Last September, General Motors promoted former Cadillac marketing boss Deborah Wahl to the position of chief marketing officer. GM had not had a global CMO since Joel Ewanick was released from the company in 2012, so Wahl’s appointment to the position was both surprising and significant.
We haven’t had the chance to hear too much from Wahl since she took the GM marketing reigns last year. Wahl was present at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, however, where she sat down with the event’s C-Space web show for a lengthy discussion about emerging technologies and GM’s Vision Zero initiative.
Deborah Wahl
One of the more interesting parts of the interview is when the C-Space host James Kotecki asks how technology is having an impact on the automotive marketing space. Wahl says that GM is currently in the midst of moving to an “audience based, propensity modelling structure for all of the brands.” This means GM will attempt to use data to identify those consumers who may be predisposed to preferring a certain brand and then target ads at that individual.
The data that Wahl is referencing can be extremely specific – sometimes oddly so. For instance, she says GM has noticed that people who enjoy or attend magic shows have a strong propensity to buy a Cadillac. Unique overlaps like these can be extremely valuable to ad execs like Wahl, as they inform them where to target their ads for maximum effectiveness.
“I think it’s all those simple insights that rally do develop and it’s shocking when you become completely committed to it how it really changes a lot of the media strategy, the investment strategy, everything,” Wahl said of these data-based insights.
You can watch the interview embedded below to hear what else Wahl had to say at CES 2020.
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Comments
if you like magic shows, you might be more likely to buy cadillac. i don’t know if i should laugh or cry.
Marketing is an area GM seems to be lacking in, at least creatively. This CMO does not seem up to the job, either that or she has her priorities out of wack. I have never seen her exhibit a passion for the products she markets nor any determined ferocity with regard to wanting GM to win. I do recall her exuberance and pride when describing her tribute to Aretha Franklin. Priorities, priorities.
I can see the tag line now. Make magic with Cadillac! I keep saying to myself it can’t get any worse but yet Mary finds a way. I hope Mark Reuss is wearing a helmet as he’s tapping his head against the door of his office.
I can only hope Chevrolet keeps fighting as hard as they can to keep their legacy from being ruined. It’s a shame Chevy wasn’t separated from the rest of GM in the early sixties when GM was closing in on 60% market share and worried about antitrust.
Jofa,
I find this interesting. You seem to think lately that the likes of Mark Reuss has been saving GM from horrible decisions. And I seem to think Mark Reuss is causing most of them.
Please explain in the last 30 years how Mark has kept up with the competition ?
I do think, if you are a performance GM person, Mark is your man !
But it is my opinion, from a value, and competitive standpoint, Mark has been the wrong choice for GM as a whole, and Cadillac for sure !!
I would love to get the honest answers to some questions within GM.
Who made the decision to stop with the Cadillac Lutz started in 2004 with the CTS, followed by the STS, SRX, DTS, to the crap 2010 and on SRX, CTS, ATS, and now followed by the XT4-XT5-XT6, these decisions have almost ruined Cadillac.
Sure the V series of Mark Reuss, was a great vehicle to start, but lacking AWD or anything new, it just stagnates in sales.
Was it Dan or Mark in charge of the 2013 – 2016 GM vehicles, because there is a strip in there of the lowest quality cheapest crap from GM in a very long while and it has taken from 2016 up to almost today so get this crap out of the GM supply chain !
You see Mark has been there forever in a high roll, Dan however when he took over after bankruptcy came from a financial background, so I would place the 2013 – 16 blame on Dan, and its a good thing Mary was put in before Dan just ran GM straight to the grave for good.
If you would, what is your take and why ?
And who do you think is the driver behind the new stuff as of 2020 ?
Or is GM finally seeing the writing on the wall, of being so, so, so, dam cheap, that the whole top from the board down to the new CFO, just realized the need to spend more money to keep up with the competition ?
“…audience based, propensity modelling structure for all of the brands.”
Um…..Yeah.
Business 101 Classes called that “target marketing” and its arguably been one of THE most regurgitated topics in academic circles the past 50 years .
Loads of B-School Books / Papers have been authored about it…many by the same professional think-tank consultant / experts pontificating its virtues (…for a living.)
Unsure how Her corporate-speak (…like baby speak, only with bigger words) interview reflects the best / brightest thinking from a fortune 100 company.
But what do I know….I’ve a CTS-V Wagon and never been to a Magic show.
Who cares? 🐂
I am very much looking forward to see like she stated how all the Legacy Auto Makers react during this Huge Transition.
Will all survive?
Will the cost burden be so high that they need to merge to survive?
These next 10 years will be extremely interesting and maybe extremely volatile too.