MONTREAL -- When General Motors of Canada Ltd. hit the Quebec market with its line of six new Chevrolet models, it opted for shock-and-awe marketing tactics.

Instead of the standard rollout campaign of individual models over a prolonged period, Oshawa-based GM Canada went full-bore yesterday with an unprecedented one-day, province-wide blitz flogging all six models.

The campaign, choreographed by Montreal-based Cossette Communication Group Inc., boasted the following arsenal:

Seven new television spots blasting the message throughout the day, including just before the 10 p.m. news on the three major francophone networks;

336 radio spots in Montreal and Quebec City;

More than 700 superboards, regular billboards, subway, university and mobile boards;

1.5 million four-page newspaper inserts;

Saturation coverage on the Canoe Web site; and, just for good measure,

An on-air contest giving away five new Chevrolets on a high-profile radio network.

While some elements of the so-called convergence campaign will continue for several weeks, the strategy was to start out huge and with high impact on day one and then level off from there, said Yanick Deschênes of Cossette, GM Canada's long-time agency in Quebec.

GM Canada and Cossette wouldn't disclose how much the campaign in Quebec cost, but Mr. Deschênes said it represents 20 per cent of the annual Chevrolet marketing budget for the province.

The blitz is also notable because it won't be replicated anywhere else in Canada.

The distinct society is indeed distinct when it comes to vehicle sales, said Steve O'Reilly, GM Canada's Quebec Zone manager. Consider that about 80 per cent of cars sold in Quebec are in the subcompact, compact and small to mid-size category, compared with 50 per cent in the rest of Canada and just 28 per cent in the United States, he said.

Four of the six cars in the Chevrolet launch fit the category: the entry-level Aveo hatchback, the Optra sedan, the redesigned Malibu, and the mid-size Epica. Rounding out the package are the Colorado mid-size pickup truck and the high-end roadster-cum-pickup SSR.

GM Canada's share of the car market in Quebec in 2002 was about 21 per cent and the goal is to nudge that number closer to 25 per cent within a year or two, Mr. O'Reilly said.

GM's total share in Quebec at the end of last year was 23.8 per cent if sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles are included. GM is the biggest car maker in the world, but its key North American market share remains below 30-per-cent.

The 25-per-cent goal is "an extremely aggressive target," particularly given the inroads of foreign rivals like Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Mr. O'Reilly conceded. The Chevrolet ad campaign is a key element in that effort, he added.

Normand Turgeon, a marketing professor at Montreal's École des hautes études commerciales, gives the giant auto maker points for chutzpah. He characterizes yesterday's media saturation as "the landing of GM," but has some reservations.

"The drawback is information overload," he said. "You're exposing the consumer to six models at the same time. How much information can be absorbed?"

The flip side is that blanket coverage in all the media can have a reinforcing effect, with print and Internet ads complementing the more rapid-fire TV and billboard placements, he said.

On the whole, it seems that GM Canada is going for big and brassy over subtle and clever, he added.

"This comes across as more brawn than creativity. It's like a gigantic loudspeaker, but it's not clear if the consumer is responding by saying, 'Oh la la, what a lovely tune.' " Mr. O'Reilly said he's not concerned about a backlash in Quebec because of last year's shutdown of GM's 37-year-old vehicle assembly plant in Boisbriand, the only remaining such facility in the province.

"We're confident the models will speak for themselves," and that buyers' priority is quality brand names at the right price, not nursing a grudge over a plant closing, he said.