Chevrolet and University of TX to Ride Tandem in Marketing Campaign

Of the more interesting ad campaign choices Chevrolet has ever done, here’s one that probably has the marketing team slapping their foreheads saying, “Why didn’t we think of this before?” As part of the advertising campaign for the new 2014 Silverado, Chevy and University of Texas are going to be calling each other “pardner” for the foreseeable future.

Photo: MotorTrend

Reports tell us that the multi-year contract involves the UT Athletics program, IMG College, and Ex-Students’ Association (aka the Texas Exes), making the Silverado the official truck of said organizations. And don’t think that good ole Bevo, the live mascot, is getting the short end of the stick; Chevrolet will have a specially-made truck and trailer made just for him.

Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet Marketing, believes the pairing of the Silverado and UT to be especially advantageous, considering that “a Longhorn fan lives in one out of every three households and is almost twice as likely to buy a truck as the average consumer.”

Fans of UT can expect to see the imposing presence of the Silverado when football starts up again, with its logo in all Texas Athletics official media conferences and interviews, as well as being the official truck of the AT&T Red River Rivalry, the big game between the Longhorns and Sooners.

However, Chevrolet has tried the university tactic before. In recent memory, there was the Chevrolet University Challenge in late 2010, which spanned coast to coast and had college kids making online videos touting the Bowtie through contests, test drives, and interviews with students. Unfortunately, it did not resonate very well with the youth, or really anyone for that matter, garnering very few views on Facebook image galleries and YouTube videos.

Hopefully, this UT campaign will be a bigger success with a more targeted, pickup-happy population. Do you think this will prove to be a smart move for Chevy? Or is the company going about the job the wrong way? Let us know in the comments.