ON THE TABLE - MARCH 13, 2013

 Michael Roth, IPG. Editor-in-Chief's Note: The big news around these parts this week is that reports suggest that GM marketers are yanking the Cadillac account away from Minneapolis-based Fallon and giving it to Campbell-Ewald, the agency that lost the Chevrolet account nearly three years ago. The background? When Joel Ewanick came on board as GM's CMO, he gave the Chevrolet account to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (after Campbell-Ewald had had it for 91 years) and awarded Cadillac to Fallon (after it had been with Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Modernista and most significantly, Leo Burnett and several previous agencies absorbed along the way for 70+ years). Ewanick had had previous working relationships with both Jeff goodby and Pat Fallon, so the moves were not unexpected. Needless to say, these moves were jarring to the industry at large and especially disruptive to the local advertising community here with a lot of people losing their jobs. To be fair, Goodby has had some hits, but Fallon has struggled almost since the beginning. And even though Fallon did an excellent launch campaign for the ATS - its best work by far since gaining the assignment - the GM marketers entrenched in the silos had other ideas. Part of that has a lot to do with purging any remnants of Joel Ewanick's regime (see the item below - WG) and part of it has to do with an intense lobbying effort mounted by Michael Roth, the chairman and CEO of the Interpublic Group (IPG), the advertising holding company that owns Campbell-Ewald, McCann-Erickson and hundreds of others. Almost from the moment Ewanick fired Campbell-Ewald (and Publicis, which had handled creative duties on Chevrolet for less than a month), Roth showed up at GM's door from his office in New York and started lobbying GM operatives to, if not get Chevrolet back, at least get a big chunk of GM business back. It was mildly amusing to see Roth - who, like most advertising conglomerate CEOs doesn't appear unless they absolutely have to - camping at GM's door like a mid-level account executive. But to his credit, the constant grinding worked, so here we are. Coinciding with this move was the announcement that C-E was relocating a large portion of its employees to new offices next to Ford Field (the home of the Detroit Lions) by the end of the year. Roth wants to get as much if not all GM business back under the IPG umbrella of agencies as soon as possible. And the rumors about IPG merging with or acquiring Publicis (another advertising conglomerate) adds even more fuel to that fire. Publicis owns Leo Burnett, which has the Buick and GMC truck business, and which was awarded the Chevy truck portion of the Chevrolet account in December 2012. Don't underestimate Roth in this matter. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if IPG didn't have all of GM's advertising business by the end of the year, and you can book the fact that McCann-Erickson will be playing a huge role in any future moves. - PMD (Update, 3/12, 6:00 p.m.: GM has just posted a release on their media website, saying that Cadillac will be conducting an ad agency review "over the coming weeks." The release claims sales growth is "fueling Cadillac's global expansion plan and driving us to continually enhance our marketing efforts." Current agency Fallon has been invited to participate in the review, but GM declines to list other participants or detail the review process. Clearly, GM is trying to throw people off the story about handing the business to Campbell-Ewald with word of a "review." But we're not buying it.) (Update 3/14, 6:00 p.m.: General Motors has confirmed that McCann WorldGroup is now in charge of all Chevrolet advertising. The agency will have sole ownership of Commonwealth, Chevrolet's global advertising agency, assuming the 50-percent joint ownership share held by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.)

GM Marketing. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Ganging up on GM marketing is almost cruel, because they just can't seem to get out of the way of their own incompetence. As I predicted, they overcompensated after jettisoning Joel Ewanick and it is flat-out killing them. Swearing up and down that they were done with "rock star" CMOs, they swung the pendulum in the complete opposite direction, resulting in organizational chaos. They've added layers of overseer executives who add nothing to the equation and this has done nothing but confuse the issue to the point of paralysis. It's no wonder both Goodby and Fallon have found GM marketing to be a cesspool of mediocrity, with GM marketers careening around each others' titles and immersing themselves in territorial bullshit to the detriment of the advertising. And remember, folks, that is the point here, after all. It's about the work, but GM marketers are rumbling, bumbling and stumbling around worrying about everything but the work. Pathetic. The sad High-Octane Truth about this situation is that GM, in fact, desperately needs a CMO. They have too many chiefs in marketing and the department is clearly rudderless without a leader. And just for the record, it ain't Captain Queeg - as a matter of fact Dan Akerson should be kept as far away from the marketing function as possible, because he clearly doesn't have a clue. He just wants to be "in charge," with all of the predictable consequences and negative connotations that go with that statement. Maybe they're hoping that new hire and ex-VW marketing honcho Tim Mahoney is that guy, but as I said a couple of weeks ago, the odds are stacked against him. GM shouldn't let their disdain for the idea of a CMO dissuade them from actually going out and finding one. But predictably, they're incapable of understanding that. - PMD

Henrik Fisker. The Dreamer resigns from his company, Fisker Automotive, effective immediately. Time of your life, eh kid?

