Former GM Global CMO Joel Ewanick on Tuesday said that signing the sponsorship deal between Chevrolet and ManU "that ultimately led to his ouster last year was a 'no-brainer,'" according to Ryan Beene of AUTOMOTIVE NEWS. Ewanick, in his first public remarks about his July '12 ouster, said that it was "clear that the deal would bring Chevrolet increased brand exposure, purchase consideration and awareness around the world worth 'over four times' the sponsorship's cost," which sources have pegged at $600M over seven years. Ewanick was dismissed "within weeks" of the deal's announcement. Sources later said that "improper handling of the deal led to Ewanick's firing." Ewanick said, "The way this was going to work over time, I would say that for the amount of money we were talking about, it was the biggest no-brainer I've seen." The ManU sponsorship is "one of the few major initiatives from Ewanick's tenure that has stuck at GM." Within days of his dismissal, GM "expanded the partnership to include the right for Chevrolet to display its logo on the team's jerseys, which was not part of the original agreement that Ewanick inked." Ewanick's charge at the company "included consolidating what GM spent on marketing globally and reallocating resources to be more efficient." The ManU deal was "the result of GM looking for more efficient ways to spend its marketing dollars" (AUTONEWS, 10/16).
