A "&" sells luxury cars
A new campaign by U.S. agency D'Arcy Worldwide aims to radically change Cadillac's image
A new campaign by the U.S. agency D'Arcy Worldwide is intended to radically change the image of CadillacBy Werner Catrina Cadillac is the gas-guzzling luxury car for the rich and show-offs. That's more or less the image of the American sedan in Europe. Once upon a time. "With our new global advertising campaign, we want to appeal to a young, technically interested clientele," explains Kim Kosak, Director of Advertising and Promotion for the Cadillac Motor Car Division.
"Cadillac has a lot of technical innovations to offer. And we want to make that plausible to a new target group worldwide," says the advertising director on the 23rd floor of the Renaissance Center in Detroit, the new headquarters of General Motors. To this end, the American automaker has secured the help of advertising agency D'Arcy Worldwide.
Let's look back for a moment. In 1902, the founder of the exclusive car manufacturer, Henry Martyn Leland, had the first Cadillacs assembled in Detroit. He named the cars in honor of the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who had founded Detroit in 1701.
For a long time, Cadillac, which was only produced in small numbers, was synonymous with high quality, elegance and exclusivity par excellence. In the 1930s, the company sold a total of 13,000 sedans. After the war - Cadillac now belonged to General Motors - production increased steadily, and the styling of the sedans became increasingly daring. The 1959 Eldorado model marked a solitary high point with its gigantic tail fins.
Marylin Monroe and Gary Cooper stepped out of opulent automobiles - in the movies and in the real world. The Cadillac brand name was "Top of the World," as Ms. Kosak puts it; no other automobile better embodied the luxury and glamour of the American dream.
After the oil crisis, production went steadily downhill
Around 1973, output peaked at around 300,000 cars, but then the sheikhs' quadrupling of the price of oil put a crimp in the success curve of the thirsty sedans. At least the hastily slimmed-down DeVille luxury car remained for the wealthy, older clientele. The Seville positioned itself as a sporty Cadillac. The Allante, launched in 1993 and styled by Pininfarina, only made a few thousand units. The Catera, built on the basis of the Opel Omega launched in Europe, came onto the market in 1997 as a "Cadillac light," so to speak, a compact entry-level model for a younger target audience.
In the meantime, the total production of all models is around 200,000 units per year. Most "Cadis" find buyers in the USA, where, admittedly, the successes of the European luxury brands and some expensive Japanese automobiles put pressure on sales figures.
Six swans give way to stylized bars
The days are not far behind when U.S. advertisers proclaimed, "American Brands for Americans." Back then, Cadillac and Ford Lincoln battled it out almost unmolested by Mercedes and Jaguar. The duel ended in a landslide victory for Cadillac. However, the Lincoln Continental became engraved in the collective subconscious of mankind as the sedan in which President Kennedy fell victim to an assassin on the streets of Dallas in 1963.
In advertising, Cadillac used to show only an automobile in elegant surroundings, accompanied by the Cadillac emblem. But even this emblem, originally decorated with six swans, has recently been restyled. The feathered fowl had to give way to stylized beams, and the crown that once hovered above the crest is gone.
On the other hand, the laurel wreath has become denser, probably as an indication of the latest coup: Cadillac has announced its return to international motorsport, in which it had been involved in the fifties and sixties, but then withdrew because the gasoline fumes of the racetracks were not compatible with its glamorous image. The newly developed racing car that will thunder away at this year's Le Mans 24-hour race fits in with the dewy, sporty Cadillac image.
Cadillac new as "Drivers Car" with expressive designs
"Design & Technology" is the headline of the radical new advertising campaign from the kitchen of the D'Arcy agency, which has branches in Detroit and Los Angeles. No wonder Kim Kosak praises the BMW campaign "The ultimate driving machine" as exemplary.
Cadillac can indeed look back on a rich technical heritage. Shortly after its founding, the company came up trumps with the first V8 engine and later surprised the experts with the electric starter, which revolutionized driving. Many other technical highlights followed, but Cadillac advertising almost never used to herald technology.
The new communication strategy, which includes PR, advertising, product placement and participation in car races, is intended to position Cadillac as a "Drivers Car," an automobile with the latest technology. The prototype Evoque presented in 1999 and the Imaj study shown at the Geneva Motor Show point the way, unusually expressive designs with a Cadillac face. The Catera concept car, which is to be launched in 2002, is heading in the same direction.
A car is more than just the sum of its parts
"The campaign is based on the idea that bringing two disparate elements together can create a single, powerful idea," explains Patrick Sherwood, president of D'Arcy, "so the combination of Design & Technology means much more than connecting individual elements." John F. Smith, vice president of General Motors and general manager of Cadillac: "This campaign articulates the internal process of redefining Cadillac's future as a truly global brand. It paints an intense and highly emotional picture of Cadillac."
