0:00

Good Company is a production of I Heart Radio.

0:03

As marketers, as brands, you have

0:05

to have that balanced point of what people

0:08

can understand and process what they see

0:10

today, but what's the potential for

0:12

tomorrow and help move that along. Hi,

0:20

I'm Michael Casson. Welcome to Good

0:22

Company, where I'll explore how marketing,

0:24

media, entertainment, and tech are intersecting,

0:27

transforming our lives and the way we do business

0:29

at a breakneck speed. I'll be joined

0:31

by some of the greatest business minds and strongest

0:34

leaders who will share how they build companies from

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the ground up or transform them from the inside

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out. My bed is you'll pick up a lesson

0:41

or two along the way. It's all good.

0:44

First of all, I want to welcome everybody to Good

0:47

Company today and tell you how excited

0:49

I am to welcome Steve Majorist with

0:52

a long history and automotive advertising.

0:54

Steve joined General Motors in and

0:57

now serves as the chief marketing officer for

0:59

Chevrolet, effectively leading

1:01

the brand's marketing strategy for cars,

1:04

crossovers, performance, and

1:06

ev Steve, welcome to Good Company.

1:09

Thank you so much. It's it's great to be

1:11

here and it's nice to be able to take a break

1:13

from the madness of the auto business

1:15

to just have a little chat. So thanks

1:17

for having me, Steve. I'd love if you

1:19

could start by giving our audience

1:22

a little, you know, glimpse of your background

1:24

and how you've chartered your path

1:26

kind of both personally and professionally

1:29

towards this, you know, obviously significant

1:33

role in shepherding one of the most important

1:35

brands in the world, not just in the auto industry,

1:38

Chevrolet for sure. You know, there's the old

1:40

expression it's, you know, whatever, better to

1:42

be lucky than good, or maybe a little bit of both.

1:44

But there was probably you know, two or

1:46

three things that maybe set the course of

1:49

to your point about how how I got here. First,

1:51

my father went to University of Michigan Blue

1:54

right. So I was born in Chicago.

1:57

We were living in St. Louis, and I had three older siblings

1:59

and were about to be college age, and my

2:02

dad very crafty, we all of a sudden

2:04

picked up and moved to Michigan for some reason, and

2:06

so we found ourselves in Southeast

2:08

Michigan, which is we all know is the headquarters

2:10

of you know, General Motors, Chevrolet, etcetera.

2:13

So of course I went to University of Michigan because there was no other

2:15

choice, right But I was an English major,

2:17

and at the time I didn't really think what I would

2:19

do with an English major degree. You know,

2:21

things were certainly different, you know, in the late nineteen

2:24

hundreds than they are now as far as preparatory

2:26

material, and there were no internships and those

2:29

sorts of things in those days. You just kind

2:31

of picked a degree in the way you win. But I really didn't

2:33

know at the time how valuable

2:36

I believe in English degree was just

2:38

for what I wound up doing in

2:40

my career. You know, as marketers, storytelling,

2:44

crafting a narrative, those sorts of things

2:46

are are so mission critical to what we do,

2:48

and I've learned to balance that throughout the

2:50

career. Had so many great mentors and people who

2:52

have helped me, you know, with the business side

2:55

of the business. I suppose, you know, at

2:57

the time, I had two job

2:59

offers from my first job. One of

3:01

them was with Cambelle All Advertising, which had

3:03

the Chevrolet business, and one of them was

3:05

another smaller firm in Detroit. Campbelie

3:08

Wald offered me five hundred more dollars in salary,

3:10

and I was like, hey, there we go, so

3:13

Campbelie, well, here I come. Then you look

3:15

back on that, you think, wow, if I

3:17

wouldn't have done that, you know, how would

3:19

life have been different. And so those are probably

3:21

three things that I suppose set

3:23

me on a course. And again, so fortunate

3:26

to have worked with so many great

3:28

people within Campbellie, waled outside

3:31

of Campbellie well, within the years

3:33

and years, I've been engaging with general motors and

3:35

I'm the luckiest guy out there. That's that's for sure.

