AC

General Motors' big news this week was supposed to be Thursday's earnings announcement: Did sagging Europe pull the whole company into the red for the second quarter? Instead, the buzz is about the latest high-level head-chopping, and this one has rocked the advertising and marketing world because it could put big portions of GM's $4.5 billion global ad budget into play. GM's shocking move was to boot, in harsh language, global chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick. He signed off on the "Chevy runs deep" ads and consolidated GM's brand advertising with three main agencies instead of dozens. Ewanick was hired as a superstar two years ago after overhauling Hyundai's image and starting some projects for Nissan before GM lured him away. He was replaced — temporarily, GM said — by Alan Batey, the car company's vice president in charge of U.S. Sales and Service. A new CMO will "want to come in and make a mark, tinker with things," says veteran marketing consultant Jack Trout at Trout &...