To sell the Stingray, Chevy plans to target Porsche

Corvette says there is a substitute for Porsche. And it's the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray hitting showrooms this fall.

General Motors' Chevrolet and ad agency Commonwealth, Detroit, are plotting an ambitious marketing strategy for one of the automaker's biggest launches of the year.

Chevrolet will market the seventh-generation vehicle toward loyal Corvette owners, but also wants to "conquest" U.S. consumers who prefer European two-seaters from Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. It's taking special aim at its biggest rival in the premium-sports-car segment: Porsche, whose North America creative business, which has been handled by Cramer-Krasselt, is in review.

"Our No. 1 [target] will be Porsche," said John Fitzpatrick, Corvette's marketing manager. "We think we have a car that's comparable."

Porsche declined to comment on the Corvette marketing plan.

Corvette and Porsche, which have each had an impact on pop culture far beyond their actual sales, celebrate their 60th anniversaries this year.

Chevy and Commonwealth don't want to drive consumers to showrooms until the new Stingray arrives this fall. So they're in the middle of a three-part, yearlong strategy to launch the first Corvette deemed hot enough to bear the Stingray name since 1976.

Last fall, the automaker built interest in Stingray by posting four videos on YouTube and placing a camouflaged version of the sports car in the "Gran Turismo 5" video game, said Todd Christensen, Corvette ad manager.

During phase two, it unveiled the car at the Detroit auto show on Jan. 13. Nearly 167,000 viewers tuned in for a live stream. In February, Chevy handed the keys to a torch-red Stingray to Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco in New Orleans. (Plans to give the Stingray a co-starring role in Beyonc

By Michael McCarthy- AdAge