Troubled General Motors, famous for sticking with the agencies on its roster, may be thinking twice about its long-term agency relationships - big news, since GM is the second-largest U.S. advertiser (after P&G), having spent $2.9 billion on advertising last year, reports the New York Times. Nevertheless, GM keeps making fundamental mistakes, according to marketing strategist Al Ries: for example, "a company with multiple brands has to establish positions for each. General Motors used to do that, but now it doesn't."

The article cites examples of recent GM moves that might augur larger changes: Creative project work for half of all Cadillac models was recently awarded to Modernista; the account to create campaigns for the GM Service and Parts Operations unit was placed in review; and Chevrolet added Deutsch to its roster.

"We are trying to improve our advertising and marketing performance as one of the keys to improving our performance in North America," Ryndee Carney, manager for advertising and marketing communications at GM in Detroit, is quoted as saying. "We're taking a fresh look at what we're doing, and we're asking our agency partners to do the same."