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General Motors Marketing

To revolutionize transportation through innovations that deliver safer, cleaner mobility solutions by creating a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

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To revolutionize transportation through innovations that deliver safer, cleaner mobility solutions by creating a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

Strengths

  • BRAND: Strong legacy automotive brands with loyal customer base
  • SCALE: Manufacturing capacity and global distribution network
  • INVESTMENT: $35B committed to EV and AV development through 2025
  • TALENT: Engineering expertise across ICE and electric platforms
  • PARTNERSHIPS: Strategic alliances with tech companies for AV/EV

Weaknesses

  • PERCEPTION: Lagging image as an EV innovator vs Tesla and others
  • COMPLEXITY: Legacy ICE business slowing transition to EV future
  • CONTENT: Digital customer experience less advanced than competitors
  • INTEGRATION: Siloed marketing efforts across regions and brands
  • ANALYTICS: Insufficient data infrastructure for personalization

Opportunities

  • SEGMENT: Growing consumer interest in electric SUVs and trucks
  • DIGITAL: Expanded direct-to-consumer marketing and sales channels
  • LOYALTY: Convert 17M existing customers to EV over next decade
  • INCENTIVES: Federal tax credits improving EV purchase economics
  • CONTENT: Leverage sustainability story to connect with Gen Z/Alpha

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Tesla's brand dominance and EV-native advantages
  • DISRUPTION: New entrants with tech-first approach to mobility
  • PERCEPTION: Consumer skepticism about EVs and charging network
  • ECONOMY: Inflationary pressures affecting vehicle affordability
  • SUPPLY: Ongoing challenges with battery materials and components

Key Priorities

  • TRANSITION: Accelerate marketing shift from ICE to EV narrative
  • EXPERIENCE: Reinvent digital customer journey for EV shoppers
  • PERCEPTION: Reposition GM as technology leader, not legacy maker
  • INTEGRATION: Unify cross-channel marketing to support EV growth
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To revolutionize transportation through innovations that deliver safer, cleaner mobility solutions by creating a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

EV FIRST

Lead market transition to electric vehicle future

  • NARRATIVE: Develop and launch unified EV-first brand positioning across all touchpoints by end of Q3
  • CONTENT: Create 120+ pieces of EV educational content reaching 25M potential customers
  • CONVERSION: Increase EV consideration to purchase conversion rate from 12% to 18%
  • PERCEPTION: Improve GM's ranking as EV innovator from #5 to #3 in industry perception study
DIGITAL JOURNEY

Reinvent the customer experience for EV buyers

  • PERSONALIZATION: Implement AI-driven EV shopping experience that increases engagement by 30%
  • INTEGRATION: Connect online-to-offline customer journey data across 90% of touchpoints
  • EXPERIENCE: Redesign EV purchase funnel reducing average time to decision by 22%
  • ANALYTICS: Deploy unified cross-brand customer analytics dashboard with real-time insights
TECH LEADER

Reposition GM as mobility technology pioneer

  • STORYTELLING: Launch tech innovation series highlighting GM's EV leadership, reaching 40M viewers
  • INFLUENCERS: Partner with 25 tech influencers to showcase Ultium platform advantages
  • MEDIA: Secure 150+ tech-focused (non-automotive) media placements for GM innovation stories
  • MEASUREMENT: Improve tech leadership perception score from 62 to 78 in brand tracking study
ONE GM

Unify marketing approach across brands and channels

  • FRAMEWORK: Implement centralized marketing governance model across all brands by end of Q2
  • COLLABORATION: Establish cross-functional EV marketing team with 15% performance improvement
  • DATA: Create unified customer data platform connecting insights across 4 major brands
  • EFFICIENCY: Reduce redundant marketing activities by 30% while improving campaign performance
METRICS
  • EV MARKET SHARE: 12% by end of 2025, up from 8% in 2024
  • CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST: Reduce from $1,250 to $950 per EV customer
  • BRAND PERCEPTION: Increase tech leadership score from 62 to 85 by Q4 2025
VALUES
  • Customers: We put the customer at the center of everything we do
  • Excellence: We act with integrity and aim for excellence in our work
  • Relationships: We build positive, respectful relationships inside and outside the company
  • Innovation: We innovate boldly and with a sense of urgency
  • Sustainability: We are committed to creating a sustainable future
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Align the learnings

General Motors Marketing Retrospective

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To revolutionize transportation through innovations that deliver safer, cleaner mobility solutions by creating a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

What Went Well

  • REVENUE: Q1 revenue exceeded expectations at $43.2B, up 7.6% YoY
  • ULTIUM: Strong early adoption rates for Ultium-based EVs in premium
  • LOYALTY: ICE-to-EV transition rate among existing customers hit 12%
  • EFFICIENCY: Marketing spend ROI improved 18% through digital shift
  • ENGAGEMENT: Social content engagement up 24% with sustainability focus

Not So Well

  • VOLUME: EV sales growth of 15% below target of 22% for the quarter
  • CONVERSION: Website-to-showroom conversion rates below benchmarks
  • PERCEPTION: Brand consideration for EVs still lags key competitors
  • FRAGMENTATION: Inconsistent messaging across brands and channels
  • ATTRIBUTION: Inability to fully track marketing impact on EV sales

Learnings

  • EDUCATION: Customers need more EV education earlier in journey
  • DIGITAL: Online configurator usage strongly predicts purchase intent
  • SEGMENTS: Young families most receptive to sustainability messaging
  • EXPERIENCE: Test drives dramatically improve conversion for EVs
  • CONTENT: Video content outperforms all other formats for EV education

Action Items

  • PERSONALIZATION: Implement AI-driven content personalization by Q3
  • INTEGRATION: Unify customer journey data across brands by Q4 2025
  • MESSAGING: Develop consistent EV narrative across all touchpoints
  • EDUCATION: Launch comprehensive EV education content hub in Q3
  • MEASUREMENT: Implement cross-channel attribution model for Q4 2025
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To revolutionize transportation through innovations that deliver safer, cleaner mobility solutions by creating a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

Strengths

  • DATA: Vast vehicle and customer data from connected fleet
  • INVESTMENT: Early adoption of AI for manufacturing optimization
  • TALENT: Growing AI/ML team for consumer experience innovation
  • PARTNERSHIPS: Collaborations with AI leaders for autonomous tech
  • INFRASTRUCTURE: Cloud computing capabilities for AI deployment

Weaknesses

  • INTEGRATION: Fragmented AI tools across marketing functions
  • SKILLS: Limited AI expertise within core marketing teams
  • PROCESS: Slow approval processes for AI-driven content creation
  • LEGACY: Outdated data systems hindering AI implementation
  • SILOS: Poor cross-functional data sharing limiting AI potential

Opportunities

  • PERSONALIZATION: AI-driven dynamic content customization
  • FORECASTING: Predictive analytics for marketing campaign ROI
  • AUTOMATION: Scale content creation across channels with GenAI
  • JOURNEY: Real-time AI optimization of customer purchase path
  • TARGETING: Precise audience identification through ML models

Threats

  • PRIVACY: Evolving regulations restricting AI data usage
  • COMPETITION: Tech-native competitors with superior AI capabilities
  • BIAS: Potential algorithmic bias affecting diverse audience reach
  • TALENT: Industry-wide competition for limited AI marketing talent
  • SPEED: Rapid AI development outpacing organizational adoption

Key Priorities

  • CAPABILITY: Develop AI Center of Excellence for marketing
  • PERSONALIZATION: Implement AI-driven customer journey mapping
  • CONTENT: Scale GenAI for multichannel EV storytelling
  • INTEGRATION: Create unified AI data platform across brands