Cadillac’s Marketing Strategy Receives Some Tough Love On Facebook
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This isn’t normally how stories form in the world of automotive media. Last month, Cadillac brand manager Melody Lee was interviewed by Fortune magazine. The 33-year old said some things that could be troubling for long time Cadillac customers, such as “I don’t buy products, I buy brands,” and other statements which reveal her mindset and vision for the company.
One freelance automotive journalist shared the article on Facebook, noting that if a person like Lee is who Cadillac has at the helm, they are in “big trouble.” Then, other staffers from Motor Trend, Jalopnik, Car & Driver and more chimed in with their differing opinions on Lee and her work. The main issue most have with her statements is they appear to focus on the brand and its image, and disregard the fact that you need good cars in order to be a successful luxury brand.
We don’t think Lee was ignoring the fact that good products are the best way to win customers. Her job is to change the way people see the brand, to make it “cool” again, in her words. Her job would be pretty easy if every day she showed up to work, said “well the cars are great, so I guess my job is done,” and went home.
Yahoo! Autos, who originally recapped all the Cadillac Facebook banter, points out many are afraid to see GM’s marketing go the way of Robert Zarella again. He took over General Motors’ marketing in 1994 and pushed out catchy ads which didn’t focus on the performance or quality of the cars, but simply on persuading consumers to buy them. As you can imagine, it didn’t work.
Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen eventually showed up to the online exchange to defend his company, and his brand manager Lee.
“Guys, let me worry about ensuring we have the best damn products in the biz. And let my marketers worry about shaping the coolest brand in town. Making awesome cars is the easy part, and we’re on it. Don’t take everything so seriously, will ya [sic]?”
Our thoughts, exactly, Johan. Just like some of those who chimed in on the Great Facebook Cadillac Argument of 2014, we think Cadillac can only benefit from bringing in someone who has never experienced or been influenced by GM’s corporate culture. Melody said she’s often the only woman in a meeting full of older men in suits, who probably belong to the same demographic of all the people criticising her online.
Like de Nysschen said: let the engineers make great products and let the marketing team make the brand cool however they deem necessary. GM can only benefit from bringing in young talent like Lee, and Cadillac has plans to hire about 200 more employees who are probably very similar to her. Give them a chance to apply their knowledge and they may just surprise you. If they don’t, you can always complain about it on the internet.
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Hiya! Thanks for your objectivity regarding Ms. Lee and her detractors. I can’t help but think that there’s underlying racism and ageism from her critics, from people who just refuse to move on and let Cadillac evolve for the times. A woman? An Asian? A 30-something yr old? Could it be that people simply felt threatened?
Perhaps she should have quoted Queen Victoria: “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.” I suspect that, with vigorous new management, an NYC base, and the undoubted engineering and styling resources at GM’s command, this is what will come to pass.
Like.
Seems to me that Cadillac is doing well on both fronts: products are better than ever, and with them the brand is cooler on top of it’s marketing improvements.
slice2003,
Seriously? The discrimination card. That’s a very easy (and cheap) discussion, not to mention irrelevant. People have problems with her comments because, well because if you haven’t got anything to say, say something nasty.
We should all note that the idea failed under Zarella because the product he was pushing was inferior for the market he wanted. The only catchy fact about the ’90s Caddies was the gravel you picked up on your tires when you incessantly needed to pull over, or the snickers you got when you told people, “Honest, this Cimmaron has nothing to do with a Cavalier”. Now, things have improved so much that if you asked Lee, or any of her contemporaries, what a Caddy was she’d probably say something you find at a golf course.
Tricky… There’s a lot of validity to what everyone is saying. Its not a “him vs her”, “they vs us” type of thing.
I might disagree with Cadillac’s strategy. If you try to compete with someone else in their game, on their turf, following their rules, your chance of victory is darn near zilch.
on the flip side, she’s right. You need a good car, but a good car isn’t enough. give me a slightly better caddy than the BMW at the same price point and i’d drive home in the BMW. The brand has value. This is coming from someone who owns a caddy (and a bmw- and I DONT like the BMW).
They are right too. Lets take a brand with a strong market. Alienate the entire market, in an attempt to grab a new market, who is already loyal to other sets of brands. if thats not a risky, slightly crazy strategy, I don’t know what is. It also spells long term, ugly, battleground.
These same deflectors are insisting that cadillac kill the XLR, when the XLR is the only remaining car for a giant demographic of older individuals.
