Chevrolet to Crowdsource Super Bowl Commercials

The Super Bowl is by far the most popular TV event in the United States – over 106 million people watched this year’s game. Chevrolet intends to take full advantage of that potential exposure by using a mix of traditional and crowdsourced commercials during the 2012 Super Bowl.

At the Cannes Lions 2011 Festival earlier this month, Chevrolet announced a partnership with MoFilm, a crowdsourcing agency for young film makers, in which new talent can compete for a chance to have their commercial broadcast during the upcoming Super Bowl.

Paul Edwards, executive director of marketing strategy at General Motors, indicated that Chevrolet has finally realized something key to their success: they do not own their own brand.

“For so many years at Chevrolet we thought we owned the brand but we realised that consumers own the brand,” said Edwards. “With Chevrolet having such a rich diverse heritage around the world, we thought ‘why not open it up’.”

Edwards is, however, quick to point out that this new marketing strategy will not impact their existing agency relationships. He went on to say that the new advertising strategy is about using two forms of advertising that complement one another. He likes the differentiation that both traditional and crowdsourced advertising approaches can bring to the table.

What we like about this model is that we’re not casting aside the traditional agency model – this is a complementary model. It’s now a portfolio of different perspectives that makes up Chevrolet
Paul Edwards, Executive Director of Marketing Strategy at General Motors

The winning filmmakers will receive a trip to the Super Bowl, $30,000, and the pride that comes with seeing their commercial go live during the event.