3:38

Steve, I too was an English major, and

3:40

I ended up practicing law for the beginning of my

3:42

career. But I always wondered, you

3:45

know, was that the right thing to do? And I

3:47

think it was because you know, as

3:49

a lawyer, language is important and

3:51

words are important, and as a

3:53

media executive and and now you

3:56

know, with media link we're in the business

3:58

of storytelling as well. So the English major

4:00

served me well. And so we we share

4:03

that in common because most lawyers,

4:05

and I was pre law, take a political

4:08

science major, which is the usual

4:10

track, and so I was a little off center

4:12

on that, but it worked out well. And as you and

4:14

I chatted earlier, the

4:17

wolverine connection is strong in my family.

4:19

As well. I didn't go to the University of Michigan,

4:21

but all three of my kids did. But Steve. It's

4:24

interesting because my background

4:26

as an English major allowed me to

4:29

play with words quite a bit. And right

4:31

now in the industry, I've started to

4:33

create a word game, and

4:36

I've found that the words that were

4:39

pivotal in the industry. And

4:41

when I described the industry, I look

4:43

at it through the lens of marketing,

4:46

media, advertising, entertainment, sports,

4:48

and technology. When I say the industry,

4:50

not the auto industry, but the kind of

4:52

marketing side of the industry.

4:55

And I said, if I was responsible

4:57

for starting a conversation in

5:00

industry, there are some words that

5:02

would be great thought starters. My bet

5:04

is those are words that you're using or

5:07

theories or strategies that you're deploying

5:09

on a daily basis. Trust, transparency,

5:12

talent, technology, transformation, content,

5:15

commerce, creativity, culture, community,

5:17

and curation. That's kind of your job.

5:19

Maybe I don't know for sure, And and those

5:21

are great words, and those are a part

5:23

of our lexicon daily, you

5:26

know, And I would add a few to

5:28

that. You know, we talk a lot about

5:30

the intersection of a company and a

5:32

culture in a country and

5:35

that's one of the unique things that that Chevrolet

5:37

is able to do. And so we're very

5:39

motivated by the sense of connection, connecting

5:42

with our customers, your notion of

5:44

trust and transparency. You know, you

5:46

think about just where we are from a business standpoint.

5:49

In the good times, selling's easy,

5:51

right, but when things get a little tricky, which

5:53

is where we find ourselves, not just in the auto

5:55

business, but just in the general business of

5:58

of no matter what category you're in, dealing

6:00

with trusted brands, making sure

6:02

that you can feel like a company that you're

6:05

doing business with is someone that you

6:07

can rely on matters. That's

6:10

been something that we were so fortunate

6:13

that we have a brand that's over a hundred years

6:15

old that has built up that sense of trust

6:18

and connection and people feel

6:20

that that it's the kind of brand that they

6:23

desire to do business with. Now, it

6:25

doesn't mean that you can't lose those

6:27

sorts of things, right, So you have to you

6:29

have to keep flexing that that muscle

6:32

all the time, and you have to the

6:34

challenge for a brand like Chevrolet is

6:37

how do we delicately and very

6:39

artfully respect that heritage,

6:41

keep building on that, but not exclusively

6:44

transact on that. We are a brand that has

6:46

a very modern, forward leaning vision. Our

6:49

path to electrification is industry leading,

6:52

and uh, we find ourselves in many

6:54

instances is across at a crossroads both

6:56

with our portfolio, with our customer

6:58

base. I mean, there are po that have long,

7:01

great relationships with Chevrolet, there are those

7:03

that don't, and so we need to equally

7:05

appeal to all those folks. And I think

7:07

we can leverage the power of the brand,

7:09

but we can also introduce the brand to

7:12

new customers. And I think that's uh, both

7:14

a challenge and opportunity and something

7:16

I think we're doing a pretty good job at. Well. I think

7:18

you're doing a great job of it, Stephen. And

7:21

let me tell you a little bit of a personal

7:23

story. Years ago, I

7:25

had the good fortune of working with the Cadillac

7:27

as I know you did in your early days at

7:29

General Motors. I think you started with Cadillac

7:31

Mistaken and I remember when

7:34

you had a campaign back in the early

7:36

aughts which was my Cadillac

7:38

Stories dot Com and it was you

7:41

may remember that, and it was a interesting

7:43

way to look back. And I've shared this

7:45

with many of your partners in General

7:47

Motors and Cadillac I had

7:50

a couple of Cadillac stories, but I also have

7:52

a couple of Chevrolet stories, and you're

7:54

right, it's that connection with the brand. My very

7:56

first car was a nineteen sixty two.

