GM To Reverse Strategy, 'Pull Back' On All Media

Advertising Age: General Motors, which lost $15 billion in the last quarter, plans to cut its digital-media budget after dramatically increasing it in the past few years. Mark LaNeve, marketing executive, says GM "is going to pull back slightly in all media types" in 2009. In each of the last two years, GM pulled back on TV spending and beefed up digital.

Unlike in prior years, the automaker will not advertise during the Super Bowl in 2009. A month ago, GM also dropped out of its longtime sponsorship of the 2009 Academy Awards.

Two months ago, GM's CEO Rick Wagoner said ad spending would be cut in 2008-2009, but the company planned to protect "launch products and brand-advertising" budgets.

I honestly think GM's agencies aren't working for them HARD ENOUGH
If your thinking is clever, you know the way marketing works today and you know what consumers respond to, you should know that it's pretty damn cost effective. You don't need fireworks displays of 30 second ads costing 17 zillion dollars. If your agencies are smart enough they'll come up with solutions and methods to have the same sort of 'air time', 'conversation time' and 'attention grabbing time' that you did before the shit ads. You'll probably even get more time with all of those things if your agency does what they're meant to do- be creative with their solutions.

What has happened to most of the agencies out there? They've all lost their kahones.
I thought that when a creative mind is stuck with their back up against the proverbial wall, what other alternatives are there but to come up with newer, better ways of doing the same old crap?
You're sitting right there at the apex of falling into sameness, or needing to cut back the same crap of what has always been done- and you KNOW this is the time where you're meant to come up with something different and....you don't.
Shame on you GM for not addressing your agencies inabilities to meet their job as an agency. Shame on you agencies for not showing GM the right way to go.

Tsk Tsk. No more of these for you: