When it comes to the Cadillac favored by the rich and famous, no model has more appeal than the Escalade. Once the “me, too!” response to the Lincoln Navigator, the Escalade managed to wrestle the popularity crown through imposing style with sumptuous luxury. However, Cadillac’s chief marketing officer feels the Escalade does alright without celebrity endorsements.
“The brand is strong enough that it doesn’t need to borrow competence from anybody famous. So I’m not interested in celebrity and advertising — whatsoever,” Uwe Ellinghaus told Ad Age. The former BMW executive would rather try to break through with product-driven messages. Evidence of that was famously made during the 2014 Super Bowl’s “Poolside” spot, which featured Cadillac’s plug-in electric hybrid ELR.
“Tesla teaches us a message: If you offer cars with an electric drive-train that have superb driving characteristics and a beautiful [interior], they find customers. What doesn’t work is to position a car for people who are tree-huggers and green-wash an entire brand.”
While sales of the ELR have been very slow, it is a forward-thinking symbol of a cutting-edge brand that has gotten people talking, especially throughout the Internet.
In a similar vein, Ellinghaus has debated Cadillac’s marketing mix. Long a supporter of golf, Cadillac may soon move away from the expected and veer into “experiential marketing that actually gets Tesla, BMW, or Mercedes drivers behind the wheel of [the] latest models than photo ops at sporting events.”
“I take [for] myself the liberty to reassess everything we do in sports and simply ask the question: If our competitors spend 20-40-50-times as much as we do, is it wise to go there just to show we are in their league? Isn’t experiential a better opportunity? To surprise people positively about Cadillac’s presence? Nobody is surprised if you come to a golf tournament and see a luxury-car brand advertising there. It’s exactly what you expect.”
Comments
Model S is a beautiful car, no doubt, but I disagree with his specific remark in regards to it’s interior. Though the infotainment+HVAC controls may be superbly functional (in comparison to basically every other automotive touch screen interface) it looks awful. As far as aesthetics go, that is a huge sore sport for the Model S, IMO.
They’re still trying to cram ELRs down people’s throats? Caddy really needs to throw in the towel with the ELR.
Its far too upscale to compete with things like the Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf, but it lacks the performance to compete with things like Tesla Model S and BMW i8. Its a car without a market. They need to scrap it and start over from scratch. They built the ELR on the cheap, and it didn’t pay off. No one wants a Chevy Volt with the interior of a Rolls Royce.
Thank God that they do not believe that I would buy a Cadillac because Tiger Woods was given one to drive.
I see few people taking the lead on who drives what anymore. The money would be better off using a good famous voice for the voice over that sounds good.
As for the ELR. It is more about Cadillac saying and showing they are entering the electric car segment and nothing more. Many of you complain about a car they build in only a couple years for little money by using a Chevy Volt with a Cadillac Show car body. The only mission is to put Cadillac into the ring and nothing more.
Now yes they could have waited till they got the car they are working on now to challenge the Tesla but then you would complain when it is 5 years late.
The ELR is what it is and never was intended for large volume or major profit. It is as much a marketing tool than anything else. It’s time will be short and we will have a electric sedan here sooner than you think. So will other brands.
I still don’t understand why people go crazy over the Model S, any idiot in the auto industry can make an aluminum car with bland exterior styling, stick a large battery underneath, make an interior not much better than a Hyundai genesis, then stick a laptop sized touch screen for all the extremely liberal hipsters to drool over, then pretend he’s the Steve Jobs of the auto industry. As for the ELR; it will sell in large quantities, just not now. Right now, as stated above, this is just Cadillac showing off, saying “hey, we can make one too.” When the second or third generation arrives, that is when Cadillac will start saying “it was a little rough around the edges, now it’s better than product x,” every product needs time to work all the bugs out, I just hope the next one is built on a a modified version of alpha, and not delta like the volt.