7:59

I'm not that old, but it was a hand me

8:01

down my sister Chevrolet

8:03

and paula convertible, you know

8:06

ss. But my favorite car

8:08

growing up, and this is when I was a bit older, was

8:10

a Corvette. So I have a couple

8:12

of pretty important Chevrolet

8:14

stories in my own life. When I met

8:16

my wife, I had a Corvette. She wasn't a fan

8:18

of Corvettes, and then she became a fan of Corvette.

8:21

So the whole there's a whole story

8:23

around that. But the part that I

8:25

shared was the Cadillac story was and

8:27

again it's that relationship the consumer

8:30

has to a company, but to you

8:32

know, to a brand, if you will. And

8:35

the ones I told, the ones I can share,

8:37

at least one was that time when my father

8:39

bought the first Cadillac in the late fifties

8:42

and drove up and the whole neighborhood

8:44

came out and I remember like it was

8:46

yesterday. It was a big deal.

8:48

It was a big you know that from

8:51

an Oldsmobile to the Cadillac. Was

8:54

you kind of arrived, you know, and

8:56

funny mine were Again my personal

8:59

stories were not cattle lect stories, they were Chevrolet

9:01

stories. But it's that connection with

9:03

the brand. It's that you know, comfort with

9:05

the brand and as you say,

9:08

the push around electrification and you

9:10

know, e V is being led

9:13

in such a unique way, you know

9:15

by you you know, talk

9:17

about that and talk about the role

9:19

that marketing gets to play as you're kind

9:22

of on a pretty brand scale, you

9:24

know, maybe changing the entire face of the auto

9:27

industry relative to electrification.

9:29

Yeah, it's well, you make it sound kind of daunting,

9:32

but um but it

9:35

is daunting. First of all, we are so

9:37

fortunate to play the role that we

9:40

play within the General Motors portfolio.

9:42

You know, Chevrolet has always been, you

9:44

know, a brand that has to span the

9:47

most comprehensive customer base

9:49

within the company. You know, we drive General

9:52

Motors volume, we drive share.

9:55

We have three thousand Chevrolet dealers across

9:57

the country. We sell everything from

9:59

you General Motors least expensive car to

10:02

our most expensive We're in it no

10:04

matter what GM is doing. Chevallet's in it.

10:06

And we're so lucky to play that

10:08

role and have such phenomenal

10:10

partners in design, engineering, and manufacturing

10:12

and our dealers that you know, that really make

10:14

it all worthwhile. But we do we we find

10:17

ourselves, you know, at the forefront of

10:19

uh, you know, a mobility transformation,

10:22

and you know it's something from a Chevallet

10:24

standpoint. Interestingly, you

10:26

know, we didn't just kind of wake up

10:28

and say, hey, we might want to dabble in this electrification

10:31

space here. You know, we've been at it for over ten years.

10:33

And so you know, a lot of people when

10:36

they think of Chevrolet and look, we love

10:38

these stories. Some people think of Chevrolet

10:40

and they think of, you know, the Chevy truck

10:42

that has gotten them through tough times. They think

10:44

about a suburban that's been the vehicle

10:46

that's carried people in dreams

10:48

and memories. They think about the Corvette

10:50

as you spoke. We have a lot of people that have

10:53

been living the Chevrolet Electric story

10:55

for over ten years. We've had not

10:57

one, but two generations of the Chevallet Vault.

