5067: FYI, GM.

From Target Market News (dated January 30). It looks like one of the most bizarre stories of 2007 has a quiet ending…

GM picks Sanders\Wingo, Carol H. Williams for African-American ad accounts

General Motors Corp. is further broadening its multicultural marketing efforts and today announced that it will add Sanders\Wingo Advertising, Inc., to its list of advertising agencies to provide African American, urban and youth marketing support for Chevrolet, and Carol H. Williams Advertising to provide African American, urban and youth marketing support for Cadillac, HUMMER, Saab, Saturn and the GM Corporate brand, effective at the end of the first quarter of 2008.

Sanders\Wingo, based in El Paso and Austin, Texas, will help the Chevrolet brand assess its current multicultural marketing activities and identify additional opportunities to evolve and elevate Chevy’s existing African American marketing efforts and increase its business in urban markets.

Carol H. Williams, headquartered in Oakland, Calif., will provide African American, urban and youth advertising creative work for GM’s luxury brands, Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab, as well as Saturn and the GM corporate brand.

In addition, Translation Marketing, a New York City-based brand marketing firm headed by founder and Chief Creative Officer Steven Stoute, will continue to consult with GM in support of the company’s multicultural marketing activities.

“The Sanders\Wingo, Carol H. Williams and Translation marketing assignments are part of GM’s strategy to expand our multicultural agency representation, covering all of our eight brands and aligning our agencies with our retail channels,” said Betsy Lazar, executive director, advertising and media operations.

“A number of very qualified and talented minority-owned agencies participated in this account review, and we’re very excited about working with Sanders\Wingo, Carol H. Williams and Translation to help us tell more people about what GM has to offer them today. We firmly believe this broader strategy will help us sell even more GM cars and trucks in the growing multicultural market,” Lazar said.

The Buick, Pontiac and GMC brands were not part of this most recent account review. The Vigilante advertising agency, based in New York City, will continue to provide African American, urban and youth marketing support for these brands.