General Motors Jump Starts Launch of Gold MasterCard

CHICAGO – General Motors executives last week launched its GM Gold MasterCard. A $50-$60 million advertising campaign by D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles/Bloomfield Hills, Mich., which beat out McCann-Erickson for the business, could break as early as this week.
Sources say less than half of that budget is for media with the rest going to sales promotion and direct marketing. McCann and The Atkinson Group, St. Louis still handle the original GM card, which has opened more than 3 million accounts since November.
Former Mastercard agency Lintas, which handles Chevrolet for GM, was not in the running.
Philip Guarascio, general manager of marketing and advertising for GM’s North American operations, said the launch will include event sponsorships, direct mail and public relations in addition to traditional advertising.
‘You’ve got to view this as a complete marketing program,’ he said.
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