Cadillac's creative team combines a wide variety of contrasting elements to create a new unity. Style & performance, art & science, and even day & night or man & woman are what the advertisers are harnessing for Cadillac. Somewhat irritating are the full-page ads with an "&" in the middle of a white space; because this commonplace "it" sign as a dominating signal for an exclusive brand does not seem very convincing. And the headline "The Power of &" also leaves some contemporaries perplexed, at least for a moment.
"Cadillac is now targeting the global market," says Dutchman Jan-Willem Vester, formerly an automotive journalist and recently appointed head of international communications at Cadillac in Detroit. "Cadillac is being positioned as the first global luxury automobile," boldly affirms the young Italian Piergiorgio Traverso, new Global Brand Marketing Manager, who earned his spurs at Ford in Zurich, among other places. Two Europeans, together with an American, are responsible for the global marketing of the American icon, which signals a paradigm shift in the self-image of the beleaguered brand.
The Cadillac campaign no longer shows glitz and glamour, but tangible technical innovations. The image strips running across the ads present technical innovations in combination with emotional elements such as children or the American flag. Brand new is the Night Vision, originally developed for the American Army, with which the DeVille DTS is equipped as the only automobile worldwide.
The infrared system highlighted in the commercials allows obstacles to be detected on a screen at night for hundreds of meters and reacts in good time to crossing moose or stranded PWs. Incidentally, to signal the image shift toward technology and driving fun, the TV commercials are shown during major sports broadcasts.
Stars and stripes are not desirable everywhere
"Stars & Stripes" as another element of the campaign is suitable as a hook in New York or Wisconsin, but in Arab countries or Indonesia, the American flag generates defensiveness. "We are in the process of harmonizing the entire campaign globally," explains Kim Kosak, "a subject with a fashionably dressed woman at the wheel of a Cadillac is not suitable for Oman, but is right for Europe."
The Americans, accustomed to viewing the rest of the world as a quantité négligeable, have a lot to learn when it comes to implementing the global advertising campaign, which was largely realized in the USA. The Renaissance Center in Detroit is unwilling to comment on the costs of the campaign, but they are in the high double-digit millions.
Targeting Europe's successful young up-and-comers
In the U.S., Cadillac will hardly be able to make any more big gains because of the growing competition from foreign high-class cars. That's why the advertising and marketing strategists are setting their sights on the Old World.
In Europe as a whole, however, Cadillac sold just 1050 cars last year, 200 of which were Seville models in Switzerland. "Cadillac can compete technologically with the top European models," says Jan-Willem Vester with conviction. Young, ambitious up-and-comers are to be won over in Europe with the advertising offensive. "The brand is bold, filled with pioneering spirit and intelligent and inspiring in concept," says Kim Kosak, "Cadillac has decidedly changed, that's the message!"
"Cadillac has a lot of technical innovations to offer. And we want to make that plausible to a new target group worldwide," says the advertising director on the 23rd floor of the Renaissance Center in Detroit, the new headquarters of General Motors. To this end, the American automaker has secured the help of advertising agency D'Arcy Worldwide.
Let's look back for a moment. In 1902, the founder of the exclusive car manufacturer, Henry Martyn Leland, had the first Cadillacs assembled in Detroit. He named the cars in honor of the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who had founded Detroit in 1701.
For a long time, Cadillac, which was only produced in small numbers, was synonymous with high quality, elegance and exclusivity par excellence. In the 1930s, the company sold a total of 13,000 sedans. After the war - Cadillac now belonged to General Motors - production increased steadily, and the styling of the sedans became increasingly daring. The 1959 Eldorado model marked a solitary high point with its gigantic tail fins.
Marylin Monroe and Gary Cooper stepped out of opulent automobiles - in the movies and in the real world. The Cadillac brand name was "Top of the World," as Ms. Kosak puts it; no other automobile better embodied the luxury and glamour of the American dream.
After the oil crisis, production went steadily downhill
Around 1973, output peaked at around 300,000 cars, but then the sheikhs' quadrupling of the price of oil put a crimp in the success curve of the thirsty sedans. At least the hastily slimmed-down DeVille luxury car remained for the wealthy, older clientele. The Seville positioned itself as a sporty Cadillac. The Allante, launched in 1993 and styled by Pininfarina, only made a few thousand units. The Catera, built on the basis of the Opel Omega launched in Europe, came onto the market in 1997 as a "Cadillac light," so to speak, a compact entry-level model for a younger target audience.
In the meantime, the total production of all models is around 200,000 units per year. Most "Cadis" find buyers in the USA, where, admittedly, the successes of the European luxury brands and some expensive Japanese automobiles put pressure on sales figures.
Six swans give way to stylized bars
The days are not far behind when U.S. advertisers proclaimed, "American Brands for Americans." Back then, Cadillac and Ford Lincoln battled it out almost unmolested by Mercedes and Jaguar. The duel ended in a landslide victory for Cadillac. However, the Lincoln Continental became engraved in the collective subconscious of mankind as the sedan in which President Kennedy fell victim to an assassin on the streets of Dallas in 1963.
