Tim Mahoney, former Chevrolet Global Marketing Director, said in 2014 that the Transformer films had helped position the vehicles with younger audiences around the world. “The first three films (released between 2007 and 2011) contributed to Camaro being the sales leader for four years in the United States and for the last two years in Mexico,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.
Almost a decade after these declarations, And with Camaro nearing the end of its production, General Motors still sees in film productions an attractive platform to promote its vehicles, at a time when people receive around 6,000 advertising impacts daily, of which they only process 10%.
“Today, with so much saturation that exists in the advertising field, all companies are looking for new ways to establish connections with consumers, and productions are an extremely valuable scenario, because you have the possibility of integrating the product with the story in a very good way and highlight some qualities”, says Jorge Plata, Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing (VSSM) of General Motors, in an interview.
In the film live action of Barbie, the life-size doll climbs on a Blazer EV to flee from the Mattel executives, who seek to return her to her box, and she succeeds. In this scene, General Motors sought to highlight the power and speed capabilities of the new electric vehicle, whose production will begin at the end of this year in a Mexican plant.
Unlike the Transformers saga, in the production directed by Greta Gerwig, General Motors puts its electric vehicles in the foreground. In addition to the Blazer EV, the film also features a GMC Hummer EV and an electric reinterpretation of a first-generation Corvette.
The American manufacturer plans to launch up to 15 electric vehicles by 2028, however, it still relies on sales of its internal combustion vehicles to stay profitable. In fact, General Motors winks at gasoline models on the tape, with a couple of cameos from its Suburban SUV.
However, the strategy of vehicle cameos in film productions is not without its challenges, since although the cinema provides a captive audience, it also has limitations in terms of scope.
In Mexico, ticket sales have experienced a significant drop. According to the National Chamber of the Film Industry (Canacine), during the quarter in question, only 4.9 million tickets were sold in the different exhibition halls. This figure contrasts with the 22.8 million tickets sold in the same period of 2019, prior to the pandemic.
This trend has led General Motors to also explore the integration of its vehicles into streaming productions, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime series, thus expanding its reach. “We think it’s a good, very good synergy,” Plata said.