Now that Chevrolet has rolled out the first creative under its "Find New Roads" brand positioning, General Motors CMO Alan Batey wants to give the upbeat, product-oriented theme as much exposure as he can.

Batey tells brandchannel that, in addition to new vehicle-specific TV ads in the weeks ahead, Chevrolet will be doing more in-cinema advertising than ever before.

The original ad that aired during the recent Grammy Awards telecast on CBS—including vignettes separately featuring the Chevrolet Volt, Spark, Sonic, Corvette Stingray and Impala—"will be broken down into four standalone-product ads," Batey told us, "and we'll also be using that work quite extensively not just on TV but also in cinema," he said.Continue reading...

Pepsi promoted new artists like Hunter Hayes as part of its presence on the Grammy Awards last night, but most of its music marketing budget remains devoted to one very established diva: Beyonce.

Beyonce is demonstrating her personal-brand firepower these days like no time in recent years. Using her Pepsi-sponsored Super Bowl halftime show as a launching pad, she also gave an award at the Grammys with Ellen Degeneres, made time to serve as the cover girl for the March issue of Vogue, taped an interview with Oprah Winfrey scheduled to run on Saturday and, of course, is awaiting reaction to the documentary about her that HBO plans to run on Sunday.

That's all by way of ramping up fan fever for her new "Mrs. Carter World Tour," which kicks off in Belgrade in April and finally reaches the United States in late June. MasterCard is holding a ticket presale event.Continue reading...

In addition to new campaigns for Ford's "Hello Again" music project for the Lincoln brand and Kraft's "We are the World"-like music video for its Miracle Whip dressing during the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, a host of other brands used the post-Super Bowl platform to make some noise.

Anheuser Busch InBev's Bud Light Platinum debuted its new new campaign by its new "creative director," Justin Timberlake, while Target also used the Grammys to kick off its tie-in with the singer's new album and promote its tie-ins with singer Pink and fashion designer Prabal Gurung:Continue reading...

Ford's Hello, Again project for the relaunched Lincoln brand and its new MKZ model was promoted with a new commercial, above, that premiered during the Grammy Awards broadcast on CBS Sunday evening. The description:

"We revisited our 90-year history of making automobiles to introduce the Lincoln Motor Company. We filtered our past greats through a fresh vision to say, 'Hello, Again' to the luxury motorcar. But we haven't stopped with automobiles. With 'Hello, Again' we'll commence a series of projects with artists who share our vision of reimagination. And along with you, watch as they explore familiar territory to return with original creations we’ve never met before."

Celebrating the art of sound, the Lincoln brand invited musician Beck (a master of reinvention himself) and director Chris Milk to reimagine the composition of David Bowie's classic tune, "Sound and Vision." The Feb. 6th recording session involved 167 musicians playing a set list from a series of rotating platforms, creating a 360-degree immersive event for a "new digital experience" as the audience (including Australian musician Sia) circled the performance.Continue reading...

Call it "We are the Swirl." As brandchannel broke on January 7th, Kraft's Miracle Whip dressing brand has produced its first musical video, an "anthem" that will premiere during Sunday night's Grammy Awards telecast, but won't run on CBS. Instead, it's being promoted on the brand's social and digital channels.

The tongue-in-cheek video, above, stars Scottish songbird Susan Boyle (in her first U.S. commercial endorsement) and an unlikely crew of musicians, including Lance Bass (formerly of 'N Sync and readying his first solo album), country star Wynonna Judd, '80's pop star Tiffany, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, alt rock drummer Philip "Fish" Fisher of Fishbone, heavy metal singer Don Dokken, rap/hip-hop artist Chali 2na, and members of the Village People.

In the vein of "We are the World" and other musical pleas for understanding, the eclectic mix of performers sings "Keep an Open Mouth," continuing on a theme that debuted during last year's Academy Awards telecast. The sense of humor is in keeping with a brand that makes light of its claim that "a lot of people say they hate us without every (even) trying us," as its YouTube channel notes.

As Judd tweeted, the campaign's goal is "to set all the pre-judgers out there straight." Addressing the "haters," the Miracle Whip Twitter feed promoted the video (hashtag: #KAOM) with the comment, "Don't knock it 'til you try it," and will be live-tweeting throughout the Grammys telecast.

Famous mouths opening up — isn't that what the Grammys are all about?

Miracle Whip has just posted a teaser video on its YouTube channel (watch above) hinting at some of the gold-plated throats that will help the brand promote its sponsorship of Sunday's Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, recording a song (a title guess: "We are the Swirl"?) and using the tagline — "Keep an Open Mouth" — that the Kraft-owned brand introduced during another awards show: the 2012 Academy Awards.

Participating musicians include Scottish singer Susan Boyle, country legend Wynonna Judd (who's been tweeting about the launch—see below), former 'N Sync vocalist Lance Bass, '80's pop star Tiffany, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke (who tweeted an Instagram photo of Boyle with his motorcycle; thanks, Fairacre, for the Twitter tip), and members of the Village People (who posted photos from the video shoot on Facebook), all seen in a behind-the-scenes video during the taping at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood.

The teaser ends: "Famous Mouths Are Opening Up for Miracle Whip" and promises an "epic video" (update: watch it here) that will be "opening" on Sunday. Ahead of Sunday's debut, the campaign is being promoted on the brand's Facebook page and on Twitter with the hashtag #KAOM, an acronym for the "Keep an Open Mouth" tagline.Continue reading...

Expanding on its Super Bowl Game Day campaign with America's animated icons that picked up at the Grammy Awards, MetLife will run the spot above ("5 Cents") during the Oscars telecast on Sunday night.

The old gang (the Peanuts crew, featuring Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and Woodstock) are shown sitting in a conference room being pitched on an insurance deal that they know they can do better on, reiterating the brand's new tagline: "MetLife. I can do this."

Target's 30-second spot that debuted during the Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday night touts its enhanced version of Adele's Grammy-sweeping 21 album — and a talented 11-year-old named Denise Bestman belting out her hit tune, "Rolling in the Deep."

The young New Yorker's connection to Adele dates back to last April when, as a member of at Staten Island's famed PS22 Chorus, she sang the tune in a YouTube video that was tweeted by the British singer. Bestman, now a sixth grader and PS22 alum, was one of 64 students from PS22 who performed during the Oscars telecast last February.

Watch her PS22 breakout performance that caught Target and Adele's attention below.Continue reading...