Chevrolet targets young drivers to drive sales

The car marque will produce content in partnership with other brands to adjust its marketing to catch the interests of the youth market. The aim is to attract younger buyers to its Spark and Aveo ranges.  

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Chevrolet is targeting young drivers through youth-focused brand partnerships to further boost sales outside North America.

The initiative looks to build on the success of Chevrolet’s partnership with MTV, which launched in the US last year, to help boost interest in cars among younger consumers. 

Chevrolet vice-president of US sales, service and global marketing Alan Batey told Marketing Week:
“We are getting a lot of critical insight into young consumers from our work with MTV and it is helping us to build social content that resonates with these consumers. It is something we want to expand to support the product launches we have coming up throughout the year.”

The move is part of the brand’s ‘Find New Roads’ global marketing strategy, which is to be introduced in an advertising campaign in the US later this quarter and will be rolled out to more than 140 countries. The strategy will be used across all its territories, replacing the localised approach it presently takes in each market.

Chevrolet will also continue to use its sponsorship of Premier League giants Manchester United and Liverpool FC to increase awareness and sales. The car marque attracted criticism last week after posting an online video starring players from both teams. Fans accused Chevrolet of failing to understand the rivalry between
the two.

Batey defended the ad, claiming it was meant to  showcase the “passion” and “history” behind each team outside of the UK. 

“You’re always going to get the die-hards, but that’s what makes the teams special and their fan base very powerful,” he says, adding: “We see it as a long-term partnership so we’re not going to force it. We are focusing on simple activations at the stadiums where we speak directly to fans and will also give them access to behind-the-scenes content through our social media.” 

Chevrolet will launch 20 vehicles worldwide this year as the business looks to build awareness around the new platform.

Chevrolet in numbers

  • Chevrolet sold more than 4.95 million vehicles in 2012, up 2.9 per cent year on year.
  • More than 60 per cent of sales came from outside the US with Brazil (643,000), China (627,000), Russia (205,000), South Korea (125,000) and India (92,000) among the fastest growing.
  • Chevrolet sales accounted for more than half of the 9.2 million vehicles sold by parent General Motors in 2012.
  • Chevrolet plans to launch 13 new or redesigned products in the US in 2013 and 12 additional product launches around the world.

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