This is an interesting strategy cadillac is taking frankly. I’m not sure if its going to work, but their cards and their chips are on the table. Hindsight will be 20/20 in this case, but caddy’s going to struggle for a few years. its expensive and painful to build a brand-driven sales organization, and building a brand is what they are trying to do. They have the “better cars” (on paper at least), so now they need to catch up in their marketing. The only concern I have which is valid, is “who are the customers”? are they 30 year olds looking for luxury performance? Does it make sense to go head to head with Audi, Lexus, mercedes, and BMW? Are they making a “cool brand” for 30 year olds? or a cool brand for their buying segments? Are their products and their marketing strategies pulling the same customers? Are they appropriately using the right type of high-end vehicles to pull the interest of the right buyers? Does following in the footsteps, and emulating the strategies of BMW make sense as opposed to creating their own path?
So many questions. I wish I had answers, but I’m also not sold on theirs!
First of what the hell? Race and sexism? I think not,
All this is about people remember the time GM brought in the marketing people to sell cars when they were cutting back on engineering. This was a major mistake as it is like trying to win a foot ball game on offense only and not even having a defense.
GM today and even more so with the new direction of Cadillac they have opened the door to the engineers to do all they can do. GM has some of the best engineers in the business and in the past they were limited so much due to the lack of funds and the red tape of the damaged GM culture.
Today they are un shackled and they are able to do what they do best. The new C7 and other totally new models are examples of this. Hell just look what hey did with the old heavy Zeta Camaro in the Z/28. Just wait for the new clean sheet of paper car they will deliver in Detroit soon.
The fact is GM can engineer the best stuff in the world but you still have to market it right.
Case point here. Ford has made it sound and convinced many that the Ecoboost is their idea and their invention. Their marketing has done a hell of a job making it sound like they did it all first and best. Yet Audi, VW, GM and others have had Direct Injection Turbo engines even before Ford had theirs. My O8 Ecotec still has more power and Torque than the Ford. Also the new ATS V engine is based on the same TT V6 that Holden and Chevy showed as far back as 2004 and delayed due to money woes.
This is a team effort and it will take the engineers and marketing both to design and promote these products and put them in a positive light. Today GM has the money to do this right and not cut back or limit things as they once did.
As the F body manager told me we spent the money on the suspension and engine and always ran out of money by the time we got to the interior and advertising. Just look at the 3rd and 4th Gen and you can see it.
This is one of those deals as she speaks for what her mission is on this team and not for the entire division. She is only one part of a large team and Dynyso
This is a game GM has to put the cards our as they have to play to win or just fold. There is no market for a fancy Chevy anymore that you can claim as a Luxury Division. That game and come and gone and GM can no longer bluff their way through this.
The only one who speaks for all of Cadillac is the Coach Johan de Nysschen . He is the guy that oversees the entire deal and collectively speaks for all.
If one was to look back to the Lutz era of BMW in the 70’s. BMW was not all that much of a high end car coming our of the 60’s as the 2002 was not exactly a luxury car. It was a handler but not a premium car in much of a way. Yet they continued to move up market and build even better performance with better interiors etc.
Once BMW got the cars headed in the right direction Lutz was given the best tag line anyone could ask for “The Ultimate Driving Machine” tag line. They used their improved performance and Luxury under this tag line to build the brand to what it is today. They did not do it over night or with one or two models. They really did not do it so much with a flag ship either. Good marketing and branding of the 3 series sold many Americans on the brand.
This is going to be a deal where Cadillac is not going to be #1 or #2 by 2020. They will be more advance than they are and they will continue to grow the brand with each and every new model. The product is going the right direction now and they really need to get a handle on the marketing end. They have no real tag line or anything that grabs the public. BMW has theirs and even Chevy trucks had Like a Rock for many years. That is what Ms. Lee needs to seek and find and then build a marketing campaign around it.
The new Cadillac branding needs to sell Image, Power, Technology, Performance and Luxury. It is not easy but it will be done.
Social media is like here and any other web site where people can speak out. Just because you can post or speak does not mean you have a clue or are qualified. Also many times companies to employ trolls to stir things ups. They do not speak of this but they do play games as all is fair in business and war.
All of these changes will not happen over night . Cadillac needs to engineer and design cars that people want to buy . I don’t think they should be chasing their German rivals but stand on their own merits . They are targeting a new generation of car buyers , and want to grow the company on the world stage . I believe they seek to do battle withe the german marques in the Asia-Pacific region . Thats where the future growth will be . So you will end up seeing less American buyers , but I don’t think they are concerned withe that . Cadillac will end being an exclusive brand for the rich ( and wealthy ) population , and that falls in line with their plans for fewer dealerships . Cadillac will not be an “every mans car” . Some people don’t like change , but for GM to survive on a global scale they need to change how people view a Cadillac .