A General Motors spokesperson confirmed today that the ad business for its Chevrolet Silverado truck line will move from Leo Burnett Detroit to Commonwealth//McCann.
Burnett took over creative duties from McCann in December 2012 in order to helm the classic truck’s Summer 2013 relaunch campaign.
Burnett, which has had ties to GM for more than 45 years, then won several more pieces of the business in early 2013 before promoting Steve Chavez — the former ECD who led the Silverado campaign — to a CCO role in its Detroit office. (Around the same time, TBWA/Campbell Ewald vet Chuck Hipsher wrote a guest post for us in which he suggested that Chevy might need some new ideas.)
Here’s the official statement from General Motors:
“In an effort to streamline business and ensure consistency, Chevrolet has decided to move the work for Silverado from Leo Burnett back to Commonwealth//McCann, the brand’s agency of record.
The work was given to Leo Burnett to balance the unprecedented number of launches the brand had in 2013 during a time that Commonwealth//McCann was expanding globally to support Chevrolet. We’ve been very pleased with the work from Leo Burnett and wish them well as they continue their focus on GMC and Buick.”
Campaigns to promote the 2015 models should launch in the coming months.