11:00

We've now on the Bowl EV and now

11:02

the Refresh Bowl EV and the Bowl EUV, the

11:04

Spark EV. So we've been learning

11:06

on this journey and we've been slowly building

11:09

a base of of customers and

11:11

expertise to help us. And so where

11:14

we find ourselves now with all the great

11:16

work again that the team has done to

11:18

bring the Ltium platform and the products

11:21

that we're starting to see now with the phenomenal

11:23

Cadillac Lyric and the Hummer SUV

11:25

and s UT, but that Altium platform

11:28

is going to be really the great enabler for

11:31

really the more mainstream, volume based products.

11:33

Look, we know the kinds of vehicles that Americans

11:36

want, and that's one thing that Chevrolet has

11:38

always done an outstanding job, and which

11:40

is provide the vehicles that Americans

11:42

are looking for. And there's no doubt right now it's

11:45

about trucks, it's about performance

11:47

vehicles, it's about sport utilities

11:49

and crossovers. And that's what we're going to bring to market

11:51

with the Equinox EV, Blazer EV and

11:53

Silverado EV. And yes, we've talked about things

11:56

like an electrified corvette,

11:58

and and there's certainly other ings that

12:00

will come at another time, but for right now,

12:03

having the ability to really bring mainstream

12:06

products to the market that are electrified.

12:09

And the interesting thing is, you

12:11

know, early on we've learned a lot in

12:13

this space. But uh, you know a couple

12:15

of things we've learned. Number one is, you

12:17

know, consumers don't want ev

12:20

s to be science projects. You know, early

12:22

on you almost had to overtly telegraph

12:24

to people, you know, look at me, I'm

12:26

driving an e V because it looks quirky

12:29

and what have you, and you almost had to stand out.

12:31

And now people are like, I know what I

12:33

want. I want to gree up a vehicle with great

12:35

design, great styling, the capability

12:38

that I am used to, regardless

12:40

of propulsion type. I wanted from

12:42

a brand that I trust, and I want to

12:44

know that this is going to meet the needs I

12:46

have for my basic transportation

12:48

needs capability, towing,

12:51

cargo, passenger safety,

12:54

and I want to feel good driving it. You know, these

12:56

are massive purchases

12:58

in importance and from a

13:00

financial standpoint. I mean quite often we say

13:02

it's the second most expensive thing that

13:04

people will purchase, right, you know, in

13:09

the car. And so you know, early on

13:11

it was you know, you called early e

13:13

V adopters, you know, green collar,

13:16

right, and that certainly there's a you

13:18

know, an environmental and you know that sort of

13:20

been to it. But green collar is

13:22

also is this right, does it

13:24

fit what I need from a financial

13:26

standpoint and from a vehicle performance standpoint.

13:28

So there's an awful lot that we've been doing in

13:31

that space. And I think what you're gonna see is what

13:33

GM has done for a hundred years. GM

13:35

is about to do for Chevrolet again, which is unleash

13:38

a portfolio onto the marketplace.

13:41

That's gonna, we think, and we know, captivate

13:44

people's attention. They're going to be wowed

13:46

by the design and the capability, and

13:48

they're gonna be wowed by the price points

13:50

because that's what makes Chevrolet

13:53

Chevrolet. We haven't veered from

13:55

that mission for over a hundred years, and we're

13:57

not going to start varying from it now. It's

14:00

so interesting to hear that, Steve and your

14:02

perspective. Let's talk about the role

14:05

though marketing is playing. So last

14:07

year you had great success in

14:09

a sort of emotional

14:11

campaign, and my understanding is

14:13

you've just issued a new campaign,

14:16

Mrs Hayes, which kind of

14:18

tugs at the heart strings and builds on

14:20

the momentum that you had last year. Because

14:22

as you just said, it's one thing to

14:25

deliver the choice and the auto

14:27

you know, selection and the veritable

14:30

cornucopia of models you just listed,

14:32

which that alone is probably a job

14:34

to just keep all of that, you know, straight,

14:37

But the role that marketing can play, and you

14:39

know, your decision to kind of create

14:42

yet another campaign in a positive way

14:44

that you know has that heart string and that nostalgia.

