Holden Colorado goes the Goat

After a series of cryptic advertising campaigns for new models, Holden has turned to a wild New Zealand goat called Angus to promote the Colorado ute.

The campaign is dubbed ‘Not to be outdone’ and is designed to showcase various technical elements of the Colorado. It is part of a push by Holden to get its ute cemented in the top three in terms of sales.

But it is also a new direction for Holden’s messaging, which has recently eschewed the brand’s everyman (some would say bogan) origins in search of a more modern image.

The result has been the ‘Nothing to prove? Prove it?’ campaign for new Equinox SUV and the mystifying ‘For Sure’ tagline for the new imported Commodore.

Previously the tagline for the Colorado was ‘Best of Both’, promoting the city and country capability of the vehicle as well as its safety and comfort equipment.

But the new campaign focuses on payload, torque, towing and the Duramax turbo-diesel engine. It started with a 45-second brand ad in which Angus and the Colorado driver compete to climb higher, faster off-road. which has now expanded to include four 15-second spots.

To the end of April, the Colorado is fourth in the all-important and lucrative 4x4 ute VFACTS category but drops down the order when 4x2 registrations are added. Leading the booming segment is the Toyota HiLux, followed by the Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton.

“We deserve to be in the top three in LCV at all times,” said GM Holden senior manager of product marketing Andre Scot. “We have seen ourselves tip in and out of third and fourth but we should be in the top three.”

Other elements of the Colorado promotional campaign include TV appearances on The Footy Show, a partnership with Surf Life Saving Australia and a recent on- and off-road media drive of the Colorado, which was combined with a mountain bike ride for motoring journalists.

“Colorado is about adventure and it’s about getting out and doing things and feeling capable while you are doing it,” Scott said.

“We made a hell of a lot of fantastic changes in MY17 (Colorado) and in that time we’ve had various campaigns to communicate that.

“What ‘Not to be outdone’ is really about is being very specific about the great features, engineering and performance the Colorado has to offer.”

Scott said it was important for Holden’s promotion to develop Colorado as a brand, in the same way HiLux has strengths separate to Toyota and Ranger separate to Ford.