https://finance.yahoo.com/news/campa...170022628.html

New campaign, and logo, for GM in a bid to electrify image

TOM KRISHER
Fri, January 8, 2021, 12:00 PM EST·3 min readThis image provided by General Motors shows the new company logo. General Motors is changing its corporate logo and starting an electric vehicle marketing campaign as it tries to refurbish its image from a maker of gas-powered pickups and SUVs to a clean vehicle company. The 112-year-old Detroit automaker says, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, the campaign will show GM’s progressive company vision as it promises to roll out 30 new battery-powered vehicles globally by the end of 2025. (General Motors via AP)DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is changing its corporate logo and launching an electric vehicle marketing campaign to reshape its image as clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of gas-powered pickups and SUVs.

The 112-year-old Detroit automaker has promised to roll out 30 new battery-powered vehicles globally by the end of 2025 and said Friday that the new campaign will highlight its progressive vision for the future.

GM said the industry has reached a history-changing inflection point for mass adoption of electric vehicles.

The campaign comes as stock market investors are enthralled with companies that make electric vehicles. Shares of global EV leader Tesla Inc. have skyrocketed more than 800% in the past year, and the company's market value has passed $800 billion. GM's shares are only up slightly in the past year and its value is around $61 billion.

Shares of GM were down 1.6% to $42.61 in Friday afternoon trading.

GM is scrapping its old square blue logo and replacing it with a lower case gm surrounded by rounded corners. The company says it's the biggest change to its logo since 1964. The 'm' in the logo is underlined to look more like an electrical plug.

“We felt it was just such a transformative moment that this is the time that we would change again,” said Deborah Wahl, GM global chief marketing officer. “Our message here is that we believe there should be an EV for everyone.”

GM is hoping the “Everybody In” campaign prepares buyers for a new era of vehicle propulsion.

Wahl said the marketing campaign will be “very significant,” but she wouldn't say how much money would be spent or where it will show up. “You will see it in many places throughout the year,” she said Friday. She said the campaign will start in the United States but eventually will become global. It will not be in brand ads for vehicles, Wahl said.

Late last year, GM said it was nearing a battery chemistry breakthrough that will make electric vehicles as affordable as those with internal combustion engines in less than 5 years. Some will be able to go up to 450 miles per charge and from 0 to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in as quickly as three seconds.

The company has promised to spend $27 billion on battery vehicles through 2025.

The new logo will go wherever GM now has a logo, including websites and buildings, Wahl said.

The company stopped putting the logo on car bodies about a decade ago as it started to emphasize individual brands. But GM says the new logo eventually will replace the old 1 on window glass and some other parts.

The marketing campaign will feature celebrities including Malcom Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point.”

A campaign of “Everyone In” conflicts a bit with GM's announced plans for electric vehicles such as a GMC Hummer pickup and Cadillac Lyriq SUV, both higher-priced vehicles. But Wahl said lower priced vehicles are among the 30 new electric vehicles that are coming.

GM officials have said previously that they will have a small electric SUV that will cost less than $30,000 within five years.

The campaign will run ahead of current electric vehicle sales trends in the U.S. Last year automakers sold just over 260,000 fully electric vehicles. Although sales were up nearly 10% over 2019, electric vehicles still were less than 2% of new vehicle sales.

 

I kinda like it.

 

Looks like something a fly by night startup would come up with.

 

Definitely not a fan.

 

How does a disconnected line under the "m" look anything like an electrical plug - am I missing something? Could have at least made one of the end look like a plug if that was the intent.

 

lower case for the win.

 

trash, lower case does not convey strength. Theres a reason why companies use upper case for acronym logos. Lower case looks like its for kids.

 

Terrible design. It appears as old-fashioned script, does not mesh with current competitor logos, lower case is weaker than upper case, and underlining the second letter instead of the first is backward. Too long of a negative list. GM is clearly still lost and lacking leadership.

 

^^^^I agree with Fizzboy.

 

Dodge and Ford are probably laughing right now. How many millions did they spend on this brand logo consulting and design

 

 

The old logo is dated and represents too much from the past GM. This new gm logo helps transition to a new era.

 

I'm ok with it - especially since its not on any of their vehicles, LOL!

 

Amazing that a company called General Motors has a difficult time creating a logo that implies electrification.

 

It will be.