Stellantis—among the automakers that paused Twitter advertising in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover—has still not returned to paid advertising on the platform—but it is keeping an open mind, according to a top North American marketing executive for the owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat.

The decision to pause ads but keep an organic presence on Twitter (now known as X) “was an executive leadership decision and it was discussed and it was debated at the very highest levels of the company,” Marissa Hunter, senior VP of marketing for Stellantis North America, said during a wide-ranging conversation on the latest edition Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast. But “we appreciate that there are some fairly significant management changes that are happening there right now,” she added.

The podcast was recorded before this week’s announcement that Twitter would rebrand as X, pursuing a strategy that new CEO Linda Yaccarino stated would involve “audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities."

Automakers have a reason to take a more cautious approach to X compared with other advertisers, given Musk also runs electric vehicle giant Tesla, which has become more of a competitor to traditional automakers as they plow more investments into EVs. General Motors also paused Twitter advertising in the wake of Musk’s acquisition of the company late last year, although CEO Mary Barra opened the door to returning during an interview last month on CNBC. 

Hunter said Stellantis is taking a “wait and watch” approach, but called the Yaccarino hire “a great move.”

While she said she has not noticed “an immediate difference” under Yaccarino, “I'm sure a lot of that is happening behind the scenes … I think we'll give her a little bit of time to get her sea legs—although with Linda, it doesn't take very long because she's pretty much pro of all pros.”

As it waits on Twitter (now X), Stellantis has begun experimenting on Meta’s Threads, the X competitor that debuted earlier this month. “We've done a couple of pilot tests and trials specific to some of the Jeep brand activity,” Hunter said, adding “the engagement results that we've seen on a preliminary basis have been directionally positive.” One recent Thread from Jeep leaned into the “Barbie” marketing hype.

Agency approach

Hunter on the podcast also discussed the automaker’s agency strategy, which recently involved hiring Louisville, Kentucky-based TKT & Associates—a Black-owned shop— as the automaker’s first-ever agency of record dedicated to Black audience marketing efforts.

“We’ve had relationships with diverse-owned agencies in the past, but not to the exclusive nature of the relationship that we have now with TKT,” said Hunter, a 14-year veteran of Stellantis and its predecessor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

“One of the commitments that we've made is to the empowerment of Black creators,” she added. “We know that more diversity in the creative process brings about more thoughtful and reflective and culturally relevant work.”

Stellantis is known to experiment with different agencies even as it keeps agencies of record for its individual brands. Hunter describes it as a “free market” approach that “gives opportunity to new creative agencies that may want to take a crack at” one of the automaker’s brands. (The company's AORs include Highdive for Jeep, TRG for Ram, Doner for Chrysler and GSD&M for Dodge, with Publicis handling social media, Huge leading digital, Migrante assigned to Hispanic advertising and TKT on Black audience marketing.)

Stellantis is known to reach out to dozens of shops for the Super Bowl, for instance, a process that Hunter said will soon begin for the 2024 Big Game.

Watch this year’s Jeep and Ram Super Bowl ads

She did not confirm an ad buy for the game, suggesting that as always, it will come down to whether the creative pitches it gets are worthy of the pricey investment. “We have a track record of when we show up in the Big Game, we tend to show up in a pretty big way,” she said.

That track record has included approaches that play into large societal themes such as a 2021 two-minute Super Bowl ad for Jeep called “The Middle” that starred Bruce Springsteen who made a cry for unity in a deeply divided nation. But even that ad got caught in the culture wars, with some viewers complaining about the presence of Christian symbols, such as a cross, in the spot.

This year, Stellantis took a more lighthearted tone in the game: a Ram ad called “Premature Electrification” spoofed pharma marketing to promote an electric truck, while Jeep remade the reggae classic “Electric Boogie.”

The culture wars—and the risk for brands of being caught in them—have only intensified since then, increasing the odds that Stellantis will avoid anything even mildly controversial.

“I think I do not want to get into politics in any way, shape, or form,” Hunter said.