Chevrolet ad agency hires new chief creative officer

McCann Worldgroup’s dedicated Chevrolet agency has hired a Saatchi & Saatchi executive — who has experience with Toyota — as its new global chief creative officer.

Fabio Costa, a native of Brazil, has taken on the Detroit-based role at Commonwealth/McCann, which handles the Chevy account via 13 global offices. His hiring continues a leadership overhaul at the 660-person agency as it reshapes itself to better handle the demands of modern-day automotive marketing, which includes a new emphasis on selling electric vehicles. 

Other recent hires include Global Chief Strategy Officer Joanna Young, who was poached from WPP’s dedicated Mazda agency, known as Team Garage, in October, and Belinda Leworthy as president of North America in April. Leworthy was previously a global client lead handling WPP’s Dell account.

“We all inherently understand that when you have a brand like Commonwealth working on a brand like Chevrolet, there's always the danger of becoming the incumbent that doesn't look at itself and go, ‘How do we change?’ said Grant Theron, CEO of Commonwealth/McCann and the General Motors business lead for McCann owner Interpublic.

“I think the best thing that we can do for our clients is look at the transformation that's happening in the industry, which is profound. It's changing daily. And we're reacting to that daily,” he said.

For instance, Leworthy was recruited for her technology background, he said, adding that he wanted someone to “challenge us and say, ‘Are we thinking about the vehicle in a holistic way?’”

Costa brings the agency a wealth of international experience. He began his career at Y&R in Brazil and has also logged time in San Francisco for Ogilvy One and TBWA\Chiat\Day, while also working in Paris for Ogilvy. At The Martin Agency, he worked on accounts including Geico,  BF Goodrich and Mentos before making a stop at TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles where he was global creative lead on Adidas and as the U.S. lead on Netflix, Disney and Miller Lite.  

At Saatchi, he oversaw campaigns related to Toyota’s Olympic sponsorship, including a highly regarded, emotional 2021 Super Bowl ad that told the story of Paralympian Jessica Long.

Costa in an interview said he likes ads that use “emotion, heartfelt stories, real people” — an approach he plans to bring to Chevy. Chevrolet drivers are “bonded to the brand,” he said, “because of the values that are represented by that badge.”“I love the automotive industry,” he added, “and am reenergized to be working for one of the best brands in the world. And my goal is to make it magnetic.”

He joins Commonwealth a few months after it parted with its former chief creative officer Gary Pascoe. Costa takes on the global title that Pascoe did not have. 

“I strongly felt that [Chevy] is a global brand,” Theron said. “And although the U.S. is clearly our biggest market and probably our most important…I really wanted a global perspective. We should be managing this brand as a global brand.” 

Costa will relocate from Los Angeles to Detroit for the job. He joins as Chevy preps a new product blitz that includes both gas-powered and electric cars.

“You could call literally just any Chevy dealer across the country and they're going to tell you that 2022 was one of their best years ever. And we've got an onslaught of product over the next 18 to 36 months like never before,” Keith McCluskey, CEO of McCluskey Chevrolet in Cincinnati and chairman of the Chevrolet National Dealer Council, recently told Automotive News.

Chevy owner General Motors in January reported record pre-tax profits for 2022 but announced $2 billion in cost cuts over two years as it prepares for potentially deteriorating global economic conditions. The company does not plan to make layoffs, executives said.