General Motors has filed to trademark the term ‘Be Iconic’, GM Authority has uncovered. The filing will be used as a new tagline for the Cadillac brand, with the term set to appear in future Cadillac marketing materials.
Filed on August 30th, 2021 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the application is assigned serial number 97002860. Under the Goods and Services category, the application lists “Motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles, sport utility vehicles, trucks, vans, engines therefor and structural parts thereof,” as relevant use cases.
The filing also indicates Be Iconic will be used to promote “the marketing of motor vehicles and motor vehicle repair services; retail sales of motor vehicles and parts and accessories of motor vehicles; providing consumer information about automobiles for sale or lease by means of printed material, audio and video recordings, television and radio advertising, online advertising, internet web sites and promotional contests.”
Regina King
Be Iconic has already been used in an ad spot for the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover starring actress Regina King, which was titled “The Beauty of Defiance.” Cadillac CMO Melissa Grady Dias has said the Be Iconic tagline “represents Cadillac’s desire to champion each of us to become the most inspirational and aspirational version of ourselves, and to live life on our own terms.” This relates to the automaker’s transition to an electric vehicle company, challenging any established notions one might have about the 102-year-old American luxury brand. Regina King signed on as a Cadillac brand ambassador in September of last year.
This new tagline has been introduced as Cadillac prepares to launch the 2023 Lyriq in the first half of 2022. The Lyriq rides on the GM BEV3 dedicated electric vehicle platform and comes standard with a 100 kWh GM Ultium lithium-ion battery pack, which provides power to a single Ultium Drive permanent magnet electric motor. Total output is rated at 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, with range-per-charge rated at roughly 300 miles. Online reservations for the vehicle, which will enter production at GM Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee early next year, opened on September 18th. Prices start at $59,995.
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Comments
I think Hyundai is going to either be pissed off with GM for stealing the word ‘Iconic’, or pleased by the free publicity their own Iconiq will be receiving.
What is up with thus IQ suffex? It will sound stupid at Cadillac except as a novelty for one vehicle. I want an El Doradiq!
And Be Iconic would be cool if Cadillac wasn’t trying to get past the limited demo of its iconic hey day of 50 years ago. Sounds nice but feels a little over there top because a lot of brands–Alfa, Benz, Jag–are all icons.
Hope they don’t get this patent it’s ridiculous a company tries to trademark a phrase like that.
Iconic is earned, not trademarked
“…represents Cadillac’s desire to champion each of us to become the most inspirational and aspirational version of ourselves, and to live life on our own terms.”
Be Completely Full of Sh!t™
Cadillac is a complete and total, utter joke. They are beyond the point of redemption. They change taglines every few months. They change direction and managers and naming conventions and everything else constantly. There is no image. There is no prestige. It’s just a constantly evolving muddled mess.
I know Cadillac doesn’t market to me but I can’t see why anyone would “invest” their hard-earned money in a Cadillac. They obviously don’t want me and the feeling is completely mutual. I used to dream of the day I’d be grown up and could own a Cadillac. Now I’d be embarrassed to own one. What a shame. If a company set out to destroy a brand and came up with a plan, they couldn’t do better than gm has done with Cadillac ostensibly trying to save it.
Some of the recent ones Cadillac’s marketing gurus dreamed up:
Breakthrough
Creating a Higher Standard
The Mark of Leadership
The New Standard for the World
Dare Greatly
We don’t just build cars, we make Cadillacs.
Rise Above
Be Iconic
All are utterly forgettable and there have been way too many in rapid fire succession.
Meanwhile, these are some really good luxury brand tag lines. The truly iconic one from Cadillac’s past and great lines from other luxury brands; either past or present. BMW has kept their excellent and enduring slogan for nearly 50 years.
Engineered Like No Other Car in the World
The Best or Nothing
The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection
The Ultimate Driving Machine
The Standard of the World
There is No Substitute
For about a year in Canada, Cadillac used: Be An Original. It made so much sense for what Cadillac was trying to reposition as.
They would use ads with all white BMWs or Mercs in crowded parking lots and have the solo Cadillac stand out on its own. I loved it then and I still think about it. But soon it was dropped and turned into their Dare Greatly crap to coordinate with the US and a global effort and it completely lost the emotional response.
You just described the streets and highways of California! All white BMWs, Mercedes and Teslas lined up like taxi cabs in formation with similarly regimented, equally expensive giant monster pickups and SUVs. All the money in the world can’t buy any originality or independent thinking. The proof’s right here. These sheep certainly never grasped the concept of “Zig”. No Mahogany Metallic. No Vivid Orange Metallic. No thinking outside the box. No American cars except Tesla. Truly a depressing place. I don’t even think I’m in America anymore.
Just another “woke” company obsessed with multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion (the newest buzzword). Notice that whites are being phased out of most TV commercials and blacks are in 90% of all commercials now. It’s a part of the massive white apology tour going on.