14:48

Again, you try to be a reflection of

14:50

the direction of the consumer and be ahead

14:52

of the consumers, so not only waiting

14:54

for them to point you in the direction, but you leading

14:56

them. What was the impetus for that? If

14:58

if you can share, there's always a

15:00

strategic story behind everything,

15:03

and then there's you know, the story behind the

15:05

story you're referring to. We

15:07

call it a holiday card to America. We

15:09

started it last year. That spot was

15:11

called Holiday Ride and it was a very

15:14

simple story of a restoration

15:16

of a product, you know that was a sixty six and

15:18

Pala that had a very special meaning and memory

15:21

to an individual's life, and how a community

15:23

came together and refurbished this

15:25

car and it really struck a chord. And

15:27

I think, look, we like to say that everyone

15:29

has a Chevallet story, but let's be real, not

15:32

all three. However, many fifty

15:34

million Americans there are has a chevallet story.

15:36

But what people do have too,

15:39

so I'm covering the right. But what

15:41

people do have is they have stories

15:44

of family, They have stories of community,

15:47

of togetherness, of memory,

15:49

of loss and love, and these

15:51

are powerful universal themes. And

15:54

last year, to be honest, we were kind of in

15:56

the middle of some of that,

15:59

the more disruptive time when it came to

16:01

supply chain and vehicle availability.

16:03

December is always the number one

16:06

retail month for automotive, it is for Chevrolet,

16:08

it is for the industry, and so you know, in

16:10

a historic time frame, we

16:12

would be out there with large retail

16:15

initiatives like all manufacturers are,

16:17

because you know, I think the industry does ten percent

16:19

of the volume in one month, so it's a pretty

16:22

important time. But given that what

16:24

was happening, we really couldn't go out

16:26

and kind of look a little, you know, tone

16:29

deaf to the fact that availability was down

16:31

and the economy was a little you know,

16:33

suspect, and so we almost

16:35

had a lucky opportunity to step

16:37

in and say we can do something

16:39

that that big marketers do. We like

16:41

to say that big brands do big things, and

16:43

we certainly count ourselves in that category, and

16:46

so we thought, well, there's a confluence

16:48

of events here that will allow us to get

16:50

a holiday message out there that isn't purely

16:53

driven from a like let's call it a retail perspective.

16:55

So we kind of did that. We think it played

16:58

very nicely, and we thought we could we

17:00

could do it again this year. Now it's certainly

17:02

something it's not a strategy that we

17:04

do for twelve months, but if

17:06

you can transact a little bit on

17:09

the emotion and power that people feel

17:11

around the holiday seasons and just kind

17:13

of tell a riveting story where a

17:15

vehicle has played a central role in that. So

17:18

we did it again. We liked the results of that, and

17:20

I like to think that this could be

17:22

a tradition that that Chevrolet could do for

17:25

years to come, long after I'm not the CMO

17:27

of of Chevrolet anymore. So it's

17:30

one part of a very broad marketing mix.

17:32

But that's what makes Chevallet so dynamic

17:34

and so interesting. We can be talking about,

17:37

you know, a Corvette Zeo six, we

17:39

could be talking about Chevrolet Silverado

17:42

e v s and doing innovative things like

17:44

our what we did at the Country Music Awards

17:46

about a month or so ago with

17:48

Breland and the world's first ever

17:51

song contest about an electric full

17:54

size pick up to the country music audience,

17:56

and then the next day we're talking about the

17:58

safety and dependable only in quality of a

18:00

Chevallet Equinox. It's a fascinating

18:03

brand and it allows us the

18:05

elbow room to really explore all those different

18:07

dimensions of the brand. And so, you know, in

18:09

a classic marketing textbook, you'd

18:11

say, what's the one thing that Chevrolet

18:13

stands for? Right, It's a difficult question

18:16

to answer for Chevrolet because we

18:18

stand for so many things to so many people.

18:20

But what does unite us is a lot

18:22

of these the sense of who a Chevrolet customer

18:25

is, the values they hold, and allowing

18:27

us to kind of leverage and celebrate

18:29

that is important, I think, and like a little more

18:32

important this time of the year. Well, Steve,

18:34

that is so thoughtful and helpful

18:36

because you said a couple of things that

18:38

sparked my next question, which is this

18:41

kind of conversion to a

18:44

you know, sustainable,

18:46

kind of techt centric brand.

