In prior statements regarding the future of Cadillac as a brand, marketing chief Uwe Ellinghaus made it explicitly clear that he does not want to see Caddy comparing itself to its rivals in its marketing and advertising. However, Ellinghaus also wants the brand to adopt and fully embrace the marketing tactics currently used by rivals such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the pursuit of positioning itself as a legitimate alternative to standard German offerings.
A key aspect of the reinvigorated marketing strategy is Ellinghaus’ efforts to have Cadillac be defined by the strength of its brand and its lineup, rather than relying on cliched phrases such as “American Luxury” to explain its meaning for existence. In a blunt but to the point statement, Ellinghaus revealed that Cadillac needs to be “luxury” but without overtly saying so.
“Firstly, if you need to say that you are luxury then you are not luxury”, he said, further elaborating: “Louis Vuitton does not say they are luxury. They simply are. Secondly it’s not meaningful. We realize that even in the U.S., people don’t understand what makes American luxury different from European luxury”.
It seems that Ellinghaus’ goal is to equip Cadillac with more confidence while also eliminating the “me-too” style of comparisons that defined Cadillac’s prior marketing campaigns. A good example of Ellinghaus’ objective is analogous to stepping into a luxury-oriented shopping mall; the various stores and outfits in the mall usually don’t use the word “luxury”, nor does a specific luxury brand in its advertising. Instead, the “luxury” is boldly showcased in a way that appeals to the eye and does not resort to comparisons with competitors. This not only improves the overall shopping experience, but also creates a more concrete and fluid luxury experience, something that Cadillac needs to embrace if it wants to strengthen its public image.
Ellinghaus says that Cadillac’s new marketing initiative as a whole will be wide ranging, with a consistent message delivered in a variety of media forms including television, print, showroom appearances, online, auto show displays, and events, with the end result being advertising that is bolder, more positive, and captures people’s imaginations in a new and compelling way. The marketing chief also dared his critics to challenge his initiative quipping, “And again like with the nomenclature change, many people will declare me nuts which I am. But the changes at Cadillac are not evidence thereof”.
This sense of confidence along with the recent profusion of activity and changes at Cadillac, is a welcome blast of fresh air into GM’s luxury brand. And with the bold and dynamic Uwe Ellinghaus in charge of Cadillac’s marketing operations, Johan de Nysschen leading the brand division, and a slew of future new product like the 2016 CT6 flagshsip, Cadillac should emerge from its current transition as a leaner and more confident luxury automaker, Caddy has a golden opportunity at resurrecting itself as a top tier luxury threat to the best from Germany and Japan.
Comments
These GM execs don’t know what they’re doing and it is clearly showing everyday with the stupid stuff they say. Don’t tell the public what you are doing and how you manage to do it. Show them with the product and the offerings and then advertise the styling and the strong points of the product.
The American buying public will buy if you build vehicles that they have to have. Build vehicles that look better and perform better than anything else out there and the crowds will show up in droves to drive their new cars home. STYLING sells. Nobody wants an ugly car. They want a car that is absolutely gorgeous in every single way. That’s it! Build cars with style and people will buy them! You can build a car with the worse quality, but if it looks good, people will buy it!
Well I agree styling helps sell but in this segment it also takes technology, Performance, Leading edge safety technology and image.
People who buy cars like this could go to the country club or work in a Impala just as easy as a CTS.
The people who buy these cars want all that makes this car tell a little something about themselves.
Technology = Smart
Performance = power
Styling = Appreciation for culture and arts The truth is look at some of the highest price luxury cars like the latest Rolls and it is not pretty but the image sells the car.
Driving a car like this sends a message that you have the means and success in life [or a massive lease agreement]. This send the signal you are one of the winners in life and tells others you are in a good place in life. Also this feeds the ego of the buyer.
Cadillac needs to be the car that you have to have and not need to have.
This image is build on Real Technology, Good Styling, Great Performance numbers and High Quality inside and out of the car.
The best example of what Cadillac needs to be is what all Benz shows in their latest commercial where it features all their advancements in performance, technology , styling and quality. But not compare itself to Benz directly. Sell it as a Cadillac not as a car that is supposed to be better than Cadillac. Sell it on it’s own merits. Don’t do it like Lincoln where they try to say they have more standard features than Cadillac. Just tell me what you are going to do for me as an owner.
As for the mixed message this all the result of the changed in the last 5 months. This has been a great big do over as GM finally has gone from do the bare min to compete here to committing full force. They tripled their work load here.
Part of me cringes every time I read someone’s post that says “compete with”.
“This Cadillac needs to compete with that BMW”
“GM needs a luxury sub compact to compete with Audi”
As of late it’s “GMC needs to compete with Jeep”.
The approach taken with “Cadillac competing with X” rather than “This is Cadillac’s offering this segment” is what is really skewing some people’s understanding of what deNysschen and Ellinghaus intentions are. Continuing to only make cars to “compete with” the German offerings isn’t going to make Cadillac worth a damn if everything they is being publicly presented as being “just as good as the Germans”.
Comparing yourself to the established players, and having to advertise the comparison to get attention to your product, isn’t what Cadillac should be doing in ANY future advertisement. The luxury car consumer isn’t stupid and can see the similarities between one car and another.
The differences between the cars, however, will either attract or discourage them, and it’s in those differences that often scarcely advertised; some of which are self-evident and don’t need advertising, and some of which aren’t evident and may be detrimental to advertise. Did you know Cadillac sells robotic arms? 😉
The obvious doesn’t need to be advertised. Chrysler doesn’t need to remind people that the car is “imported from Detroit”, nor does the MKZ need to draw attention to its sunroof; we can all SEE it. In Cadillac’s case, it’s going to need product that stands for itself, where advertising isn’t done to point out feature X and feature Y and how terrible competitor Z is in comparison. It’s where advertising is done that show how great the product is and to make the consumer act in responce.
I wounder what modal year the CT8 will be