Editor's Note: We have offered many perspectives on Henrik Fisker's quixotic car venture over the last couple of years. The following item first appeared on 1/25/12, and we ran it again on our "Best of On The Table" last December. - WG

Not Good doesn't even begin to cover it. Editor-in-Chief's Note: In Mark Rechtin's excellent piece in Automotive News, along with taking us on a path of discovery of what Fisker the company is and where it's at in terms of actual viability, he delves deep into the Henrik Fisker mindset, resulting in this gem from Fisker: "Building a few thousand Karmas in Finland is one thing, but manufacturing in Delaware at 80,000 to 100,000 units a year is mass manufacturing." That was not only our AE Duh of the Week, it says more about Fisker's maniacal ego and delusional thinking than anything we could have ever come up with on our own. After absconding with a $529 million Department of Energy loan, which was basically gifted under false pretenses so that Fisker could resurrect a shuttered ex-GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware (hey, isn't that Joe Biden country?) so he could then indulge his John DeLorean fantasies to his heart's content - which means building a luxury car for the discerning few, or at least the few who are hell-bent on making the hippest-of-the-moment green statement they can possibly muster, anyway - while promising a "mass produced" vehicle to come, Fisker is basically dead in the water. Read Rechtin's story carefully and you see a man in full, or rather so full himself that he can't possibly be thinking clearly. He has a seamless response and explanation to every question posed to him by Rechtin, but the underlying missing link in all of it is the fact that no one is actually going to buy anything he makes at any sort of a volume level to justify the investment in the whole damn enterprise whatsoever. Not even close in fact. It's just notgonnahappen. I don't care who he hires, either (this week it was ex-GM and Chrysler manufacturing specialist Tom LaSorda and veteran Jaguar sales honcho Richard Beattie) because the fundamental conceit that Fisker is operating under is that people "out there" actually see the world as he does, which has always been the fatal flaw of every single person who has attempted to launch a car company throughout history. The ones who have succeeded have always brought more to the table than that. And what does Henrik Fisker bring exactly? 1. An out-of-control designer ego that has been assuaged and massaged at every turn and 2. A firm belief that his design vision must be indulged because it's so damn good that if "the people" just saw it and understood it he would be the King of the World and an Official Legend of the Car Business. I'm sorry, but this whole Fisker think stinks to high heaven. All of this, and let me be crystal clear here, all of this is because Fisker wants to play in his own sandbox and build the kinds of cool cars (at least in his estimation) that he deems appropriate for public consumption. And he wants everyone else - including the U.S. government and the U.S. taxpayer - to pay for it while he's at it. My bullshit detector pegged itself long ago with this Fisker thing, and I just wish more people would open their eyes and see exactly what this guy is up to.  - PMD (1/25/12)

Editor's Note: Take a mockumentary test-drive with Jeff Gordon courtesy of Pepsi MAX here. - WG

(BMW)
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2013 will be held May 24-26 on the grounds of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este and Villa Erba in Cernobbio on Italy's Lake Como. This year will once again feature the Concorso di Motociclette, which was added to the events in 2011 and includes a parade of motorcycles piloted by riders in historic dress. Other special exhibitions include “90 years of BMW Motorrad” and “60 years of Corvette.”

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our friend Casey Shain (aka "artandcolour") has sent us a bunch of new "chops" as he refers to them, and we thought we'd share them with our AE readers and the design community that always seems to get a kick out of them. Inspired by my Corvette column several weeks ago, Casey says: "I've taken your idea of making the Corvette a brand of its own. I've facelifted the 'regular' C7 but I've also made two smaller V6 coupes and a larger 4 door rendering...It's sort of amazing how flexible the design is. Don't be scared of the 4 door, lol!" We're not, because it looks great. Check out Casey's digital illustrations below, with his commentary. - PMD

(Digital illustration courtesy of Casey "artandcolour" Shain)
This Red Split Window coupe is a facelift of the new C7 with a "proper" wraparound rear hatch with a dividing spine. The front vents have been toned down in a more classic 'Vette shape. Oh, and of course the rear taillights are round now, trimmed in polished aluminum like the exhausts.

(Digital illustration courtesy of Casey "artandcolour" Shain)
The blue C7 with dual chrome side strakes is a facelifted, AeroCoupe-inspired Stingray. I changed the window graphic to more closely resemble the '70s AeroVette concept. The chrome strakes are an homage to Earl and Mitchell who loved tasteful ornamentation. Round taillights, too.
(Digital illustration courtesy of Casey "artandcolour" Shain)
This Blue V6-powered Corvette C7 would be the base model. It would be the lightest and most rigid of the 'Vettes with a trunk instead of a heavy hatch. A Twin-Turbo V6 would put out 325-350HP and with a curb weight lowered by at least 300 lbs, would be a screamer. I shortened the hood and wheelbase in both the front and rear of the passenger compartment.

(Digital illustration courtesy of Casey "artandcolour" Shain)
This Red V6-powered Corvette C7 keeps the shortened hood but leaves the rear of the car the same size as the Stingray. The hatch is modified to be slightly wraparound and the quarter windows are reshaped.   

(Digital illustration courtesy of Casey "artandcolour" Shain)
The new Corvette Corsa. Yes, a 4-door Corvette. Elegant interior materials would help to make this 4-door a true competitor to the Porsche Panamera and perhaps even the Aston Martin Rapide, though of course at a price much less than either of those two European 4-door sports cars. I really think GM could pull this off. I thought about "hiding" the rear door handles in the tiny 6th window of the greenhouse, but I went with proudly presenting the car with versions of the Vette's indented touch handles.