We titled the idea “Shattering Perceptions”. At its heart was the notion that rather than having actors portray the brand, we’d engage real people and let their genuine reactions to today’s Chevrolet — both the brand’s actions and its products—deliver the verdict. Our formula had four components: Disrupt. Surprise. Capture Reactions. Drive Discovery.

Knowing we could not tip the brand hand too early (or people would simply tune out) we took dramatic steps. We built a faux focus group facility. We hired an improv professional — someone we knew could be spontaneous to get the best out of our respondents—to be our “moderator”. We invited real people to participate in “experiments” to show off progressive Chevrolet design and styling, and its leading edge technology, and high quality and durability. Then, we let the camera roll and captured their spontaneous reactions. We started with long-form films, branded content that could be edited to suit the media, be it TV or online or pre-roll. This approach allowed Chevrolet to grab the attention of nontraditional Chevrolet customers.

Attitudinal:

• Opinion up 6 points, from 16 to 23

• Consideration up 5 points, from 20 to 25

• Net momentum up 16 points, from 17 to 33

Marketing:

• Breakthrough averaging 27 vs. norm of 22, some executions as high as 30

• Branding averaging 59 vs. norm of 51, some executions as high as 64

• Memorability averaging 45 vs. norm of 43, some executions as high as 52

Business:

• Twelve consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains

• The year’s largest share gain, in the strongest industry in history, making Chevrolet the hottest U.S. brand in 2015