18:50

As you said, it's not a new affectation.

18:52

I mean, this has been something that's been ongoing

18:54

at Chevrolet for quite some time. You know, you

18:56

went through this history of the volt and

18:59

you think of that, this is just today,

19:01

this is something you've been doing for a long time.

19:04

What's next on your agenda? You

19:06

know, as you think of re establishing.

19:08

And by the way, when you say that,

19:10

I always conjure up

19:12

one of my favorite campaigns of all time.

19:15

I'm really going to date myself. But See the

19:17

USA and Your Chevrolet. As

19:19

I said earlier, I'm not that old, but I guess I am.

19:22

I remember that, and I remember that being

19:24

kind of a theme song for America.

19:26

I really do. Not just a theme song

19:29

for a commercial campaign from Chevrolet

19:31

sung by yes Dinah Shore. But

19:34

you know, See the USA and Your Chevrolet

19:37

says a lot about what you just said, presenting

19:39

all the different aspects, whether it's

19:42

utility, whether it's speed, whether it's

19:44

you know now tech and

19:46

maybe bringing it all together. But what's kind

19:49

of on your agenda next? You know,

19:51

as you address three and the

19:53

years beyond, you know now that some

19:55

of these things are starting to become deregere.

19:59

It's like you are this company now,

20:01

what's what's the next iteration? Right?

20:04

Well, you know it's interesting

20:06

you you bring up, you know, See the USA because

20:08

what's next for us is what has

20:11

always been what has made Chevrolet

20:13

so powerful, so popular, and so

20:16

connected to America is we really

20:18

are a reflection of and a

20:20

driver of the pulse of America. You

20:23

know. See the USA was a

20:25

campaign born out of the post

20:27

World War two optimism, right. It

20:29

was the g I Bill, it was the building of the illustrate

20:32

interstate freeway system, and it

20:34

was boundless optimism.

20:36

And that's what see the USA said, and

20:38

the brand that was going to help deliver that with Chevrolet.

20:41

And then you got into campaigns like the Heartbeat

20:43

of America. Right again another

20:46

different time, but a similar reflection.

20:49

Almost the the opposite of that was like

20:51

Iraq in the ninety nineties, economic

20:54

uncertainty, a lot of turmoil

20:56

in America, and like Iraq was

20:58

again representative of no

21:01

matter what comes my way, right, if

21:04

I have a Chevy truck, I can endure. I

21:06

can take care of my family and my community.

21:08

And that was a powerful reflection of how

21:11

America saw themselves. And so

21:13

what we're tasked with now is where

21:16

does America see themselves? Where do customers

21:18

see themselves? And how do we connect

21:20

with those folks and how do we reach them. Now, what

21:23

we have to our advantage is

21:25

we have media channels and

21:27

opportunities to be so much

21:29

more targeted and so much more specific

21:32

to our target audience. I mean, we're out there right

21:34

now with a campaign we kind of call

21:36

it E VS for Everyone everywhere. It's a

21:38

very bright, optimistic,

21:41

but still Chevrolet centric campaign

21:43

that basically says, look, we

21:46

know where things are going here and rest

21:48

assured Chevrolet is going to be that

21:50

brand that you can rely on moving forward.

21:52

But I think right now, over the last couple

21:54

of years, and I think going into the next few years,

21:57

we all know what's happened with with COVID,

22:00

uncertainty and economics in Ukraine,

22:02

and it's it's a little exhausting,

22:05

And I think what people are looking for is if

22:07

you add into that mix the

22:09

uncertainty of electric faicles

22:12

and the questions that that accompany, that

22:14

those are very real things, and I think

22:16

what people are looking for is some confidence

22:19

and reassurance that there's a trusted

22:21

ally that's gonna help us move

22:24

to the next stage. We're very

22:26

clear with our customers, with

22:28

our dealer network, with the media and everybody

22:30

else, we are going to go at the pace

22:33

at which the customer wants to go, but

22:35

we are going to be ready at whatever pace

22:37

that is. And so being able to tell

22:39

people and reassure someone

22:41

who's had a Chevrolet full size

22:44

pickup for you know, three, four or

22:46

five in a row and just wants to keep buying full

22:48

size pickups, don't worry. We've

22:50

got those products for you and we are going to for

22:52

a long time. But if there are those that

22:54

are EV ready, that have been in the game with us

22:56

for ten years, or those that finally

22:59

look around and see enough signals, right,

23:01

you see your neighbor you know, you

23:03

see more and more. We just had a new fueling

23:06

station, and then in the neighborhood I live in open

23:08

Up and they have to charge point charge stations.

