Media dollars may be down in general, but the role of advertising is just as critical as ever. The world continues to get more competitive and more cluttered. To succeed in that kind of Darwinian environment, companies constantly have to find new ways to stand above the crowd and connect with the consumer. For that reason, we haven’t made any significant cutbacks in media spending.

In fact, we recently launched a brand-new Cadillac campaign. Traditionally, Cadillac has not been the coolest or the most relevant brand to people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. But we have just spent billions of dollars producing some of the most innovative vehicles in the world, so now is the time to come out with an entirely new ad campaign. More than anything else, we need advertising to make an emotional connection with consumers. Emotion grabs attention — and ultimately sells products.

Last year, U.S. market share went up for General Motors, and we made money. We’re the only domestic automotive manufacturer that can make that claim. We started to make products that people need to have as opposed to products that people want to have. Advertising has a critical role: It tells a story in such a way that a product becomes totally relevant to people’s lives.