Molly Peck
Director of Advertising and Sales Promotion
Chevrolet
POWER MOVE: The use of fun.’s “We Are Young” was a Super Bowl touchdown for Chevrolet in 2012. Peck, a General Motors vet, scores points for her appointment at the company.
THE RUNDOWN: Chevrolet started 2013 with a new tag line (“Find New Roads”), a new advertising strategy (using the Grammy Awards as its launchpad versus the Super Bowl for the first time) and a new marketing head in Molly Peck, who previously worked on Cadillac.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the powerful auto brand’s commitment to music. From its heavily integrated presence at South by Southwest to long-standing marketing partnerships with the Grammys, the Country Music Assn. and the Billboard Music Awards, Chevy has a more diverse and extensive music strategy than any of its competitors. And a heftier budget, too — the brand spent $622 million on measured advertising from January to November 2012, according to Kantar Media, far more than other active music supporters like Hyundai (which spent $262 million during that period.)
“We know that music is a shorthand for our messages . . . It’s a big part of American culture and we have a rich history with it,” Peck says, citing Chevy’s unpaid shout-outs in iconic oldies, including Don McLean’s “American Pie” and Bob Seger’s “Night Moves.” As the brand proved during last year’s Super Bowl spot featuring fun.’s “We Are Young,” it can even turn hit songs into bona fide smashes.
“Our agency [Goodby] is exceptionally good at finding the right music to bring the spot to life and make consumer connections,” Peck says, noting that the Find New Roads campaign will be anchored by another big synch. “We want to continue that track record.”
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