23:10

There. There's a lot more signals

23:12

and reassurance that hey, I think

23:14

that I can make this EV thing work.

23:17

But people still want to engage with the

23:19

company that they believe is going to deliver

23:21

the right product. And so the trick for us

23:23

is how do we reflect the mood

23:25

of the country and also lead, not just

23:28

reflect, not just react, but the productive

23:30

which is right because in a way you

23:33

do need to pull people along a bit right I

23:35

mean there's always these you know, romantic

23:37

stories about the iPhone. You know, early on

23:39

it's like a camera on my phone.

23:42

I don't need that, right, And

23:44

you know it's like and now you're like, yeah,

23:46

it's pretty darn good, right, And

23:48

so yeah, as marketers, as brands,

23:51

you have to have that balance point of what

23:53

people you know, can understand and process

23:56

what they see today, but what's the

23:58

potential for tomorrow and move

24:00

that along. And I think that we've always been I

24:02

think pretty indicative there. Again. You even

24:04

think about Chevrolet design and

24:06

you think about the era of design back

24:09

to the nineteen fifties and Dinah

24:11

Shore, I mean, Chevrolet was pioneering

24:13

big fins and color palettes

24:16

and things that we're helping moving

24:18

and pushing people along. And so we're

24:20

almost at a golden arrow like that again,

24:22

because what electric vehicles

24:24

and the General Motors Chevrolet Altiam

24:27

platform will enable when it comes to design

24:30

and the way that we bring these products to market,

24:32

the technology and even yes, the

24:34

color palette, it's very refreshing.

24:36

I think people are ready for that. Well,

24:39

Steve, what you've done is validated

24:41

where we started, because if you

24:43

go back to the teas and sees the

24:45

trust. You talked about the brand

24:48

trust that you build, the transparency

24:50

about what Chevrolet stands for to

24:52

its different constituents and cohorts,

24:55

you know, the technology and

24:57

the transformation. Really you've

24:59

hit it all. And the talent piece goes without

25:01

saying, because we've all been challenged, whether

25:04

it's around the opportunity for

25:06

a more diverse you know, talent

25:09

pool a or be the

25:11

dearth of talent and what we've all experienced

25:14

with great resignations and quiet quitting

25:16

and all of those things that that

25:18

are impacting talent. And then

25:21

going to the seas you talked

25:23

about the culture. You talked about the creativity,

25:25

You talked about the curation

25:28

of the brands based on you know, the

25:30

individual constituents needs. And

25:32

you talked about commerce obviously

25:35

the buying of the automobile and general

25:37

motors in particular, and

25:40

Chevrolet I think specifically has

25:42

had and demonstrated a keen understanding

25:45

of content and the utilization of content,

25:48

not just commercials, but content

25:50

relative to you know, leading that

25:53

consumer to where we think

25:55

they should be and as you say, following

25:58

as well, but leading in the in the main.

26:00

Well, Steve, look as we wind up

26:03

here. What do you think a

26:05

marketer in general kind

26:07

of needs to do to ensure

26:10

that sustainability visions.

26:13

You know, we talk about the need for purpose,

26:15

We talk about the importance of sustainability

26:18

and the manufacturing and the

26:20

delivery and by the way, sustainability

26:22

and you know, there are companies now

26:24

that are talking about just advertising and what

26:26

you know, companies like Scope three that are talking

26:29

about, you know, just the sustainability

26:31

of your advertising initiatives, and

26:33

and you're approaching it. How

26:35

does that make its way into your you

26:38

know, into your data. Well, it's

26:40

a significant part. You Look, let's be honest,

26:42

there are I like to say

26:45

that when you buy an automobile,

26:47

you better like it because it's like you're buying

26:49

an outfit. You're gonna wear it for the same you know, every

26:51

day for the next you know, three four or five eight

26:54

years. Right. Said another way, we're

26:56

a very visible brand in the marketplace.