In advertising, Cadillac used to show only an automobile in elegant surroundings, accompanied by the Cadillac emblem. But even this emblem, originally decorated with six swans, has recently been restyled. The feathered fowl had to give way to stylized beams, and the crown that once hovered above the crest is gone.
On the other hand, the laurel wreath has become denser, probably as an indication of the latest coup: Cadillac has announced its return to international motorsport, in which it had been involved in the fifties and sixties, but then withdrew because the gasoline fumes of the racetracks were not compatible with its glamorous image. The newly developed racing car that will thunder away at this year's Le Mans 24-hour race fits in with the dewy, sporty Cadillac image.
Cadillac new as "Drivers Car" with expressive designs
"Design & Technology" is the headline of the radical new advertising campaign from the kitchen of the D'Arcy agency, which has branches in Detroit and Los Angeles. No wonder Kim Kosak praises the BMW campaign "The ultimate driving machine" as exemplary.
Cadillac can indeed look back on a rich technical heritage. Shortly after its founding, the company came up trumps with the first V8 engine and later surprised the experts with the electric starter, which revolutionized driving. Many other technical highlights followed, but Cadillac advertising almost never used to herald technology.
The new communication strategy, which includes PR, advertising, product placement and participation in car races, is intended to position Cadillac as a "Drivers Car," an automobile with the latest technology. The prototype Evoque presented in 1999 and the Imaj study shown at the Geneva Motor Show point the way, unusually expressive designs with a Cadillac face. The Catera concept car, which is to be launched in 2002, is heading in the same direction.
A car is more than just the sum of its parts
"The campaign is based on the idea that bringing two disparate elements together can create a single, powerful idea," explains Patrick Sherwood, president of D'Arcy, "so the combination of Design & Technology means much more than connecting individual elements." John F. Smith, vice president of General Motors and general manager of Cadillac: "This campaign articulates the internal process of redefining Cadillac's future as a truly global brand. It paints an intense and highly emotional picture of Cadillac."
Cadillac's creative team combines a wide variety of contrasting elements to create a new unity. Style & performance, art & science, and even day & night or man & woman are what the advertisers are harnessing for Cadillac. Somewhat irritating are the full-page ads with an "&" in the middle of a white space; because this commonplace "it" sign as a dominating signal for an exclusive brand does not seem very convincing. And the headline "The Power of &" also leaves some contemporaries perplexed, at least for a moment.
"Cadillac is now targeting the global market," says Dutchman Jan-Willem Vester, formerly an automotive journalist and recently appointed head of international communications at Cadillac in Detroit. "Cadillac is being positioned as the first global luxury automobile," boldly affirms the young Italian Piergiorgio Traverso, new Global Brand Marketing Manager, who earned his spurs at Ford in Zurich, among other places. Two Europeans, together with an American, are responsible for the global marketing of the American icon, which signals a paradigm shift in the self-image of the beleaguered brand.
The Cadillac campaign no longer shows glitz and glamour, but tangible technical innovations. The image strips running across the ads present technical innovations in combination with emotional elements such as children or the American flag. Brand new is the Night Vision, originally developed for the American Army, with which the DeVille DTS is equipped as the only automobile worldwide.
The infrared system highlighted in the commercials allows obstacles to be detected on a screen at night for hundreds of meters and reacts in good time to crossing moose or stranded PWs. Incidentally, to signal the image shift toward technology and driving fun, the TV commercials are shown during major sports broadcasts.
Stars and stripes are not desirable everywhere
"Stars & Stripes" as another element of the campaign is suitable as a hook in New York or Wisconsin, but in Arab countries or Indonesia, the American flag generates defensiveness. "We are in the process of harmonizing the entire campaign globally," explains Kim Kosak, "a subject with a fashionably dressed woman at the wheel of a Cadillac is not suitable for Oman, but is right for Europe."
The Americans, accustomed to viewing the rest of the world as a quantité négligeable, have a lot to learn when it comes to implementing the global advertising campaign, which was largely realized in the USA. The Renaissance Center in Detroit is unwilling to comment on the costs of the campaign, but they are in the high double-digit millions.
Targeting Europe's successful young up-and-comers
In the U.S., Cadillac will hardly be able to make any more big gains because of the growing competition from foreign high-class cars. That's why the advertising and marketing strategists are setting their sights on the Old World.
In Europe as a whole, however, Cadillac sold just 1050 cars last year, 200 of which were Seville models in Switzerland. "Cadillac can compete technologically with the top European models," says Jan-Willem Vester with conviction. Young, ambitious up-and-comers are to be won over in Europe with the advertising offensive. "The brand is bold, filled with pioneering spirit and intelligent and inspiring in concept," says Kim Kosak, "Cadillac has decidedly changed, that's the message!"
