????通用汽車(chē)（General Motors）首席營(yíng)銷(xiāo)官喬伊?伊萬(wàn)尼克走馬上任已有十個(gè)月,。在與他的交談中,，他多次提到自己的“泳道理論”,。
????伊萬(wàn)尼克說(shuō)的可不是體育鍛煉,，而是他在完成通用汽車(chē) “復(fù)興大業(yè)”中的主要任務(wù)。（此前他曾用不同品牌擁有各自的“泳道”來(lái)比喻強(qiáng)化品牌識(shí)別度,，堅(jiān)持品牌創(chuàng)新——譯注,。）在這位51歲的通用高管看來(lái),，他的首要任務(wù)在于確保通用汽車(chē)完成多個(gè)品牌的清晰定位,；特別是考慮到在消費(fèi)者腦海中,，這些品牌相互間既不要重疊也不會(huì)沖突——就像在各自的泳道奮勇前進(jìn)的游泳運(yùn)動(dòng)員一樣?！艾F(xiàn)在我們必須采取措施杜絕一切重蹈覆轍的可能,，”他說(shuō)道，“我們可不想再次因?yàn)槭《巧稀敦?cái)富》雜志（Fortune）的封面,?！?/p>
????伊萬(wàn)尼克所說(shuō)的是1983年8月22日的《財(cái)富》雜志封面（如圖），這幅圖片曾像夢(mèng)魘一般困擾著幾代通用汽車(chē)高管,。畫(huà)面上排列著四輛栗色轎車(chē)，分屬于不同品牌卻出自同一個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)制造平臺(tái),，所以外形看起來(lái)如出一轍,。這些車(chē)在外形上的高度接近性也反應(yīng)了消費(fèi)者的困惑：如果連車(chē)型本身都讓人無(wú)法分辨,，購(gòu)車(chē)者又怎能區(qū)分不同的品牌呢？這張封面照片可以說(shuō)是通用公司管理失誤的一個(gè)縮影,，同時(shí)也是通用背棄前主席阿爾弗雷德?斯隆先生座右銘的一個(gè)寫(xiě)照。這位傳奇性的高管曾經(jīng)提出一個(gè)口號(hào)：“不同的錢(qián)包,、不同的目標(biāo)、不同的車(chē)型”。
????二十八年之后,，通用汽車(chē)在重組風(fēng)波中浴火重生。2009年,，通用汽車(chē)申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)，后經(jīng)美國(guó)財(cái)政部（the U.S. Treasury）援救，進(jìn)行了資產(chǎn)重組,。多個(gè)享有盛譽(yù)的品牌如龐蒂亞克(Pontiac)、土星(Saturn),、悍馬(Hummer)和薩博(Saab)相繼宣布關(guān)閉并出售其資產(chǎn),，在美國(guó)本土,，唯有凱迪拉克(Cadillac),、雪佛蘭(Chevrolet)、別克(Buick)和通用汽車(chē)公司GMC幸免于難,。在這種情況下，通用汽車(chē)被迫關(guān)閉了十二家工廠,，裁掉2萬(wàn)多名員工,。最糟糕的是，通用汽車(chē)還從全球頭號(hào)汽車(chē)制造商的寶座上跌落,，已經(jīng)滑落到谷底的士氣遭受毀滅性的打擊。而今,，通用汽車(chē)已然卷土重來(lái),，此刻的通用汽車(chē)急需一位富有靈感和激情的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)領(lǐng)袖,，最好他還能具備“旁觀者”的眼光,。
????伊萬(wàn)尼克,，這位來(lái)自圣費(fèi)爾南多峽谷的加州人，衣著時(shí)髦,，曾效力于保時(shí)捷（Porsche）,、現(xiàn)代（Hyundai）和日產(chǎn)（Nissan）,，于2010年年中被通用汽車(chē)董事長(zhǎng)馬克?羅伊斯招致麾下，接管美國(guó)市場(chǎng),。幾個(gè)月以后,，通用汽車(chē)進(jìn)一步授權(quán),，任命伊萬(wàn)尼克為全球首席營(yíng)銷(xiāo)官?！境素?fù)責(zé)大眾熟知的通用旗下美國(guó)品牌之外,，他也同時(shí)接管了霍頓（Holden）,、歐寶（Opel）、沃克斯豪爾（Vauxhall）等國(guó)際品牌,?！?/p>
????迄今為止,，伊萬(wàn)尼克的舉措可謂相當(dāng)大膽,。他已決定將雪佛蘭的廣告業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)給舊金山的廣告公司古德拜?希爾福斯坦（Goodby, Silverstein & Partners）,，而雪佛蘭銷(xiāo)量占通用汽車(chē)美國(guó)市場(chǎng)總銷(xiāo)量的70%。要知道,，底特律的坎貝爾?愛(ài)華德公司（Campbell Ewald）為雪佛蘭操持廣告業(yè)務(wù)已有91年之久,，這一變動(dòng)震撼了整個(gè)廣告界,。（通用汽車(chē)全球廣告費(fèi)用估計(jì)可達(dá)30億美元。） |
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????A conversation with Joel Ewanick, General Motors' chief marketing officer for the past ten months, doesn't proceed for long without his mention of "swim lanes."
????Ewanick isn't talking about exercise, but his primary task at a resurgent GM (GM). In the 51-year-old executive's view, his mission is to clearly define the company's varying brands, taking particular care that, in consumers' minds, they do not collide with one another -- like swimmers separated by lane markers. "We have to develop policies and procedures to this never happens again," he says. "We want to prevent a repeat of the Fortune cover."
????Ewanick is referring to the August 22, 1983 cover of Fortune magazine (above, right) which has haunted generations of GM executives. It featured four maroon sedans, each from a different GM brand but built on the same engineering platform. All looked identical. The cars' similarities spoke to consumers' confusion: how could potential buyers differentiate brands if they couldn't tell individual models apart? The cover epitomized the company's mismanagement and the extent to which legendary GM chairman Alfred Sloan's maxim -- a car for every purse and purpose -- had been forgotten.
????Twenty-eight years later, GM is emerging from another agonizing reorganization. The automaker went bankrupt in 2009 and was rescued and recapitalized by the U.S. Treasury. Storied brands Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab were shuttered or sold, leaving only Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC alive in the U.S. GM was forced to close a dozen facilities and cut more than 20,000 jobs. Perhaps worst of all, GM found itself knocked from its perch as No. 1 automaker worldwide, a devastating blow to already plummeting moral. Now that GM has managed to claw its way back to the top spot, it desperately needs an inspirational marketing leader with an outsider's perspective.
????Enter Ewanick. The hiply-dressed Californian from the San Fernando Valley worked for Porsche, Hyundai and, briefly, Nissan (NSANY) before being recruited by GM President Mark Reuss in mid-2010 to run U.S. marketing. A few months later, GM expanded his portfolio, making him its global chief marketing officer. (In addition to familiar American brands, he is also responsible for the international Holden, Opel and Vauxhall marks.)
????So far, he hasn't eschewed bold moves. He decided to move advertising responsibility for Chevy, which accounts for some 70% of GM's U.S. sales, to the San Francisco-based agency of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Because Detroit-based Campbell Ewald had supervised the account for 91 years, the moved rocked the advertising world. (GM's global ad expenditure is estimated at a massive $3 billion.) |
