A campaign to promote the Buick brand and its new models is scheduled to start on Sunday with television commercials. There is a sneak peak now, on the Buick Web site (buick.com), and print advertisements are starting to show up in July issues of magazines.

The campaign, by Leo Burnett in Chicago, part of the Publicis Groupe, carries the theme “Take a look at me now.” The idea is reinforced by headlines that proclaim, “Everything you thought about Buick just went boom.”

Buick has gone through almost as many ad themes in recent years as Jon and Kate have children. Since 2002, the themes have included “The spirit of American style,” “Dream up,” “Beyond precision” and “Drive beautiful.” Continued in the jump!

So why another change? The need to cut through the clutter with a direct appeal to the intended audience of baby-boom drivers requires a pointed approach, according to Cheryl Catton, general director for advertising and promotion in Detroit.

“It isn’t about a makeover,” Ms. Catton said, but rather to “establish in a breakthrough way that we have changed.”

“We’re well known for our quality but frankly we have not been relevant to the target we want in our showrooms and to drive our brand,” she added, which is the boomer who does not consider Buick when shopping for a midluxury or luxury car.

The research to develop the new campaign included “going to the homes of targets,” Ms. Catton said, in what she called “barrage visits,” to learn “why they buy what they buy.”

Some were shown rough cuts of the commercials, she added, and their reaction was surprise that the models in the spots were Buicks.

The campaign features two current models, Enclave and Lucerne; a four-door sedan, LaCrosse, which is scheduled to arrive in dealerships around July 1; and a Regal concept car. There will be ads centered on LaCrosse to help support that introduction.

Amid the difficulties for General Motors, “we feel we’re getting the resources” that Buick needs to support its ambitious marketing plans, Ms. Catton said, adding that the division did not “feel constrained” in any way.

The theme “Take a look at me now” is unrelated to the song by Phil Collins known by that title, Ms. Catton said; the song is actually called “Against All Odds” and was the title song for the 1984 movie of that name.

Another song that might have fit the bill for Buick is “Hey Look Me Over” from the Broadway musical “Wildcat.” The Ford Motor Company used a version of that song in a campaign to introduce the Ford Falcon Futura in the early 1960s.

Source: New York Times