26:59

And when you're very visible brand, Look,

27:01

every company has a responsibility to

27:03

all the things that we collectively face. But

27:06

I think when you're a brand like General Motors,

27:08

when you have products that are

27:10

out there in the market every day that

27:12

people are seeing over and over and over you

27:15

just play an oversized role in that. We're

27:17

very proud of our mission of zero

27:20

crashes, zero congestion,

27:22

and zero emissions. You have to have, you

27:24

know, a vision and a mission for the brand, and

27:27

I think it's one of those things that we're very proud of.

27:29

We've got such a phenomenal record.

27:31

We're ahead of schedule when it comes

27:33

to things like the percent of energy

27:35

we're using in manufacturing plants

27:38

that are carbon neutral, the things we're doing

27:40

with our products. As far as sustainability,

27:43

you know, when it comes to even things like you

27:45

know, leather and seating materials, recyclability,

27:48

the things we're doing with bolt battery packs

27:50

that are coming back and putting those into

27:52

secondary uses. These are all important

27:55

things that we need to do that we

27:57

want to do. The question is how

28:00

deeply do we tell those stories. More

28:02

broadly, it's one part of

28:04

a broad tapestry of messages

28:06

we put out. There's a lot of things that General

28:09

Motors is doing, Chevrolet, a lot of things that are dealer

28:11

partners are doing. But it's important,

28:13

and it's it's especially important for the

28:15

generations that are coming up now. Look sustainability,

28:19

it matters to everyone, but there's as

28:21

we all know, there's a bit of a greater sensitivity

28:23

to that among those that are younger. The

28:25

data is a very clear in that regard. And so brands

28:28

that have a purpose, brands that have a statement,

28:31

brands that people feel connected to. We've

28:33

seen their stock performances

28:35

better, they rebound faster from

28:37

you know, economic downturns, and people

28:40

feel connected and they can tell the stories

28:42

of those brands. Having a great product

28:44

is awesome. Having a great product

28:46

that you believe in and you have a connection

28:49

to is a very powerful connection.

28:51

It not only attracts new people to your

28:53

brand, it keeps those that are in the franchise

28:56

with you longer. And that's a recipe

28:58

to win well. Steve, I would

29:00

characterize this session as as a

29:03

joy ride, and I

29:05

hadn't been, yeah exactly,

29:08

but I literally have enjoyed

29:10

listening and I know our audience

29:12

will and learning really from

29:15

you. You are obviously a master at

29:17

what you do, and you know it's

29:20

reflected in the performance.

29:22

And I don't mean that necessarily in performance

29:24

in a car sense, but the performance

29:27

of the brand Chevrolet, and

29:29

you know, congratulations on that. So,

29:32

Steve Majorace, I want to thank you for taking

29:35

the time today to share your thoughts

29:37

and your wisdom. Yeah, well, thank you

29:39

so much. I wouldn't trade the team

29:41

we have for anybody.

29:43

I mean, you know, Mary Lean, this company

29:46

has been unbelievable. We have watched the

29:48

internal culture change,

29:51

we have seen the product development with Mark Rice

29:53

and everybody. The portfolio

29:55

blows everybody else away. The marketing

29:58

organization that Deborah Wally needs

30:00

each of the individual channels. We

30:02

are a high performing, connected,

30:04

communicating, strong team

30:07

that supports each other. And I think the

30:09

results show and all I

30:11

would say is watch out for GM.

30:17

I'm Michael Casson. Thanks for listening

30:19

to Good Company. Good

30:21

Company is a production of I Heart Radio

30:24

Special Thanks to Lena Peterson, chief Brand

30:26

Officer and Managing Director of Media Link, for

30:28

her vision I'm Good Company, and to Jen Seely,

30:31

vice President Marketing Communications of Media

30:33

Link for programming, amazing talent and content.