small Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric minicar with a flower decal on the side. Fold in three severe Belgian elderly ladies with disapproving looks. Incorporate one blatantly obvious occurrence of plumber butt in public. Then add one young motorcycle police officer to the resulting mix. Stir to a one-minute boil with a mildly hiphop backing track. The result: A surprisingly amusing ad for a Belgian car rental service's new electric fleet. Or as the Google Translate version of the YouTube caption says, "What happens when you put three plucky tomatoes in an electric car?" What do you...
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Selling Electric Cars, Hybrids: Does Saving Green Matter More Than Going Green?
Electric cars might have plenty of environmental benefits over their combustion cousins, carmakers are finding that angle a hard one to benefit from. In fact, it's much more likely modern electric cars will be sold on the back of plain, simple cost savings, says Bloomberg. It presents an unusual...
Antony Ingram -
Who Will Drive BMW i3 Electric Cars? Waify Metrosexuals, According To Ad
Although its arrival is still months away, we already know a lot about the all-electric BMW i3. We have a good idea of its range (with and without the optional range-extender), we've hypothesized about its sticker price, and a few lucky journalists have even gotten to drive around in it. But...
Richard Read -
Citroën Tidies Up The Vatican's Black Smoke Problem In Clean Diesel Ad
To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast, but social media moves faster." Think of the Harlem Shake phenomenon: one minute it was an obscure YouTube meme, the next, it was being performed by a bunch of Today show employees. If marketers want to jump on a trend, they have to move at...
Richard Read -
2013 Nissan Leaf TV Ad: Selling Electric-Car Fun, Finally!
The 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car has some lofty sales goals associated with it--certainly higher than the 9,750 deliveries that Nissan averaged each year in 2011 and 2012. So it's encouraging to see a new television ad for the 2013 Leaf that actually highlights the fun and special features of...
John Voelcker -
Would You Like To Buy A Tank Of Gas For $2.50? (Video)
Suppose you went to the gas station, filled up your car or SUV, and then the pump said you had to go inside to pay. And suppose that even though your total was $40 or $50 (maybe more), the cashier smiled and charged you ... $2.50. What would the expression on your face be? That's the premise of a...
John Voelcker