Cadillac gave us a short look at its newly reinvented brand image during coverage of the 2015 Academy Awards Sunday. The automaker aired three new ads, all part of its ‘Dare Greatly’ ad campaign, which boasted the tagline “only those who dare drive the world forward.”
The ads feature individuals who are considered innovators in their field. Jason Wu, for example, is a male fashion designer who has designed dresses for Michelle Obama and other notable celebrities, and explains he wouldn’t be where he was if his mom didn’t ‘dare’ to buy him a sewing machine. He also says he ‘dared’ to start a fashion business right out of school when he had very little experience at all.
We think the ads are fitting for Cadillac. We’ve consistently heard Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen and CMO Uwe Ellinghaus talk about how they want to be “a luxury brand that happens to sell cars” which sounds like the sort of idea people would scoff at, much like how they would at Wu dressing up dolls as a kid, or Steve Wozniak dropping out of school. How dare a 112-year old brand try to completely re-invent itself?
You might disagree with us, though, and think the ads aren’t appropriate for the Cadillac brand. Place your vote on Cadillac’s new image below, and feel free to discuss the ads in the comments. If you haven’t seen them, head on over to Cadillac’s ‘Dare Greatly’ website to view them all.
Comments
Apple called. They want their Think Different campaign back.
Reading is not one of your strong suits.
I like them, it’s a great direction. I didn’t like the way the last few ads looked, especially the ats coupe ones. For a luxury brand these ads fit. These along with the cts-v and ats-v ads give a prestige feeling
I like it. The power comes from the tag line. Definitely a brand builder.
Visually Stunning, But words are lack-luster. If you read it aloud in a Freshman Marketing/Branding 101 class you’d get a D: absolutely no depth, tact, or punch.
Be DARING! Beats McConaughey driving a Lincoln….
If I see dolly boy flitting around or that freak Woz one more time… My God! Could the Golf Channel play these annoying ads any more often? The Cadillac Open was last week! And ditch that unbearable Cara Robinson please! She’s terrible!
How much does GM pay its marketing execs to come with such a lack luster ad campaigne?They can’t even come up with a good commercial (think “Import from Detroit” by Chryler), and they want to make Cadillac a luxury brand that happens to sell cars? Sounds like a bunch of incompetent egomaniacs lock in a power struggle for self importance, instead of doing what’s good for the company… When’s the last time you hear of Ferarri, Porsche, Mercedes or the likes, being a luxury brands that happen to sell cars… It’s always the cars first, idiots!!!